Ketchup on pizza?

For Brazilians it’s a discussion, for Italians it’s a sin, but for Heinz, it’s a new way to encourage the consumption of ketchup and a new business opportunity. With the launch of Heinzzola and the approval of the public that created pizza, Heinz expanded its operations in the pizzeria field in many countries, created a new way of relating to this market, and strengthened the creation of a new consumption habit among thousands of pizzerias.

If it’s approved by Naples,

it can be approved by every pizzerias on the planet.

Pizza is one of the most consumed food in the world, followed by Chinese food and hamburgers. There is a discussion in many countries about what kind of toppings are “allowed” on pizza, and ketchup leads the share of voice. In the heat of the debate, pizza puritans reproach ketchup-pizza lovers, to the point of them being embarrassed of consuming the combination in public places and restaurants. On the other hand, a Heinz online poll revealed that more than half of consumers (61%) like to put ketchup on pizza. In other words, there is a market opportunity for ketchup producers to increase sales volume, reducing pizzerias' resistance to offering ketchup to consumers and adding it to pizza recipes So how could Heinz help restaurants incorporate ketchup in the pizza ritual? Simultaneously impacting B2C and B2B target audiences.

Heinz wanted to empower consumers to ask for ketchup without embarrassment and

pizzeria owners to serve it without fear of violating an age-old recipe. The brand went to Napoli, the pizza capital, and opened a pizzeria in the most traditional street, decorated with all the codes of authentic Neapolitan pizzerias. It was called Heinzzola Famiglia, a nod to our Heinz family.Heinz created its own pizza recipe with ketchup inside the crust, so it would be protected from the oven's high temperature, preserving its qualities, and hidden from sight, for a blind test. Using the pizza as an invitation, we called upon the most distinguished Neapolitans so that they could taste an authentic Neapolitan pizza with an extra ingredient: the iconic Heinz ketchup.

Their opinion had the potential to settle the matter once and for all and allow a global

guilt-free public ketchup-pizza tasting, opening new market opportunities for Heinz .

Pizza is a food to share and socialize. That's why the campaign had to be similar in tone.“Famiglia Heinzzola” used humor and playfulness to connect wi th consumers and restaurant owners so everyone could freely enjoy their pizza with ketchup, anywhere.

The vast majority of Neapolitans approved the recipe. With these results, and a lot of humor, we created a stamp that said “Ketchup on pizza. Approved by Naples”. The seal was distributed to pizza places to signalize that there was a place where people could eat their pizza with ketchup free of reproach. We also spread the symbol on food delivery packaging. The campaign ran in OOH, programmatic media, specialized communities, influencers and merchandising in lifestyle programs in the 10 countries that lead the pizza-ketchup discussion. A special focus was given to Brazil, the second largest pizza market in the world, behind only the US.

The “Famiglia Heinzzola” pizza place opened on February 6th, National Pizza Day, in

Naples. The pizzas were sold and given away in blind tasting experiences. Notorious

Neapolitans were intentionally invited to taste the novelty and record their opinion. The

Heinzzola recipe was approved by 94,7% of Neapolitans, giving people a short-cut to end arguments and bullying around ketchup and pizza.

Heinz sent the “Approved by Napoli” seal to key-pizza places. A 30-second video was

created and distributed via owned and paid social media in Brazil, Chile, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. The content was also turned into a media pitch.

Other “Famiglia Heinzzola” units opened up for business, in Milan and Rome, to continue the buzz. Consumers and business owners all around the world were impacted by the campaign.

In such a large and promising market, any gain is proportional to its size. Domino’s pizza, the largest pizza chain in the world, bought into this idea and teamed up with us to have Heinz ketchup on their pizzas.

The “Famiglia Heinzzola” Naples unit made such success that the temporary activation was extended for a longer period of time and to other locations. Heinz opened units in Milan and Rome, and, due to the buzz around the campaign, shared online the step-by-step instructions for consumers and businesses to prepare the Heinzzola ketchup crust. Traditional pizza places in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, incorporated the ketchup filled crust to the menu. In addition, the campaign had over 94 million paid impressions and 60 million earned impressions.

In a country that has 112 thousand pizzerias and consumes 1.7 million pizzas every single day, a discussion always comes to the table: Ketchup on Pizza? Is it a sin or not?

Heinzzola achieved the impossible: win Naples's blessing with 94.7% approval of traditional Italians, conquered more than 2000 new pizza places that started to accept ketchup on pizza, took away the campaign to 4 different countries, and invaded 1725 new pizzerias in less than a month.