HEINZ Reintroduces Itself with Mayonnaise-Style Sauces

With HEINZ being one of the world’s most recognised brands, it poses a challenge when looking to disrupt a new category. How do you surprise consumers who think they already know what to expect? The answer: leaning into the brand love that has made HEINZ so beloved and channelling its iconicity into something fresh for fans!

To celebrate the launch of the new HEINZ Mayonnaise-Style Sauces, an expansion of the brand’s current range of delicious condiment options, the brand partnered with Rethink to launch a new campaign in both English and French Canada, redefining HEINZ as not just a ketchup brand, but now also a mayo brand.

Going beyond just a traditional product launch, HEINZ is reintroducing itself through a bold new campaign rolling out across linear and connected TV, OLV, paid social, and display. Introducing the new sauces into the HEINZ portfolio the creative opens with the iconic HEINZ sign leading fans to think an advertisement for ketchup is coming. We then see a playful 'Hi,' as a familiar Jay-Z track declares, 'Allow me to reintroduce myself,' setting the stage for the reveal of the new sauces to take the spotlight on screen.

The new launch taps into consumers' growing craving for more adventurous sauce options in the kitchen and features fan favourite products as well as four new flavours to give Canadians more exciting dipping options at home.

To maximise visibility, HEINZ is leaning into key consumption opportunities during the NHL season, securing premium ad spots on Amazon Prime Monday Night Hockey and tapping into Canada’s biggest sports platform, The Score, with takeovers, sponsored articles and multimedia ads during key NHL games.

Utilising Dynamic Content Optimisation, the brand is delivering ads with personalised food and sauce flavour combinations, based on the eating preferences of the diverse Canadian palate.

HEINZ has also collaborated with top-tier lifestyle and food creators to produce fun, engaging content rolling out in September that highlights the launch and new flavours.

Québec Approach

The brand has taken a different approach in the key Québec market in order to connect and build awareness with consumers in the province.

Leaning into the surprise factor that HEINZ makes mayo now, the regional creative highlights this twist by playing on the everyday expression “Hein?” in the iconic HEINZ sign.

Utilising a common Québécois phrase, paired with a local hip hop group through the use of the Dead Obies’ track 'Pour vrai', the creative strikes a balance between HEINZ’s global presence and a uniquely local touch to enhance relevance.

“Most people immediately think ‘ketchup’ when they hear HEINZ, so we saw this launch as an opportunity to flip that expectation. This national campaign was designed to feel cohesive while still having local angles that speak directly to the nuances between English and French Canada. The campaign’s playful ‘Hi’ and ‘Hein?’ easter egg moments are all about reintroducing the brand in a fresh and memorable way, putting our new Mayonnaise-Style Sauces front and centre while leveraging the love Canadian’s already have for our brand.” said Brian Neumann, head of brand and creativity, Kraft Heinz Canada.

"HEINZ is the world's most famous ketchup brand. After 150 years, people think they know exactly what to expect from us. Instead of fighting that reputation while launching Heinz Flavoured Mayo, we embraced it - using our iconicity to launch a new product in a way only Heinz could, and getting people as excited about Heinz mayo, as they are about Heinz Ketchup.” said Jacquelyn Parent, creative director and writer, Rethink.