Dive Brief:

• Heinz is extending its first masterbrand platform with a fresh batch of ads inspired by stories of irrational love for the packaged foods brand, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
• The latest leg of “Irrational Love,” which is running in the U.S. and Canada, is supported by video, paid social across major platforms, including TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat, and search. Heinz is also launching a separate content series profiling its employees.   
• The Kraft Heinz marketer has recently seen a 12% increase in global net sales and a 22% bump in away from home sales, crediting some of its momentum to the creative strategy.

Dive Insight:

Heinz is double dipping on “Irrational Love,” the first global masterbrand platform in the condiment marketer’s over 150 year history and also its most expensive media investment to date. The effort, which debuted last June, takes stories true and potentially apocryphal of consumers going the extra mile for Heinz and turns them into ads. Agency Wieden + Kennedy is behind the concept centered on rabid fandom, which has helped bolster the brand’s performance.

“Since launching Irrational Love globally last year, the brand experienced positive growth from both a business and awareness perspective, which laid the groundwork for even more impactful storytelling and fan engagement in year two and beyond,” said Megan Lang, global head of brand communications and creativity at Heinz, in a statement.

One new ad, “The Heiress,” sees a woman pretend to be Heinz royalty after getting served an in-house ketchup at a fancy restaurant. While the ruse secures her a bottle of Heinz, she’s undercut when a stranger across the room introduces himself as Barry Heinz. 

Another spot, “The Students,” sees students chastised by a principal who pushes them to reveal how they managed to steal a box of Heinz ketchup packets. A flashback reveals an elaborate heist to secure the goods from the school cafeteria. 

Heinz is broadening “Irrational Love” to include stories from its employees as well as consumers. A new “Made With” content series profiles Heinz staff, including R&D director Rich Misutka, as they detail different aspects of the job that help Heinz stand out. 

While some of the videos have been available on YouTube for months, Heinz is putting paid media behind the creative, including on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat. “Irrational Love” first rolled out in four markets but Heinz plans to expand the platform to an additional 24 by the end of this year, crediting the creative strategy with helping to boost sales. 

Parent Kraft Heinz, which also owns brands like Oscar Mayer and Ore-Ida, saw net sales slide 3.6% year over year in Q2, results that came in below expectations. CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera attributed the miss to ongoing consumer caution but said the business would ramp innovation and increase “marketing investment to continue to drive brand superiority across our portfolio.”