Heinz Engages Fans With Its Own Super Bowl Game

Kraft-Heinz Co.’s Heinz ketchup leveraged the National Football League’s Super Bowl this year with a game of its own.The Heinz Bottle Matchup campaign encouraged fans to purchase Heinz ketchup for a chance to win brand-related prizes in a sweepstakes if their bottle numbers matched the numbers in the final Super Bowl score.“The Heinz brand wanted to stand out in-store from all of the other in-store promotions at this time of year,” says Anisa Moolani, Heinz ketchup senior associate brand manager. To do this, Heinz created its own game within the consumer spirit of eating and rooting for their favorite team during the NFL playoffs.The promotion gave viewers another reason to pay attention to the Super Bowl, Moolani says. The target market was all households, inclusive of football fans, that already planned to watch the Super Bowl along with those who needed an extra push to watch, she says.Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, Northbrook, Illinois, created and then tested the concept with hundreds of ketchup-loving football fans. More than 80% were motivated to participate, Moolani says.From Dec. 15, 2019, to Feb. 3, consumers were encouraged to purchase Heinz ketchup bottles specially marked with a number from zero through nine. Stickers were placed on bottles that did not have the unique label, Moolani says.Participants submitted images of their bottle numbers at HeinzMatchup.com to enter the sweepstakes, which was administered by Merkle (HelloWorld), Southfield, Michigan.In-store, Heinz used pallet displays, dedicated floorstands, and mini- and standard hutches with headers. Retailers also had the discretion to include miscellaneous decor such as balloons, streamers and inflatables, Moolani says.Various circular features and social media posts created by Portland, Oregon-based agency Wieden+Kennedy supported the retail activation. Digital assets spread awareness of the campaign to those who hadn’t yet seen it in-store and drove urgency for consumers to pick up a bottle, Moolani says.“The sweepstakes is what tied it all together and gave them the extra push in-store to grab a bottle (or two) and enter for a chance to win,” she says.Heinz measured the success of the program via the number of sweepstakes entries, Heinz ketchup sales, display levels and market share, as well as retailer sell-in and shipments. Chicago-based Equator Design developed the limited-edition labels for the campaign.

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