New Products Exciting Marketing and a Lot of Debt

Reading the news over the last few weeks, (working in Marketing/Social Media, it is a necessity) I have noticed a huge number of articles about the brand Heinz.

For some reason I found these stories particularly interesting, partly because they were about intriguing new products and marketing techniques, but mainly because I have recently (and very unhealthily) discovered mayonnaise.

So, take delight in this slightly unusual blog, purely about Heinz condiments…

Heaven or Worst Nightmare?

After outdoing themselves this Easter with the launch of the Crème Egg flavoured mayonnaise, Heinz have decided to bring out the popular US condiment ‘Mayochup’ in the UK as ‘Heinz Saucy Sauce’.

This is a combination of mayonnaise and ketchup (hence the name). For all those fans of mixing the two sauces, it will be available exclusively in Tesco, from the 23^rd of August.

The cost of this perfect concoction is £2.69p, which is 69p more expensive than just buying a bottle of each sauce and mixing them yourself. Although, Heinz claims ‘Saucy Sauce’ has just the right measurements to make the pre-mixed condiment a luxury rather than a rip-off. Hmmmm, my friends have managed this for years, without the assistance of Heinz to do it for them, therefore unsure about their claims.

Getting the Best of Both Worlds With ‘Edchup’

Heinz’s newest concept, tattooed ketchup bottles, celebrate not only the 150^th anniversary of the company, but also Ed Sheeran’s true love; Heinz ketchup.

150 limited edition bottles of ‘Edchup’ have been created, all personally signed by Ed himself. Some bottles are to be auctioned for charities at Christies, a very good use for a tattooed ketchup bottle I may say.

This clever marketing scheme was derived from the tattoo that Ed possesses on his arm of a Heinz ketchup bottle, showing his loyalty to the company and the tasty sauce.

Ketchup Karma…

But even after all these exciting new products and campaigns, is Heinz actually doing well? As of June, Kraft Heinz had nearly $30 billion in debt and the stock is sinking dramatically, due to dismal earning reports, down by 40% this year, overall, not looking good for the company.

However, even Heinz’s debt is not compromising them offering to pay for any car damages to a ketchup thief in New Jersey.

Long story short; after the anonymous thief stole a bottle of ketchup from a restaurant, a lot of bad things started to happen to them, including a car crash, presumably, they thought due to karma.

Moreover, the thief then completely racked with guilt, purchased two new bottles of ketchup and left them outside the restaurant along with an apology note. The owner of the restaurant posted on social media about the occurrences, and Heinz tweeted a little message out to the acclaimed thief:

“Reformed Ketchup Thief,

We get it, Heinz makes you do crazy things. In honour of your good ketchup karma, we’d love to help you with your car damages. DM us. We’ll keep your identity top secret.”

But will this be enough of good karma to help Kraft Heinz leave their debt and stock troubles behind? Will the hybrid of ‘Saucy Sauce’ and limited edition ‘Edchup’ bottles save the brand or will the UK not go for these stunts? Time will tell, but most importantly, can we live in a world without Heinz beans, ketchup and mayo? (I know I couldn’t.)

Maybe one day soon we will see