An inside look at how Kraft Heinz brands joined the conversation around soccer’s biggest tournament—through culturally relevant activations and shared experiences that connected fans and employees around the world.
Key Takeaways:
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Cultural relevance comes from understanding how people are engaging with a moment and finding authentic ways for brands to participate.
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The strongest activations connect real-time cultural moments to clear brand truths, transforming observations into meaningful consumer experiences.
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Whether through marketing campaigns or employee celebrations, shared cultural moments create opportunities to build connection.
Seeing the Cultural Opportunity Beyond Sponsorship
This summer, as global attention turned to soccer’s (or football’s) biggest tournament, teams across Kraft Heinz saw something bigger than a media moment—they saw a cultural one.
Kraft Heinz wasn’t an official sponsor. But the company didn’t need to be.
The teams focused on what matters most today: showing up in ways that are timely, relevant and rooted in real consumer behavior. The work that followed is a great example of how Kraft Heinz is moving at the speed of culture.
Kicking Off the Tournament with an Unexpected Partnership
Even before the first match began, HEINZ found a way to join the conversation through an unexpected collaboration with Heineken. The campaign brought together two globally recognized brands that have already been on tables together for over 150 years – and now, they’ve finally made it official.
Launched at the start of the tournament, the partnership tapped into a longstanding consumer behavior of enjoying beer, ketchup and sports and transformed it into a playful cultural moment. For a limited time, consumers could purchase a six-pack with five Heineken beers and one bottle of HEINZ Tomato Ketchup.
The collaboration set the tone for what would become a summer of culturally relevant, insight-led activations across Kraft Heinz.
Starting With What Fans Were Already Seeing
At the start of the tournament, one pattern quickly emerged: brand logos everywhere were being covered due to sponsorship restrictions. Images of taped-over logos—from stadium signage to ketchup bottles—started flooding social feeds.
The insight was unmistakably HEINZ: even covered up, the brand is still recognizable.
That idea became HEINZ Unofficial Stadium Ketchup—a limited-edition product inspired by the exact visual fans were already engaging with. It recreated a real moment from the stadium experience and put it directly into consumers’ hands through both sampling and direct-to-consumer availability. And despite hundreds of brands’ logos being taped over, HEINZ was the only one to come out with a net-new product—offering it in record time via in-store, online and in restaurants with a relatively small investment.
The principle is simple: when culture gives a brand an opportunity, build upon it.
Moving at the Speed of Culture and Always Listening
Not all moments come directly from the game. Some come from the conversations happening around it.
As travel to the U.S. increased this summer, ranch dressing unexpectedly became a new favorite condiment among visitors. This love quickly became a viral topic online, and TSA chimed in to remind ranch lovers that a standard, 16-ounce bottle of ranch won’t fly with carry-on guidelines.
The Kraft team moved quickly—developing TSA-Compliant Ranch in less than 24 hours. The activation turned a trending conversation into something tangible and shareable: a clear travel bag filled with Kraft Ranch packets, complete with a custom luggage tag inspired by the iconic bottle. The action quickly went viral, making it the most successful Kraft activation in company history.
Across the pond, the UK team surprised fans with a welcome home gift, giving away 1,000 bottles of new HEINZ Ranch sauce delivered directly to people’s doors. It was a cross-cultural moment reminding Brits that Ranch was already home. The result: a 5% sales uplift since the start of the tournament.
Connecting Cultural Moments to Brand Truths
Another recurring event this summer was the rise in red and yellow cards—one of the most recognizable and debated parts of the game. As those moments dominated highlights, they also became part of the broader cultural conversation.
For HEINZ U.S., the connection was immediate. Those same colors represent something just as essential to game day: ketchup and mustard.
That insight led to HEINZ Penalty Packets—larger-format ketchup and mustard packets inspired by the iconic cards. With the activation, HEINZ called foul on bland game-day food, giving fans more of the condiments they already reach for to bring flavor to every bite. The packets sold out in just one week, proving the idea tapped into a universal fan truth: that when it comes to game day eats, It Has To Be HEINZ.
Meanwhile, the team in China rolled out a campaign centered on a universal brand truth: consumers can’t have fries without HEINZ. Displayed throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou Metro lines, the team transformed HEINZ-dipped fries into players’ legs through a series of playful ads that paid homage to an iconic food pairing.
When the cultural moment and product truth align, the idea resonates beyond the occasion itself.
What This Means for Modern Marketing
Across all these activations, the approach was consistent:
- Start with a real cultural signal
- Anchor in a clear and authentic brand truth
- Move quickly
- Give people something they can participate in or share
Brands quickly on the moments that matter most.
Bringing Employees Together Around the World
While Kraft Heinz brands were finding creative ways to participate in the cultural conversation, teams around the world were also celebrating the tournament together.
Across markets, employees gathered for local watch parties to cheer on their teams, connect with colleagues and share in one of the world's biggest sporting moments —all while enjoying Kraft Heinz’s best game day snacks. From friendly rivalries to shared celebrations, these events reflected the unique ability of sports to bring people together across geographies, cultures and backgrounds.
The gatherings served as a reminder that while marketing helps brands connect with consumers, moments like these also create opportunities to strengthen connections within Kraft Heinz teams.
