After 110 Years, Heinz Ketchup Package Finally Looks The Part

 I really can't make this stuff up.  According to an article by Emily Fredrix at the AP, after 110 years Heinz has finally made the tough decision to actually put a picture of a tomato on their ketchup packaging.  The tomato will replace the ever-popular and much loved....you guessed it...gherkin pickle.  Of course, there are no - and never have been any - gherkin pickles in the ketchup.  So, why was this such a tough decision that took over a century to make?

The director of ketchup for the company, was referenced in the article as saying:

"The pickle is an integral part of the Heinz company story, and the decision to retire it wasn't easy, she said, even though there are no pickles in Heinz ketchup.

Founder H.J. Heinz used a "pickle pin" to attract attention to his booth at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. The pins were popular, and the branding stuck."

And what's the rationale for this controversial decision?  According to the director:

"We really felt that the tomato is the hero of ketchup, and it was the right time to make the switch on our label."

Evidently, testing was done to validate this decision:

"In testing, mothers — the target buyers — said having the tomato on the label helped them make the connection with the product's main ingredient."

Having worked in large consumer packaged goods companies, I can understand how this kind of stuff happens.  Believe me, I've been there!  But when you look objectively, from the outside in, one can't help but think: "No Duh!"  Was it really a big surprise that a tomato would more accurately communicate what was in a bottle of ketchup than a gherkin pickle?

The lesson - sometimes we can get WAY to close to what we work on.  Things that are very obvious from the outside become very murky and complex and scary when your world revolves around the nuances of your business.  And, especially in this economy, but even if you've got lots of money sitting around, not everything should need to be tested.  If you can't make the leap that a tomato is better than a pickle on ketchup, imagine how long and how much it is going to cost to actually make a difficult decision...

Comments

[Tom Asacker]

Len, I certainly agree with your sentiments regarding the time and money spent on testing the obvious. It's truly amazing, especially in these very challenging times. However, I think the tomato image may be a bad move.

If the image stops people and makes them consciously consider their purchase decision, like Contadina's 1956 line "Who Puts Eight Great Tomatoes in That Itty Bitty Can?," then it may be worth the change. Otherwise, I would have made the pickle even more prominent and created curiosity and conversation; told the Heinz story, give out pins, etc. For the tomato isn't the hero of Heinz ketchup. Heinz is!

[Len Herstein]

Interesting point Tom. Interruption may be the name of the game - especially in a category that may have low involvement and in which the consumers are already on auto-pilot...