What can we learn from Heinz copywriting?

Introduction: This article selects Heinz's successful advertising copywriting experience as the theme, and tells you how to write copywriting through examples and exercises. It must be Heinz, and it must also grasp the core. I hope this article can bring some inspiration to copywriters.

Almost once a week, we would look at some productions from outside and put them on the planet for copywriters to practice writing, to see how copywriters read pictures, how they read strategies, and how they read the meaning and interest of English-Chinese translations.

Copywriter:
Evenwhenitisn'tHeinz,ithastobeHeinz.
Literal translation: Even if it's not Heinz, it must be Heinz

Heinz launched a series of print ads showing restaurants trying to fool customers through "ketchup fraud."

In a style similar to the candid photos that have circulated on social networks, it shows restaurants cheating by filling Heinz bottles with other brands of ketchup because those ketchup brands may be cheaper.

The highlight of this copy lies in the insight and strategy behind it. On the surface, it is a denunciation and exposure of a fraudulent behavior, but the insight behind it is that in Europe and the United States, "Heinz" is synonymous with authentic ketchup. Consumers hope that restaurants use Heinz ketchup, but Heinz is relatively expensive, so many restaurants will pass off inferior products as good ones. The sneaky posture in the photo makes this behavior concrete.

As the saying goes, if you want to write that Heinz is the best ketchup, you can't write "Heinz is the best ketchup". Instead, you should write that consumers only want to eat Heinz ketchup. You should write about the sneakiness of restaurant employees and how they are willing to use Heinz bottles to pack cheap ketchup to deceive consumers in order to save costs... Then the quality of Heinz will be fully revealed.

This is not the first time Heinz has adopted this strategy. The previous "Tip for HEINZ" campaign was based on a similar concept. It encouraged consumers to tip the restaurant one dollar so that the restaurant could afford Heinz ketchup. At the same time, Heinz also encouraged consumers to post photos of their bills on social networks as proof of the tip, and the brand would reimburse them, greatly increasing the brand's social engagement.

For example, in this Heinz series, the planet would like the copywriter to pay more attention to the conception and framing of others. This is definitely the case, and the restaurant has no choice but to do so. But using this method to make a counter-proof advertisement, especially when the copywriter is so open-minded, is still full of strategic challenges for the copywriters who are practicing writing.

Look at their copy: Even if it’s not Heinz, it has to be Heinz.

The pictures in the kitchen illustrate this behavior. Everything else that may not be Heinz is squeezed into Heinz.

The operator thought Heinz didn't know that. Heinz made this series of posters to make it known. It's just that Heinz's copywriter wrote this sentence in an ironic and plain way.

The merchants know that as long as the ketchup is of a certain standard, it is almost impossible to tell the authenticity unless you are a high-end taste bud connoisseur. Especially when they are all squeezed into Heinz cans, the psychological cognition of diners has surpassed the taste cognition.

It is definitely this kind of behavior in the market that is eroding and impacting Heinz's repurchase rate, so Heinz is trying to make businesses feel ashamed by asking the public to give tips, and is also trying to expose the back kitchen to let consumers take a closer look in the future to see if the old bottle is filled with new sauce.

The following is an excerpt of some of the copywriting and free shipping interactions:

@Steven Cheng:

Heinz's words are still like ChatGPT, with gentle and elegant sarcasm. Unlike our words, they are not as sharp as a knife.

Look at the pictures of the backstage, the work is done calmly and calmly, as if it is commonplace. But the copywriter still sees through it but does not say it, and still teases it in a very kind way. The sentence structure of "even if it is not, it must be" and the scene of being full of grievances and letting things go is as if the waves have washed away the true qualities of the hero.

The copywriting is not a call for war at all, it just reflects that it is too popular and there is no way to avoid such small actions, so as to make competitors feel ashamed and give up. But we can never learn such magnanimity, and we want to add more strength to such copywriting. So, one is the plain bystander copywriting: the juggling in the kitchen; the other is the official announcement of the competitor: if you can't squeeze out Heinz, squeeze in.

Practice copywriting:

Who makes me only recognize Heinz ? I can't do anything about it.

Comment: This is written from the perspective of the restaurant and the kitchen, which is a good angle, but it is more like a concept (an idea is described in words but has not been polished by the copywriter). The copywriter might as well write "Heinz's bottle, the restaurant's face".

Helpless Heinz

Comment: Although Heinz is helpless about this kind of behavior, in this set of advertisements, Heinz should be pretending to be helpless but actually being Versailles.

Essential ingredients for good ketchup: Heinz, Heinz, Heinz

Comment: Heinz's placebo or Heinz's substitute

"Let's go, this isn't the real Heinz either" (Note: Because the title says it was a candid shot, I thought of a customer peeking into the kitchen, and then added quotation marks, as if the person filming the scene was having a conversation)

Comment: The customer was caught red-handed by the consumer and left in anger. This angle and scene are quite novel. Or it can be more explicit: "After witnessing all this, the French fries in my hand suddenly lost their flavor."

Disclaimer: We do not advocate that other ketchup try to become Heinz.

Comment: The description of squeezing other brands of ketchup into a Heinz bottle is like "breaking one's head", which is a very vivid and graphic analogy.

• Use Heinz cans to give ketchup a bit of flair
• Unveiling the secrets of the kitchen: the face-saving project of ketchup (Note: the core idea is a "face-saving project" (this case reminds me of the case of canned yellow peaches that I saw in the high-level workplace before)

Comment: The correspondence between "jar" and "face" is very clever. The rhyme adds rhythm and ingenuity to the previous and next sentences. At the same time, the use of "face project" to summarize this counterfeit behavior is also very appropriate.

Do you think that if you squeeze into a Heinz bottle, you become Heinz?

Why do you always put on a vest and pretend to be Heinz?

Comment: Both sentences use a questioning tone, which seems to be a denunciation, but Heinz is actually being very generous here, so for example, the first sentence can also be rephrased as "If you squeeze into the same bottle, you can't become a family."

Heinz, Heinz Sauce

Heinz, very good at pretending!

Comment: The idea is very broad and the words are well chosen, which shows that in the face of others' impersonation, Heinz displays a broad-minded attitude with a unique angle and a large pattern.

Always copied, never defeated

Heinz cannot shirk this responsibility!

Comment:

In fact, this is not the fault of other brands of ketchup. They did not imitate Heinz. It was the people in the restaurant kitchen who made the substitution because customers only recognized Heinz.

If Heinz is also responsible, it may be that the bottles are too durable.

Here we just select one case. Whether it is answering questions or discussing, everyone has their own perspective. Of course, some copywriters are influenced by prompts and will not pay much attention to pictures when writing; some copywriters are more literal translations; or they stand from the perspective of consumers, but for beginners, practicing more such translations will help you advance better in the future; you will pay more attention to pictures; pay more attention to the strategies behind; pay more attention to the merchant's intentions, and pay more attention to the copywriter's own operational space.

Author: Steven Cheng

Source: WeChat public account "Copywriting Free Shipping" (ID: kol100)