It’s fair to say the Great British public have something of a love affair with Heinz. The American brand has become a shorthand for quality, with consumers frequently declaring that any other make of beans, ketchup or tomato soup just isn’t the same.
Even now, in the middle of the toughest cost of living crisis for decades, with food prices soaring rapidly above the rate of inflation and a can of Heinz Beanz costing almost four times as much as an own-label alternative, many shoppers have remained steadfastly loyal to their favourite brand.
For these diehard Heinz fans, there is simply no alternative.
However, with prices continuing to rise it was inevitable that sales would start to suffer and so Heinz took action, leaning heavily into its loyal fanbase. Enter The 57 Club, the brand’s first UK loyalty scheme, which sees shoppers earning ‘Beanz Pointz’ for each purchase.
According to Kraft Heinz ecommerce director for northern Europe, Jean-Phillipe Nier, the scheme will allow Heinz to ‘look after’ its most loyal customers – those shopping with the brand directly rather than via retailers. But will that be enough?
Why Heinz launched The 57 Club
Loyalty programmes are playing an important part in helping consumers get through the cost of living crisis, with as many as 92% of us relying on loyalty programmes to give an extra boost to our everyday spending.
“Like everyone, it’s costing us more to make our products compared with previous years,” says Nier.
“The 57 Club allows us to recognise our most supportive and enthusiastic consumers and reward them for their loyalty. Supporting our consumers in these challenging times was one of the original reasons behind the creation of both Heinz to Home and this loyalty programme.”
Available via the FMCG giant’s direct-to-consumer website, Heinz To Home, customers will receive 10 points for each pound spent on the site, which can then be redeemed for money off their next purchase. Members will also have access to exclusive offers and products, which will be available alongside the classic product ranges.
The D2C platform Heinz to Home was created and launched during Covid, a period which Nier describes as a “difficult time” for consumers.
“Being able to use the platform meant our customers could have products delivered directly to their homes… These are different times, but The 57 Club has a similar objective of supporting consumers.”
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Data capture, loyalty insights and personalisation
“Building a shopper-centric D2C (direct to consumer) platform has been the essence of Heinz to Home since we launched three years ago,” says Nier, revealing that Heinz started building its CRM loyalty programme on “day one”.
He says The 57 Club is a “key development” of this ongoing strategy, which will allow the brand to “get closer to consumers” and better understand what drives them as they engage with the platform.
The loyalty club might have been in the pipeline for some time, but it is Heinz’s recent D2C partnership with The Hut Group which has allowed it to develop, thanks to the ecommerce giant’s proprietary technology.
“When joining the club, consumers have to answer a couple of questions about their households. This will enrich our understanding of our core consumers as well as understand what they would like to see from us,” says Nier.
“It will also allow us to gain valuable insights about their behaviours and needs which can then be scaled throughout the business and shared with our retail partners. This will help us segment and tailor our communications and interactions with greater relevancy as well as strengthen engagement with our brand.”
The long-term benefits of loyalty
Having only just launched the loyalty programme, Nier says it’s too early to say what the long-term benefits of The 57 Club will be, other than furthering Heinz’s “important role during mealtimes for families across the UK”.
“We are very much in a test-and-learn phase at the moment,” he says. “Ensuring that we collect the right information and learn from this will allow us to make the right decisions and develop the best possible future strategy.”
“Ultimately thought, the closer we can get to our consumer, the more information they will share about their habits and preferences,” Nier adds, explaining that this will allow Heinz to stay relevant by adapting to changes in trends.
Ultimately though, the long-term hope is that by strengthening relationships with its biggest supporters, Heinz can strengthen its overall brand equity and, in doing so, continue with its Great British love affair.
