Five Reasons H. J. Heinz Isn’t Happy
A New York Times article over the weekend, “The High Price of Creating Free Ads,” takes a look at the difficulty H. J. Heinz brand ketchup is having in getting quality work in a consumer-generated advertising (CGA) promotion on YouTube.
The current user-submitted video tagged “heinz” with the most views is this ode to ketchup’s heavy dose of high fructose corn syrup.
After having a long weekend to think about it, I’d like to suggest some factors that might explain why Heinz is getting such low quality submissions for their expensive campaign.
Brand Loyalty: There is a certain amount of passion a product needs to inspire before it can be successful in the CGA market, and lets face it, Heinz Ketchup isn’t exactly a lifestyle brand. Think American Apparel, Starbucks, and the Toyota Prius. Has anyone ever declined to have ketchup with their fries because it wasn’t Heinz ketchup?
Too Many Contests: YouTube has an entire page devoted to featured contests. And while Heinz’ initial promotional spot for the campaign has over 800,000 views, so do a dozen other CGA and promotional campaigns on YouTube. Just launching a contest is money paid upfront, with no guarantee that you’ll be happy with the results.
Not Enough Incentive: While $57,000 and national broadcast exposure would seem to be a goldmine for your average YouTube user, considering how much work goes into creating a quality 30-second spot and how slim your chances of winning are, it’s really not that great. Plus, there’s a built-in disincentive — if your spot isn’t picked, you still lose the rights to your work. I’m sorry, but listing “Eternal Glory” as a one of the prizes for the winner isn’t going to cut it, even (or maybe especially) if intended ironically.
Creator Saturation: If there’s a filmmaker out there who hasn’t heard of YouTube, I’d be really, really surprised. And most of the best filmmakers working online are moving away from YouTube to services like Blip, Revver, Veoh, Vimeo and so on where they have more control over their work and revenue options. Real filmmakers want real jobs, not a shot at a prize in a promotional stunt.
Blowback: The online community is big, but it’s still dominated by a certain skepticism — note the power of Atheists on YouTube. As the “build your own Chevy ad” campaign proved, when there are serious questions about how safe and healthy your product is, you are basically giving a forum to your detractors.
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All good points, but I wonder whether all the publicity about this has been a net positive for them and makes the whole thing worth it, even if they don’t get a broadcast quality product out of it in the end. In fact, maybe that’s the problem, they set the bar too high. They should have just made it a contest, let users vote and have the whole thing be a self-referring exercise to reach the YouTube audience.
Michael Hoffman on May 29th, 2007 at 4:17 pm - Permalink
That’s true, Michael. I almost added as much as a footnote. The only thing that stopped me is that, compared to the one video clearly mocking Heinz, the top entries in the contest itself seem to be reaching 2,000 views at best.
But then, no publicity is bad publicity, and they did get a Times plug!
Jackson West on May 29th, 2007 at 5:23 pm - Permalink
It’s already been raised that the YouTube video-contest idea is becoming played out. With the arrival of big brand companies’ presence online such as Heinz, it wouldn’t be too far off to say that this is a leading indicator that the web 2.0 space will further used as a reiteration of the broadcast marketing model.
Also, Heinz did get a Times plug but in terms of maximizing resources and driving value, Heinz fell short here.
Johnny Chan on May 29th, 2007 at 6:37 pm - Permalink
i have been reading alot about this since the ny times did the story. ” I Think The NY Times is making Heinz Look Bad And Stupid”and there making all the videos sound badin the heinz contest on youtube ,i myself was interviewed im in the contest, and i think i have a great entry my best is entry #85 i have (5) entered # 85 video.. its a jingle i wrote for heinz.and i sang and filmed the entry, i worked hard on it, i can see why theres so much negitive about this contest i myself watched all the videos and found only 5 really worth entering. so i totally agree on the no effort put into some videos in the contest part., i think alot of people entered this contest trying to be cute and gross they watched to much american idol rejects, and i think they thought there reject video would be on national tv. thanks to the ny times and alot of other news media people like that guy brushing his teeth with heinz , will now make that guy famous ,so i guess he wasent to dumb afterall? so thanks American Idol, deltadj2006 hope i didint affend no one here :O
deltadj2006 on June 4th, 2007 at 4:32 pm - Permalink
My Heinz ad is featured in the new york times and it is NOT cut down like all the others in the compition were, I myself have only been making videos for a total of going on only 3 months of my life and to have a featured commercial for a newbie like me is pretty darn good, I mean I will be the first to admit I know what I want but as a newbie it is VERY HARD to get a point accross through video, that my friend is the rest of the story…. come see it yourself at newbievids.com OH and as a matter of fact when is the TV industry going to open their eyes, yeah maybe the team of specialist do not care for all the heinz ads they are vieweing BUT WAKE UP WHO CARES it is the PEOPLE and what the PEOPLE enjoy viewing that counts… isnt that what this is truely all about to begin with WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT.
Michelle Cale on June 4th, 2007 at 5:19 pm - Permalink