A year since launching their first ever Pasta Sauce that was ‘Ridiculously Late’ to the market (but ‘Ridiculously Good’), Kraft Heinz New Ventures announces one of the most unexpected partnerships of the year.
Household favourite Heinz has teamed up with premium vodka brand Absolut Vodka to make the dreams of Pasta alla Vodka lovers come true, launching the UK’s first tomato vodka pasta sauce in a limited-edition launch unveiled today.
The much-loved recipe is launching to the masses in a campaign devised by Wunderman Thompson Spain. Inspired by quintessential Absolut adverts from 1980 which feature a simple visual design, the campaign pays homage to iconic ads from the vodka brand with a Heinz twist.
To learn more, we spoke to Paco Badia, Executive Creative Director at Wunderman Thompson Spain, the agency behind the campaign.
What was the brief?
One year after launching the new range of Heinz Tomato Pasta Sauces by way of the ‘Ridiculously Late. Ridiculously Good.’ campaign in the UK, The Heinz New Ventures team wanted to continue the momentum and bring renewed excitement to the market by launching an innovative new product: tomato vodka pasta sauce.
This premium special edition celebrates pasta alla vodka, a popular recipe back in the ‘70s, which went viral a couple of years ago when Gigi Hadid posted her own version of it on TikTok.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
The whole process has been one big collaboration since the day we started. The client knew that, with an innovation like this, it needed to partner with a brand that represents to vodka what Heinz represents to tomatoes.
It was then that, José María, our Chief Client Officer, came up with the idea of partnering with Absolut Vodka – one of the most iconic brands ever, offering the premium quality that this recipe deserves.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
We started by conceptualizing the packaging, the hero element of the campaign. So, we modified the iconic Heinz Tomato Pasta Sauce jar, adding some of the most recognizable Absolut elements to its label: The Absolut Vodka logo, the script font used for the product storytelling, the exact Absolut blue pantone and a silver lid.
Then we focused on the campaign. From the start of the process, we knew that our creative ideas should pay homage to the classic Absolut Vodka adverts. This inspired us to take a closer look at The Absolut Book and start sketching ideas out, looking for visual metaphors to help bring the storytelling of the product to life.
We wanted the key visuals to be iconic, playing with smart interactions between the Absolut Vodka silhouette and the Heinz packaging – putting a smile on the viewer’s face. Another strong inspiration was pop art. Andy Warhol created part of the original Absolut campaign and had also designed packaging for Heinz back in the ‘60s.
The campaign had to have that flawless Warhol touch. Every element in the composition was specifically designed and positioned, with a single-minded vision. For the copywriting, we turned Absolut to its adverb form to link with Heinz’ ‘Ridiculously Good.’ line. Using this formula, we wrote different concepts related to the recipe that complemented the meaning of the key visuals. For example, ‘Absolutely Pasta. Ridiculously Good.’
What was the production process like?
To execute this project we selected Marcel Juan, a talented photographer and film director, who has art direction at the centre of his body of work. ‘Premium-ness’ and ‘foodie-ness’ were core values. We wanted every visual to have depth and real texture, as if the viewer could touch the elements.
For this reason, we avoided 3D and went for a real set design. Toni, the art director, had to create specific elements from scratch. The glass cheese dome shaped like the Absolut Vodka bottle used in one of the visuals was handmade by an artisan. A home economist worked for a week to achieve the bottle-shaped spaghetti.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
Our obsession for detail became a challenge as we had to produce four pictures and three social videos in one day. But If I have to choose one, the biggest challenge was shooting the image of the tomato plants.
What kit/tools/software were used to create the project?
We used a Canon 5d mark IV to shoot the photographs and a Sony Alpha 7 IV for the social videos.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
In order to keep the tomato plants fresh for the shooting, they came to the studio in their plant pots, and we had to turn up the air conditioning. So we were literally freezing!
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
This launch is about two premium, world-renowned brands joining forces to bring some excitement to every British table. Elevating the taste of every British pasta meal and engaging with the consumers in the most iconic, yet accessible way.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
It took seven months for this campaign to see the light of day. Every collaboration project dealing with two clients requires extra time, but it was easy to get everyone on board when they saw the creative work.
Developing a product with the supreme quality to meet the high expectations of both Heinz and Absolut became a big challenge when it came to timing.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
The aim of this campaign is to achieve even more fame for both Heinz Pasta Sauce and Absolut Vodka, and the first results show that it seems to have performed very well.
But overall, we want to keep building awareness for the Heinz Pasta Sauces – a product range that has spent just one year on the shelves but has become an instant classic. We want to believe that Heinz in the UK means Tomato Ketchup, Baked Beanz and, now, it means Tomato Pasta Sauce too.
Credit list for the work?
New Ventures Managing Director: Caio Fontenele
New Ventures Head of Platform: Alessandra Sega
New Ventures Senior Growth Manager: Riddhi Shah
Heinz Team: Alexandra Bayet, Isabel Oliver
Creative agency: Wunderman Thompson Spain
Chief Client Officer: Jose Maria Piera
General Creative Direction: David Caballero
Executive creative direction: Pipo Virgós, Paco Badia
Creative Director: Gloria Hernández
Art direction: Sergi Boixadera, Carlos Galán
Copywriting: Albert Xifra
Production Director: Susanna Bergés
Graphic Designer: Patricia Jiménez
Account Director: Natàlia Gasulla
Account Executive: Carla Pérez
Stills and digital content: Pixfix
Photographer and video producer: Marcel Juan
Media Agency: Carat
Consumer PR Agency: Wonderland
