No More Mayo
Kraft Heinz
Issue 52 | September 2019
Agency
VaynerMedia
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer: Steve Babcock Group Creative Director: David Rosenberg Creative Director: James Spector Associate Creative Director: Michael Roma
Production Team
Chief Production Officer: Aaron Kovan Integrated Producer: Paul Rubin Director: Juan Zuleta Executive Producer: Mat Hollis Producer: Dani Hiravy
Other Credits
Senior Vice President: Nick Miaritis Account Supervisor: David Argov
Date
July 2019
Background
Americans spend $2 billion a year on mayonnaise. Sales of the dressing have doubled since 2005. Miracle Whip is not strictly speaking a mayonnaise but is used very much in the same way. It is sweeter and tangier than traditional mayo, which may seem dull in comparison.
Idea
Miracle Whip wanted to explore and expand beyond TV and digital advertising to drive relevance of the brand in popular culture.
Testing a series of ideas led to the idea that Miracle Whip is the enemy of bland and that led directly to researching the town of Mayo in Florida.
In August 2018, Kraft Heinz approached the Mayor of Mayo with a radical idea. Changing its name to Miracle Whip. Spending next to nothing on media and social content, what started out as a marketing stunt evolved into something more special as the townsfolk’s hatred for the new name turned into appreciation and even love.
Results
The brand saw an increase in business results for the first time in 12 years.
More than 400 publications reported on the name change with a billion earned media impressions.
More than 30% incremental organic impressions were garnered which resulted in a 30% savings for Miracle Whip’s CPM. The longer-form creative got 20% higher view through rates than is typical with more than 4.6 million total views.
Our Thoughts
What happened was when the Mayor called a town meeting and announced the name change there was an outcry. But then traffic began turning off the main interstate highway to visit this funny little town called Miracle Whip and local businesses started to perk up. Bit by bit, the townspeople began to see how this idea wasn’t just selling a salad dressing, it was selling their town.
This may have been an unintended consequence of the original idea but it does seem to reveal a purpose for Miracle Whip in popular culture, if the brand wants one, as a catalyst for change, bringing zest wherever it finds dullness.