Heinz Footy Ketchup

Agency: Unified Brands
Creative Director: Alex Butenko
Design Director: Melissa Doria
Animator: Matthew Chan
Location: New Zealand
Project Type: Produced
Client: Kraft Heinz Australia
Product Launch Location: Australia
Packaging Contents: Ketchup
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Plastic bottle
Printing Process: Flexo

Heinz were looking to drive trial of their Tomato Ketchup and build brand love amongst Aussies. Leveraging on their partnership with the AFL, we were tasked with creating limited edition packaging, which ignited excitement through the season with passionate AFL fans across the country.

We knew that the 90s was making a well deserved comeback; in music, fashion and culture. Tapping into this iconic era and pulling on nostalgic heart strings, we wanted to bring back the AFL’s set of retro mascot characters, symbolic with the decade.

We evolved the illustrated characters in a way that maintained their original integrity, but allowed us to bring more meaning to them on pack. By replacing the iconic red Sherrin football with Heinz Tomato Ketchup’s very own red icon – the tomato, we brought a stronger connection between these treasured mascots and the Heinz brand.

To break down the cultural barrier and associations of sauce vs ketchup, we changed the name to ‘Footy Ketchup’. This in turn helped us strengthen the AFL fans’ allegiance with the Heinz ketchup they know and love from the stadiums, and bring that love into their homes

What’s Unique?
The outcome was a successful limited edition ‘Footy Ketchup’ series, with collectible bottles that celebrated each of the 18 AFL clubs and brought fans together across the nation.