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A man named Brian Hernandez , aged 49 and employed as a construction worker in a small town near Ontario , Canada , has unintentionally caused a revolution in the food market… and all because he made a post on Facebook ! Even though he only had 432 friends on the social network, at the time he made the post the impact of the message was such that it went viral in a country where ketchup is a product used by 80% of the population.
So let's start at the beginning. It was February 23, 2015 , when Brian Hernandez casually posted a photo of a bottle of French's ketchup . In the post, Brian praised the taste of the ketchup and the fact that it was extremely good, especially since it had no preservatives. What's more, Brian Hernandez wrote that the ketchup was actually made with tomatoes grown in italy email list Canada , unlike Heinz ketchup , which had recently closed a plant in Leamington , causing over 740 people to lose their jobs.
Given this discovery and the quality of French ’s ketchup , Brian Hernandez ends the post with three words: Bye, Bye, Heinz . However, he was far from knowing that he was just the first to bid a cordial farewell to the brand’s ketchup.
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It took just three days for his limited network of friends to spread the message overwhelmingly. Not long after, the image of French ’s Ketchup and the message that ended with Bye Bye had been shared by more than 102,000 people on Facebook , inspiring several online campaigns to boycott Heinz products . It wasn’t long before the media became intrigued by the story and also turned their attention to ketchup . More than 200 newspapers, websites and blogs repeated the story.
Today, Brian Hernandez , who until the fateful day of the publication considered himself to have a normal life, is known on the streets of the small town where he lives as “the ketchup guy” . This peculiar and even humorous episode serves as a lesson to any Digital Marketing professional.
This case proves that content really does rule on social media . A good message, even if shared only with a small community like Brian Hernandez 's , is capable of spreading. The most ironic thing is that Brian didn't even have the goal of going viral or influencing the opinions of others: the message he created was merely personal but with a strong message for the community in which it was inserted, which is why it was so successful.
Of course, however, this did not happen entirely by chance. The subject matter was strong and the unique characteristics of the French’s brand product accelerated this food revolution . This only happened because Brian first went on a research process to find the best ketchup on the market. After some research into ketchups (yes, Brian must really love ketchup!) he found this brand and decided to buy it instead of putting the usual Heinz bottle in his shopping basket . And why this brand? Because he had discovered that French’s had taken over the factory recently abandoned by Heinz .
And this also proves that we live in an era where the voice of the consumer matters more than ever. Thanks to social media , we can voice our opinions, even if it’s just to our group of friends, and change the way we make word-of-mouth recommendations. Brands and companies that still don’t recognize this active role of the consumer are making a big mistake.
What Heinz didn't do and should have done
And speaking of failure… how did Heinz deal with this situation? A food revolution like this, caused by a photograph and a few words, certainly had a negative impact on the company. What actions did Heinz take to deal with this crisis? It seems that the brand’s communication failed to respond to this problem, which also serves as a lesson for all companies that do not have a crisis plan in place.
According to information released not by Heinz but by the Mayor of Leamington , Heinz still helps maintain around 400 jobs in the town through the production of other Heinz products, such as vinegar, tomato juice and pasta sauce. Even though the company has discontinued production of ketchup , not all jobs have been lost. This action by Heinz , which could have been used by the brand to improve its own image, did not come from one of its spokespeople. Heinz remained silent.
This lesson that Brian Hernandez (and Ketchup ) gave us also shows that we have to be aware of everything that happens on social media that concerns our brand. Not that you need an account on every social network that exists to do this. However, it is important to know how to manage it, know how to respond to criticism, control situations and, above all, maintain direct contact with the public.
