Responses by Mike Dubrick, managing partner/executive creative director, Rethink
Background: The brief from Heinz was straightforward: We needed to show that nothing goes better with summer BBQ food than Heinz. That may sound like a pretty tactical brief, but Heinz is an iconic brand. So, at every touchpoint, we looked for opportunities to use that status. The Made With Heinz campaign was an opportunity to do something ambitious in a way only a handful of brands can.
Reasoning: Condiments are always considered an add-on, a topping. But BBQ food isn’t complete without things like Heinz Ketchup. So, in an interesting way, Heinz is an ingredient. BBQ food is made with Heinz. The brand plays a central role, not a supporting one. I mean, if a burger doesn’t have Heinz Ketchup on it, is it even a burger?
Challenges: The piece needed to feel iconically Heinz, while at the same time, deliver on deliciousness. Visually, it’s incredibly simple, but a tremendous amount of work went into striking the right balance between the recognizability of the Heinz keystone and ensuring the food looked delicious.
Favorite details: First, I’m so proud of the team for the work. The level of detail and the passion they put in comes through. Second, it’s the simplicity of the work. Executing this without the brand name or official logo, even for an iconic brand like Heinz, is not an easy call for our clients. It shows real confidence on their part to run with it.
Visual influences: There are only a handful of brands in the world that are so ingrained in pop culture that they can execute campaigns with this level of simplicity. Heinz Ketchup is one of those brands. The goal was to live up to that iconic status and create something that could live on a global scale.
Anything new: This OOH campaign certainly shows the power and capabilities of CGI. “Driving deliciousness” was central to the brief, and the key to achieving that was realism. The CGI work on this project exceeded our expectations in terms of the kind of realism you can create.