In 2000, Heinz decided to give “America’s
Target Audience
Favorite Ketchup” a Technicolor
makeover. It turned the ketchup world
upside-down when they began rolling out
crazy-colored ketchup in purple, pink,
orange, teal, and blue varieties. It is
considered to be the oddest food fads in
recent memory. The marketing campaign
aimed squarely at children.
Heinz EZ Squirt’s first color entry was
‘Blastin Green’ and was created as a
promotional ketchup in support of the
first SHREK movie. The green ketchup
came in a new EZ Squirt plastic squeeze
bottle, specially designed with a narrow
nozzle to let kids paint their food with
precision. In 7 months, Heinz sold more
than 10 million bottles of green ketchup,
pushing up total sales by 5.4%
Each new color resulted in incremental
sales volume. More than 25 million bottles
of colored ketchup were sold by 2006
i.
The real purchase driver on this one was the
movie tie-in. Kids wanted to be like Shrek.
However, this was not a good strategy for
creating a sustainable brand as kids have short
attention spans and are easily distracted by the
next new movie, toy, or superhero on the
cereal box.
ii. Timing
Heinz initially introduced EZ Squirt in green.
Incremental sales volumes skyrocketed. But
they waited 2 years before introducing the
next SKU in the lineup. They did not take
advantage of the “hype”
iii. Product
The vibrant color hues of EZ Squirt were
achieved by stripping the red color from
traditional Heinz ketchup and adding food
coloring. It could no longer be called ‘tomato
ketchup’ like the original red. EZ Squirt came
along at a time when parents were becoming
more and more cautious of artificial food
colorings and its effects on kids’ behavior.

Re-positioning EZ Squirt as a family-friendly and
not just a kids-friendly product would help Heinz
regain its market share.
• Dwindling sales
• Bringing in new customers
• Differentiate from other brands
• Increasing occasions for use
“reposition EZ Squirt ketchup as a
family-friendly product that is both-
unique and natural”
1. Recreate its image as a product
made with natural ingredients and
process:
 Utilize green and purple tomatoes in
the creation of ketchup
 Utilize other fruits and vegetables to
create healthy smoothie ketchup
 Reduce the chemical processes involved
in the creation of colored ketchup
 Inform the consumers about the new
processes and ingredients by providing
free samples and taste tests at the local
grocery store
 Launch a campaign informing people
how the ketchup is made using social
media and commercials
2. MOM rules:
 We can never forget Mom when it
comes to marketing to young children.
 She is the gatekeeper who you need to
keep happy in the marketing equation
3. Grow usage occasion:
A totally new condiment that
encouraged kids to eat more fruits and
vegetables.
For example; Blueberry ketchup that
you could squeeze on sliced fruit or use
as a dipping sauce for grapes,
strawberries, or bananas would grow
the usage occasion and added interest
to a sleepy category
4. Demonstrate the unique nature of Heinz
EZ Squirt and its ability to make food fun
for families and children:
 Increase the accessibility for creativity
 Create smaller bottles of ketchup
 Hold ketchup masterpiece contest where
children create a ketchup picture that is
submitted via social media #ketchupcreation
 Hold family cooking classes with kid-friendly
recipes that utilize this ketchup
NAME: Tabriz Mohta

INSTITUTE: Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Hyderabad