Everyone knows Heinz and chances are they have products in their cupboards—but what can you do to make sure people reach for them each time? By setting up a sponsorship with ITV and STV National Weather throughout 2020, we helped Heinz stay front of mind every day of the year, leading to a dramatic increase in sales. 
 

The insight

Brits love talking about the weather—so much so, they discuss it on average once every six hours. It affects where we go, what we wear, how we feel, and what we eat. It’s part of what connects us to strangers and enables us to make small talk. As such, weather presenters are some of our most influential talent—especially during a year when everything was different. Musing on the weather offered much-needed familiar relief. 

The challenge

Brand awareness for Heinz was already very high. More than 90% of UK households bought Heinz, but sales and penetration were decreasing. Brits had Heinz in their cupboards but it was taking people longer to reach for them. What could we do to reverse this worrying trend? Seasonality of sales also presented a challenge, i.e. soup sales peak in winter and sauces increase in the summer. It meant there was no obvious time for Heinz to focus its TV spend. 

The idea

Heinz’ objective was ‘growing mental availability’ around mealtimes—people needed to think about the products they had in their cupboards. We know Brits love Heinz just as much as they love talking about the weather, so here was the perfect opportunity for Heinz to boost mental availability by sponsoring the National Weather! Broadcast daily at lunchtime, dinnertime, and late evening, two of the slots are when people often decide what to eat. It also solved the seasonal challenge, as messaging could be adapted based on when the ad was shown. 

• The brief was to show that Heinz makes even the weather better. Our response was to feature relevant Heinz products based on the time of day and year.

• Heinz delivered 250 assets to run across TV, digital, and display. 

• Broadcast three times a day, Heinz accessed high-frequency of messaging. We helped them create three idents shown at different times—55 seconds of sponsorship every day.

• We added a Heinz sponsor button to our weather website, directing users to the Heinz website. We also included bumper ads throughout our National Weather online bulletins. 

• We granted Heinz use of ITV Weather talent for internal and external promotions as well as the rights to use the ITV Weather name, logo, and key assets. 

• We created an ROS display across ITV.com.

By sponsoring the National Weather, Heinz achieved staggering results and seamlessly boosted the mental availability of its products. The high volume activity offered Heinz the perfect opportunity to land its messaging to millions of people every day. By tailoring ads based on the seasons, Heinz positioned itself as a brand suitable for every time of the year and is now continuing the partnership into 2021. 

If you're looking to supercharge your brands growth, or revenue, then TV might be the perfect partnership. Why not partner with the UK's largest commercial broadcaster to kick start your conversation with the nation today. 

Sound like the right opportunity for you? Get in touch with itvcommercial@itv.com for more information.