CURRENT MARKETING GOALS

Heinz’s social media strategy is to primarily drive engagement and advocacy stating, “our priority is to add value to consumers through branded messages that are in touch with their needs and reinforce their love for our amazing brands.”

PRIMARY RESEARCH // Experimentation 

While conducting research, I came across Tony who is technician staff at the university. He was interested in what I was researching about Heinz heritage and history of Henry J Heinz. Therefore, we started to discuss my rough ideas and concepts. I told Tony that I want to portray past heritage to the modern generation and show why Heinz is still recognised today. I then took my rough plans to digital experimentation, displaying the Heinz factory image embedded inside a Heinz ketchup bottle.

It was in 1896 that Henry Heinz came up with one of the most recognized slogans in advertising history. “57 Varieties. This catchphrase had nothing to do with the actual number of varieties produced. Tony stated that 57 is no longer used today, however, during the past and in his old generation "57" was a very extraordinary number and was recognised as Heinz products.

INITIAL IDEAS // Sketches 

04.03.2019

After researching and studying the brief, I feel that I now have a good knowledge of what I must deliver. I have produced brainstorms which will help me to analyse and create new ideas. 

I spent time producing rough sketches and developed a timeline concept. The history of Heinz must be the basis of the design and its concept.

Main Concept.

During the analysis of Heinz target audience, I found out that it is targeted to older generations and mainly 22 - 55-year-old adults. However, one of the key element I must consider how my design can influence younger family members and retell the history of Heinz to the modern generation.

Therefore, my main design concept ideas is a timeline and to present visuals of each stage of evolution and history merged inside a Heinz ketchup bottle. These visuals and elements all become part of the timeline.

HEINZ // BRIEF REVIEW

04.03.2019

AIM. 

One of my projects of Major Study is to create a poster campaign for D&AD’s new blood competition. 2019 symbolizes Heinz 150th anniversary.

AIM: To produce an advertising print campaign, including a series of posters displaying the love for Heinz by representing a timeline of events amongst the past and the future.

TARGET AUDIENCE.

The target audiences are the core purchasers of Heinz, female shoppers aged 25-55 years old. However, my reach should go beyond the main shopper and intend to influence other family members and retell the history of Heinz to the modern generation. Heinz is a brand which represents quality, heritage and expertise.

FURTHER RESEARCH.

Throughout my research, I found it very interesting how Henry J Heinz combined an entrepreneurial spirit with his innovative advertising and his well-known ketchup products. He allowed public tours of his Pittsburgh factory so that people could acknowledge its cleanliness and well-treated workers. He built greenhouses to experiment with the best varieties of fruits and vegetables. He continued to use clear glass, rather than coloured, for his products which were very unique at that time. I researched the history of Heinz tomato ketchup and found fascinating facts throughout the years of how he evolved his brand identity.

RESEARCH // THE EVOLUTION OF HEINZ

16.02.2019

1869 - The beginning Two young American businessmen, Henry J Heinz and L Clarence Noble, launched Heinz & Noble. Their first product was Henry's 'pure and superior' grated horseradish, bottled in clear glass to show its purity.

1876 - The world's first taste of ketchup Henry sets up business with two of his relations, launching F & J Heinz Company, with Henry as manager. In the US, they launched Heinz Tomato Ketchup followed by a launched in the UK in 1886.

1886 - Henry sells his first products ­ 'seven varieties of our finest and newest goods' ­ to London's Fortnum & Mason food store.

1896 - An historic train journey Riding the New York railway Henry saw a poster for a shoe company advertising its 21 styles of shoe. He is said to have been taken with the ad and raised up the number of products that his company produced, finally settling on 57 - although there were more. On that journey, Heinz 57 Varieties was born.

The 1920s - UK production starts Heinz is still exporting Baked Beans, Spaghetti and Tomato Ketchup to the UK from America and Canada. When production expands to the UK, 10,000 tonnes are produced here in the first year.

1951 - Royal approval The Royal Warrant is granted, and in 1954 granted again as Purveyors of Heinz Products to HM Queen Elizabeth II.

1955 - Heinz on TV 'Heinz 57' varieties was advertised on the new ITV channel. Colour posters were also produced. 1959 - Wigan factory built Heinz opens a Beans factory in Wigan on 21 May 1959, which used 1,000 tonnes of dry beans every week.

1967 - 'Beanz Meanz Heinz' is born The slogan was created in 1967, like a million housewives every day picked up a tin of beans.

1987 - Plastic bottles introduced The battle of banging the bottom of a glass bottle of ketchup ended when Heinz introduced a plastic bottle.

The 1990s - Heinz go east Heinz expanded its distribution to Russia and China. In total, it exported Heinz Beanz to 60 countries at that stage.

1999 - Top four Heinz becomes the world's fourth-largest food and drinks brand, behind Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Nescafe.

2000 - Royal visit In May the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Heinz Beanz factory in Kitt Green near Wigan to mark the 50th Anniversary of the official opening of the factory.

RESEARCH // HISTORY OF HEINZ KETCHUP

16.02.2019

BRIEF ONE.

Continuing with my research for D&AD's Heinz brief, I came across a timeline of Heinz company history.

'Henry J. Heinz - The founder of The Heinz Company'

Heinz & Noble

Henry J. Heinz was still interested in the recipes of his mother and he was constantly experimenting. In (1869), together with a friend and a neighbour. Clarence Noble, he launched a company named Heinz & Noble. It provided restaurants and cafes with sauerkraut, grated horseradish, pickles, and other products.

The national American sauce

Henry’s mother, who came from Bohemia, knew how to make a delicious tomato sauce and this was the recipe, which became a custom of the most popular ketchup brand of nowadays. Tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes grown by Heinz in the fields of Pennsylvania. The ketchup more than delighted consumers, as it could improve the taste of a wide variety of products – from sausages to pasta. Henry tried to make the quality of his products as high as it was possible. For example, he introduced new technologies and constantly experimented with packaging. He believed that the way the bottle looks was the most important in the product’s image. Henry decided that the customer should see what the product contains inside, and started to use glass bottles for his ketchup.

Quality production & welfare of his employees

Over time, his company expanded its size and increased a headcount, which created a new problem. In the summer of (1892), the employees went on strike against mass dismissals from work. Ten people were killed during a fight with the security of the factory, and several dozens were injured. Henry J. Heinz was shocked by this case, so he immediately started to improve working conditions on his factories. Moreover, every factory worker had a free medical service guaranteed. Henry J. Heinz was committed to the pleasant working conditions and well-being of his employees.

Advertising Heinz products

Henry J. Heinz regularly moved around the country, promoting the company’s products in the trains. He always made notes on his observations along the way.

Slogan “57 Varieties”

It is fascinating to know that in (1896) while riding a train in New York City, Henry J. Heinz saw a sign advertising 21 styles of shoes, which he thought was very smart. Although Heinz was manufacturing more than 60 products at the time, Henry thought 57 was his lucky number. Therefore, he began using the slogan “57 Varieties” in all his advertising. Today the company has more than 5,700 products around the world, but still uses the magical number of “57.”

Tomato Ketchup international trade

In the winter of (1886), Henry J. Heinz agreed to go to Europe with his family and immediately went to the manager of the Fortnum & Mason department store who was the supplier and showed the samples of his Heinz products. From that point, England became the first foreign market selling Heinz brand. After ten years, sales have grown to the level, which made Heinz open an office in London not far from the Tower of London. Heinz products came into international trade, which was significant as those days American products were not popular in Europe. Today, about 32,000 of employees work at Heinz factories worldwide. Heinz ketchup is present in almost every household refrigerator. 

https://astrumpeople.com/henry-j-heinz-biography/

RESEARCH // HEINZ PRINT ADVERTISEMENT

15.02.2019

BRIEF ONE

To begin my research I decided to have a look at Heinz successful campaign ads. In order to see and look at what have, they have already done in the past. This is one of the engaging campaigns of 2017 for Heinz ketchup. I will give a summary of this ad communication.

Tagline: ‘Pass The Heinz’

The ad displays fast foods such as french fries, a cheeseburger, a slice of steak: but without any ketchup in sight. The campaign strategy was to create a craving for a product through its ketchup absence. The concept was to portray a message because a plain plate of fries isn’t the same without the great taste of Heinz ketchup. The campaign was both advertised in both billboards and print ads.

This was a brilliant strategy to provoke the viewer to fill in themselves what was missing in the pictures. The prompt “Pass the Heinz” without showing the product. This reinforced their brand's strategy for Heinz’s taste superiority. This idea was meant to show a response from a specific target audience, by getting them to spread the reach of the campaign even beyond the original print and outdoor executions.

The three ads became billboards in New York, as well as ads in newspapers and magazines. Heinz is an American icon. Since Heinz ketchup has been a staple of American dinner tables and backyard BBQs for generations.