Heinz - Cowan

HEINZ

A comeback story.

An iconic brand with a heritage harking back to 1869, Heinz has been a beloved pantry staple through generations. Their success had been down to one thing: true, hand-to-heart quality. When Heinz engaged Cowan, the world around the brand had changed with more emphasis on nutrition, ingredients, chilled foods, exciting new brands and flavour ranges. It was time for a refresh. To get Heinz back to its rightful place at the top of the shelf, we constructed a revitalised visual identity – one that would appeal to the appetites of a newer, younger audience. The full keystone and uppercase word mark, which represent over 140 years of tradition, were brought back – telling the story of an authentic heritage brand and connecting with consumers through joyful nostalgia, a reminder of simpler times. The keystone was a powerful unifying brand tool, helping us connect all Heinz’s sub-brands across their best loved ranges. The reintroduction of these iconic assets led to a 20% year-on-year sales increase just two years after launch. It also contributed to Heinz selling more cans in a month than ever before – a delicious 51 million of them.

A consistent chameleon.

Cowan was also engaged by Heinz to develop a new visual identity for the pasta portfolio – focusing on nutrition and consumer trust. The Heinz keystone offers the brand a tremendous platform from which to bring each sub-brands proposition and personality to life in a unique and own able way. We did that across many of Heinz’s best loved ranges…

Heinz Farmers Market

Heinz were looking to launch a new global soup brand that visually communicated fresh ‘farmers market’ produce. Taking consumer’s straight to the Farmers Market with abundant, fresh, vegetable photography, we reinvented the keystones as a market ‘sign’ embodying the naturalness of a fresh fruit and vegetable market stall. The Farmers market brand quickly grew to £8m with ambient sales of 53% and chilled sales of 78%. The design was also awarded a prestigious FAB Design Award.

Grown not made.

In launching Heinz Ketchup to the Russian market, a compelling quality story needed to be brought to the fore. Heinz’s tomatoes weren’t just any old tomatoes, they were of the absolute highest quality – closer to nature than any other brand in the category. Building on the iconic keystone and iconic brand colour, we leveraged the pouch format to its fullest potential – expressing ‘grown not made’ by taking the imagery right back to the vine.