Heinz’s in-house agency, The Kitchen, is looking for people who know that fame can be fleeting to show them the urgency of tracking down some limited-time sauces.
The campaign is dubbed Sauce Drops and is led by Toronto-based Kitchen ECD Simon Au. It serves as a vehicle for the sauce maker to increase excitement – and testing – for a limited range of sauces. It is the agency’s first 360-degree campaign for the brand. With a range of flavors including black garlic ranch, yuzu wasabi and creamy chimichurri, the brand is hoping for broad flavor appeal as it launches one of six flavors each month for the rest of the year.
Served only at certain American partner restaurants, these releases will be promoted digitally by some familiar faces: one-hit wonder musician Rebecca Black, former American Idol contestant William Hung, and Kyle Craven — who may be better known by his meme personality , “Tough luck, Brian.” The idea, according to Au, is simple: What better way to promote fleeting gravy offerings than by using people who’ve experienced “the fickle nature of fame”?
“We’re constantly on the lookout for manipulating fan behavior and one of the key insights behind the ‘Sauce Drops’ campaign is the fact that people are looking for new and unique flavors in their favorite restaurants. In fact, each of our limited-time sauce flavors pair particularly well with the crispy, hearty flavor of fried chicken. So pairing it with famous American chicken cuts is the perfect way to offer fans a unique and elevated flavor dip experience. “Everything Heinz has ever created,” explains Diane Mays Doty, associate brand manager for Heinz’s foodservice division.
The campaign includes in-store assets in each of the partner restaurants, as well as earned media and social creator partnerships in each market. In the first week after each sauce’s release, consumers — particularly the Gen Z demographic — will see heavy advertising on TikTok and Instagram, encouraging them to try the new flavors “before they’re gone forever,” says Doty. Once the sauce sells out, paid social media will continue to fuel anticipation for the next flavor.
The brand currently has no plans to launch any of the flavors at retail, though “you never know where these might show up in the future,” says Doty.
“The limited-time component helps us test a variety of new, delicious flavors and sauces in a short window of time to really understand what our fans are craving and wanting more of,” she adds.
Starcom’s US media group, Publicis 57, handled Heinz’s purchase. Zeno took care of PR.
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