Heinz
Always-on social that learns what fans respond to.
An always-on organic social strategy for Heinz, testing content across 10 fan segments and creating moments like Sprayonnaise to earn 36m organic impressions.
the challenge
Heinz, a classic UK brand, aimed to increase its overall brand relevance and presence for specific products (Mayonnaise, Beanz) in social media. However, the breadth of Heinz activity meant that understanding what would resonate and should be further amplified with paid media was unclear. The brand aimed to use 'always on' organic social content to understand what resonated with different audiences of Heinz fans and in wider culture.
the strategic choice
Create a content creation and learning strategy which uses organic social content to identify and reach different engaged Heinz fans, test different types of messaging and amplify the brand and products in culture. 10 different segments were identified within the Heinz fan base from 'Hype eaters' who follow the latest recipes on TikTok to 'Pop Culture' and 'Heinz Beanztania', fans of the role Heinz plays in British culture. Content was created weekly against these segments and monitored, seeing where engagement was created and cultural discussions entered.
my contribution
Head of Strategy at VaynerMedia EMEA.
what changed
36m organic impressions across social, and 400k TikTok followers from launch. Sprayonnaise drew in UK celebrities from Dragons’ Den to footballers and earned coverage in the Daily Mail and, strangely, on Australian daytime TV. The Christmas Dinner Soup ad generated 1.5m organic impressions and national news coverage over the holidays.
The insight
Social media is where food gets discussed, but polished food porn doesn't tell us anything we don't already know. Instead, organic social media can help to try to embed the brand in different discussions, fandoms and audience segments, as a test bed for where the brand can further stake territory in consumers’ minds.
The strategy
Content went out weekly against each segment and was monitored to see where engagement formed and which cultural conversations the brand could join. Two moments show how it worked. Sprayable mayonnaise came up on the Peter Crouch Podcast, so Heinz picked up the conversation and created Sprayonnaise in four weeks, publishing it from the brand’s own channels. When the 2021 John Lewis Christmas ad landed, Heinz answered with its own version starring Heinz Christmas Dinner Soup.
The work
