Ketchup Fraudsters Stopped RED in Their Tracks

As clever marketing  goes, this is a standout for me. 

Heinz ketchup is well-known throughout much of the world, and used in many a restaurant. But as an established household brand, it costs more than many ketchups sold to the catering industry, and as a result some proprietors have been known to refill empty Heinz ketchup bottles with other lower cost alternatives - so-called "ketchup fraud". 

Ketchup is ketchup, right? It's all red and it tastes of tomato! No, say Heinz. Their ketchup is a specific Pantone shade of red, and to enable customers to check they are actually being provided with "official" Heinz ketchup, the colour has been added as a border around bottle labels for comparison against the ketchup inside.

This in itself is a smart idea, but of course, there will be non-Heinz ketchups that are the same or a very similar shade of red, so it's not entirely fool-proof. What is clever, however, is that by publicising the problem of "ketchup fraud", they position Heinz as a premium brand which everyone wants on their table, without even saying so. This gives the product and brand a luxury feel, and subliminally suggests to the consumer that they should be asking "is it Heinz?" when they are presented with a bottle of the red stuff, to make sure they're getting the genuine Heinz product.

Aside from the marketing value of this campaign, it is also a move by Heinz to protect and reinforce the reputation of their brand, which is key to its commercial value.

I was also asked if I thought this might be a move by Heinz to begin gathering evidence of acquired distinctiveness, in order to seek protection of their Pantone "ketchup red" as a trade mark, however, I personally believe this would be an impossible task. Whilst Heinz may have identified the exact shade of their product, there is no way of proving that no other ketchup is the same shade, and given that many ketchups will be a similar shade, its unlikely the average consumer would identify the product as Heinz ketchup based purely upon its colour, without the Pantone-banded label on the product for reference. 

Nevertheless, as an established brand, and one that is clearly concerned about impersonation by others, I would expect they have considered all options for protecting this idea, and this is an important exercise for any brand owner when making changes to their marketing approach.