Heinz is known the world over as the iconic, category-defining ketchup. When most people think of ketchup, they probably think of Heinz. But we couldn’t just say that ourselves. Instead, we did something no other brand could – we let the world say it for us. We conducted an anonymous social experiment across 5 continents that asked people to “Draw Ketchup.” Almost everyone drew Heinz. We turned the drawings into a global campaign. In an industry dominated by glossy designs and strict brand guidelines, we let consumers create our campaign with handmade, messy drawings of ketchup.

Heinz Ketchup is known the world over for its slow pouring ketchup. But the brand was in danger of becoming seen as old and nostalgic in addition to facing competition from new category entrants. As a result, the brand started to see brand affinity scores decline as competitors stole share. For the first time ever, people were questioning whether Heinz was for them.

Our objective was to re-ignite an emotional connection with Heinz by engaging consumers with a culturally relevant brand experience that would let them prove the iconic status of Heinz Ketchup and to bolster consumer loyalty. We sought to stay top of mind by instigating conversation and reinforcing our iconic status as the #1 Ketchup.

If someone asked you to draw ketchup, our hunch was that you would draw Heinz. And we set out to prove it. To most, ketchup = Heinz. But the brand couldn’t come out and say that. So we let the world do it for us. We created an activation featuring an anonymous social experiment across 18 countries in five continents - connecting with people in person, on video conference calls, in classrooms, and online. We asked one simple request “Draw Ketchup.”

Consumers drew the Heinz glass bottle, the Heinz label, the famous “57”. Some drawings were beautiful, some basic, some downright scribbles, but they all had one thing in common, almost every person drew Heinz Ketchup.

Throughout the world Heinz is considered to be a cultural icon. Heinz is ketchup. As such, we had the opportunity to assert ourselves in a way that no other condiment in the world could. But with new competition and slumping market share, we needed to ignite that iconic status in the minds of the next generation. But simply preaching that message as a brand could come off as bragging and inauthentic. We couldn’t just say Heinz is ketchup. We needed consumers to say it for us. Our belief was that when people think of ketchup, they picture the iconic Heinz glass bottle. But we needed to find a way to prove it. So, to uncover this unspoken association we conducted an anonymous social experiment. We asked people around the world to simply “Draw Ketchup”. We had a strong feeling that most of them would draw Heinz.

We created an anonymous social experiment, activating across 18 countries in five continents - connecting via in-person, video conference, classrooms, and an anonymous website. We asked one simple thing “Draw Ketchup.” We turned the experiment into a brand experience - literally making consumer drawings the heart of a global campaign. Whether they drew bright red bottles, the Heinz logo, or the famous “57”. The drawings all had one thing in common: Heinz.

We then launched a global campaign featuring the drawings. We juxtaposed the simple drawings by featuring them in high-impact out-of-home and newspaper print. The integrated campaign rolled out in social and digital, and our :30s film aired on TV. We took the submissions from the anonymous website and sent consumers custom bottles with their drawing as the label. We even took the best drawings and put them up for auction on digital art websites.

The campaign drew attention from news outlets across the globe, generating 127x publicity vs. initial investment. The campaign not only proved Heinz’s iconic status around the world, it drove tangible business results. Heinz saw an immediate impact in sales with an increase of 10%. Spanning 18 countries from the UK, to Ireland, Greece, Germany, and Brazil Heinz saw their social engagement rate soar to 1495% above average. 97% of the participants in the campaign drew Heinz. And in Canada, where the brand has seen declines in brand affinity, Heinz reclaimed its status in the hearts and minds of Canadians.