In 2018, Heinz Salad Cream was seeing a 5-year sales decline. -6% sales year-on-year meant the product was at risk and the business in crisis talks on how to revive such an iconic condiment in British heritage. The objective was simple, save Salad Cream! To give more relevance to the product and in the hope of revising sales, the client proposed a name change to Sandwich Cream. There was national outrage, how dare we change the name of such an iconic and treasured condiment?!

To exploit this outcry, we ran a campaign called #WhatCream asking the British public what their favourite use for Salad Cream was, fueling the flames on social and putting Salad Cream back on the map.

We got the public talking and the Salad Cream fans and detractors warring with each other, but the loudest voice was the lovers of Salad Cream who literally took to the streets demanding that we didn’t change the name.

We had the most successful unsuccessful product rebrand ever, and with very little spend!

Salad Cream had an ageing customer base, with 70% over 65 - the product simply had no relevance to them anymore. Younger generations were uninspired, and consumers weren’t aware of the breadth of foods it could be consumed with.

Consumer research found that just 14% of people use Salad Cream on salad. 47% of respondents said they preferred to eat Salad Cream on sandwiches.

Heinz proposed to change the name to Sandwich Cream – giving more relevance to the product.

Within hours of the announcement the nation’s outrage generated 1,500 pieces of coverage and fronted three national front pages, as well as a segment from Holly and Phil on ITV’s This Morning.

Brits in their thousands protested the name change and admitted their own unique serving suggestions. Not fit for Salad, but perfect with lasagna and bangers & mash! In just one week, we generated 30,000 earned social mentions.

Once the announcement that Salad Cream may be changing its name was made public, we had to act fast. Within 24 hours and with little budget, we turned to social to fuel the conversation. Using the hashtag #WhatCream, we asked the nation to share their perfect Salad Cream pairing. We then reacted with personalised digital labels across Facebook & Twitter and even delivered physical bottles with naming suggestions to our most engaged audience, including Holly Willoughby! Within a week we turned the very best suggestions into print creative and when the conversation escalated further, and more names were shared, we then took to the biggest stage in London – the iconic IMAX site in Waterloo.