Context
In this project we were tasked with assisting with the promotion of the flavoured Heinz Beanz product. The aim was to target this product towards a younger audience range of around 18–34 year olds, with no specific gender skew.
Our main idea that we settled on was to create parody movie trailers or famous movie scenes and rebrand them to be Heinz related. For example, the famous red pill / blue pill scene from The Matrix would instead feature two different Heinz bean flavours.
During this week, we focused mainly on developing the pitch presentation and refining the campaign concept, including creating visuals and thinking about how the campaign would be distributed and measured.
Research
During this week we researched how film parody advertising campaigns work and why they are effective for younger audiences. Younger audiences often engage more with recognisable pop culture references, especially when they are humorous or unexpected.
We also looked into how social media engagement and shareability plays a role in advertising success. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts would allow the campaign clips to be easily shared and reposted, helping the idea spread organically.
We also included research and data within our presentation to support the claim that short-form, entertaining content performs well with the 18–34 demographic, making this concept suitable for the product.
Story
The goal of the campaign is to create recognisable, entertaining and shareable movie scene parodies that promote the new Heinz flavoured Beanz range.
These scenes would recreate iconic moments from popular films but with a humorous Heinz twist. For example:
- A Mission Impossible style scene where someone attempts to steal a rare tin of flavoured Beanz
- A Breaking Bad parody where the new bean flavours replace the original product
- A Hunger Games style visual where competitors fight over different flavours
These scenes would be turned into short trailers, social media clips and billboard visuals, helping the product feel more culturally relevant to younger audiences.
We developed our main presentation format this week which outlines the campaign concept, target audience, distribution platforms and how success would be measured.
Pitch deck:
Stylistic
Our main stylistic inspiration came from parody advertisements that recreate famous scenes but rewrite the dialogue and product placement to promote a brand.
One key example was this Breaking Bad parody advert, where the famous scene was recreated and rewritten to promote the snack product. The humour and recognisability of the scene made the advertisement entertaining while still clearly showcasing the product.
This approach inspired us to ensure that our parody scenes would still feel recognisable, but rewritten to highlight the Heinz Beanz flavours in a humorous way.
Technical
Since this project is primarily a pitch concept rather than a produced advertisement, we did not use technical filming equipment.
However, we did use several digital tools to develop the campaign idea including:
- Canva for creating the pitch deck and visual campaign examples
- Image editing tools to create mock billboard concepts and visuals
- Online research sources to gather marketing data and audience insights
These tools helped us visually communicate how the campaign would look if it were produced.
Practical Skills
This week we focused on turning our core idea into a structured pitch presentation.
We expanded on the original mind map and developed a clear slide-by-slide presentation, including:
- The campaign concept
- Target audience
- Advertising platforms
- Visual examples of the parody scenes
- How success would be measured (sales increases, engagement and shares)
We also created mock visuals such as billboards and promotional images, which helped bring the concept to life and made the pitch more engaging.
WWW (What Went Well)
1. The concept was developed further
This week we were able to expand the original parody idea into multiple scene concepts and campaign visuals, making the idea feel more realistic and achievable.
2. The presentation became much clearer
We organised the pitch deck so that the campaign idea, audience and marketing strategy were clearly explained, which helped make the overall concept easier to understand.
3. Strong visual examples
Creating mock visuals and parody examples helped demonstrate exactly how the campaign would look in real life, making the pitch more engaging.
EBI (Even Better If)
1. More time for refining visuals
Although we created several visual examples, having more time would allow us to improve the designs further and create additional scene ideas.
2. More detailed audience research
While we did research the 18–34 demographic, it could be improved by including more detailed statistics or consumer behaviour data.
3. Testing the idea with a small audience
It would have been useful to gather feedback from a small focus group within the target audience to see how they react to the parody concept before pitching it.
Imad Daili - Sports Media 