Consumer Brands Must Relish Their Cultural Moments: Kraft Heinz’s Jon Stimmel
CANNES, France – Kraft Heinz has more than 70 brands and products in almost every American pantry. Apparently, that still isn’t enough real estate.
The food giant is looking beyond the refrigerator door as it tries to plant Heinz, Oscar Mayer and other brands more firmly in sports, entertainment and social media. The strategy calls for showing up in cultural moments where consumers are already paying attention rather than interrupting them with yet another ad.
“We have 96% penetration in anyone’s pantry, so we’re everywhere,” Jon Stimmel, vice president of media, sports and entertainment at Kraft Heinz, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan during an interview at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
But ubiquity presents its own marketing challenge. Consumers may know what Kraft Heinz products taste like without necessarily having much of an idea what the brands stand for.
“We want to make sure that we are in that moment,” Stimmel said. That means being “fast to market, quick to take on cultural relevance” while harnessing consumer passions around sports and entertainment.
In other words, ketchup would like a larger role in your life.
Football becomes a bigger part of the menu
Sports has emerged as a major part of that strategy. Kraft Heinz entered an NFL partnership this year for the first time, giving the company a way to connect multiple brands with one of the biggest audiences in U.S. media.
“We know that’s a passion audience, a very scaled audience, and we want to be there in relevant moments,” Stimmel said.
One of those came during the NFL Draft. Heinz used the 57th pick to unveil its “Mr. 57” campaign with former NFL star Devin Hester, turning a number already synonymous with the ketchup brand into a football marketing opportunity.
The company now is looking toward the fall season, when football provides plenty of occasions for consumers to eat foods that conveniently require condiments.
Kraft Heinz wants its brands involved in “tailgate moments, shopping moments” and the broader experience of watching football, Stimmel said.
Making sure the wiener isn’t a one-off
Kaplan noted that marketers now operate in what amounts to a permanent state of media fragmentation, with audiences scattered across streaming, social platforms, traditional television and live events.
For Kraft Heinz, one answer is consistency. Stimmel said the company wants to create recurring properties rather than chase a collection of disconnected marketing stunts.
“If we’re doing a Heinz Red Zone or things like that, we want to make sure that we’re consistently doing that year in and year out, avoiding the one-offs,” he said.
Few Kraft Heinz properties illustrate that approach better than the Wienie 500, an Oscar Mayer promotion staged with Indianapolis Motor Speedway before Memorial Day.
The spectacle, which involves the brand’s Wienermobiles racing at the famed track, returned for its second year and is expected back again next year. Stimmel described it as “a race inside of a race.”
Sometimes the advertising industry spends years developing new technology to capture consumer attention. Sometimes you race giant hot dogs around Indianapolis.
Fans responded positively, Stimmel said, while Fox worked with Kraft Heinz to integrate the promotion into the broader event.
Creators earn a bigger spot in the mix
Social media also has become an increasingly important part of Kraft Heinz’s marketing strategy as consumer attention spreads across more platforms.
The company works with creators and influencers who already have audiences and can find credible ways to bring its brands into their content.
“We recognize the power of these social platforms, and obviously the followings that occur,” Stimmel said.
More importantly for anyone responsible for explaining a marketing budget, the investments appear to be measurable. Stimmel said Kraft Heinz has seen positive results from creators and influencers in its marketing mix modeling.
The channel has consequently become a cornerstone of the company’s media mix, he said.
Sponsorships have to do more than show up
Kaplan asked Stimmel how Kraft Heinz distinguishes partnerships that can build lasting brand equity from those that merely produce a burst of visibility.
For Stimmel, the starting point is determining what the company wants a sponsorship to accomplish over time.
“Everything we look at, we look at what is the long-term goal of what we are trying to do,” he said.
That also means resisting the temptation to treat sponsorship as little more than logo placement. Kraft Heinz wants its brands to feel connected to the experience rather than interrupting it.
“We’re actually showing up in ways that are completely connected to that moment,” Stimmel said.
Ideally, that connection survives after the game, race or social post is over and follows consumers to the store or an online shopping cart.
The goal, Stimmel said, is for consumers to make an “inspired connection immediately” that elevates Kraft Heinz brands over competitors.
For a company already occupying 96% of pantries, finding that remaining 4% may require a few more football games, creators and racing Wienermobiles.
You’re watching Beet.TV coverage from Cannes Lions 2026. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
CANNES, France – Kraft Heinz has more than 70 brands and products in almost every American pantry. Apparently, that still isn’t enough real estate.
The food giant is looking beyond the refrigerator door as it tries to plant Heinz, Oscar Mayer and other brands more firmly in sports, entertainment and social media. The strategy calls for showing up in cultural moments where consumers are already paying attention rather than interrupting them with yet another ad.
“We have 96% penetration in anyone’s pantry, so we’re everywhere,” Jon Stimmel, vice president of media, sports and entertainment at Kraft Heinz, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan during an interview at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
But ubiquity presents its own marketing challenge. Consumers may know what Kraft Heinz products taste like without necessarily having much of an idea what the brands stand for.
“We want to make sure that we are in that moment,” Stimmel said. That means being “fast to market, quick to take on cultural relevance” while harnessing consumer passions around sports and entertainment.
In other words, ketchup would like a larger role in your life.
Football becomes a bigger part of the menu
Sports has emerged as a major part of that strategy. Kraft Heinz entered an NFL partnership this year for the first time, giving the company a way to connect multiple brands with one of the biggest audiences in U.S. media.
“We know that’s a passion audience, a very scaled audience, and we want to be there in relevant moments,” Stimmel said.
One of those came during the NFL Draft. Heinz used the 57th pick to unveil its “Mr. 57” campaign with former NFL star Devin Hester, turning a number already synonymous with the ketchup brand into a football marketing opportunity.
The company now is looking toward the fall season, when football provides plenty of occasions for consumers to eat foods that conveniently require condiments.
Kraft Heinz wants its brands involved in “tailgate moments, shopping moments” and the broader experience of watching football, Stimmel said.
Making sure the wiener isn’t a one-off
Kaplan noted that marketers now operate in what amounts to a permanent state of media fragmentation, with audiences scattered across streaming, social platforms, traditional television and live events.
For Kraft Heinz, one answer is consistency. Stimmel said the company wants to create recurring properties rather than chase a collection of disconnected marketing stunts.
“If we’re doing a Heinz Red Zone or things like that, we want to make sure that we’re consistently doing that year in and year out, avoiding the one-offs,” he said.
Few Kraft Heinz properties illustrate that approach better than the Wienie 500, an Oscar Mayer promotion staged with Indianapolis Motor Speedway before Memorial Day.
The spectacle, which involves the brand’s Wienermobiles racing at the famed track, returned for its second year and is expected back again next year. Stimmel described it as “a race inside of a race.”
Sometimes the advertising industry spends years developing new technology to capture consumer attention. Sometimes you race giant hot dogs around Indianapolis.
Fans responded positively, Stimmel said, while Fox worked with Kraft Heinz to integrate the promotion into the broader event.
Creators earn a bigger spot in the mix
Social media also has become an increasingly important part of Kraft Heinz’s marketing strategy as consumer attention spreads across more platforms.
The company works with creators and influencers who already have audiences and can find credible ways to bring its brands into their content.
“We recognize the power of these social platforms, and obviously the followings that occur,” Stimmel said.
More importantly for anyone responsible for explaining a marketing budget, the investments appear to be measurable. Stimmel said Kraft Heinz has seen positive results from creators and influencers in its marketing mix modeling.
The channel has consequently become a cornerstone of the company’s media mix, he said.
Sponsorships have to do more than show up
Kaplan asked Stimmel how Kraft Heinz distinguishes partnerships that can build lasting brand equity from those that merely produce a burst of visibility.
For Stimmel, the starting point is determining what the company wants a sponsorship to accomplish over time.
“Everything we look at, we look at what is the long-term goal of what we are trying to do,” he said.
That also means resisting the temptation to treat sponsorship as little more than logo placement. Kraft Heinz wants its brands to feel connected to the experience rather than interrupting it.
“We’re actually showing up in ways that are completely connected to that moment,” Stimmel said.
Ideally, that connection survives after the game, race or social post is over and follows consumers to the store or an online shopping cart.
The goal, Stimmel said, is for consumers to make an “inspired connection immediately” that elevates Kraft Heinz brands over competitors.
For a company already occupying 96% of pantries, finding that remaining 4% may require a few more football games, creators and racing Wienermobiles.
You’re watching Beet.TV coverage from Cannes Lions 2026. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
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