Bab 27: Chapter 27: The Ad Pitch
The Heinz ad pitch took place at their headquarters. Early in the morning, Ethan and Jimmy were waiting outside the conference room.
Three companies were competing for the ad: IPG, Ogilvy, and lion advertisement
Among them, only lion advertisement was the smallest. If it weren't for the recommendation from the Domino's owner, they wouldn't even have made it through the building's doors.
This also showed that Heinz's executives seemed flexible, prioritizing creativity above all else.
Today, Ethan was unusually dressed in a suit—a gray-blue suit paired with a dark green tie, looking both elegant and charming. The female receptionist in a short skirt and black stockings frequently glanced his way, and perhaps feeling unsatisfied with just looking from afar, she even brought a cup of water over to Ethan.
"Thank you," Ethan said, nodding and smiling at her.
"Damn, Ethan, I shouldn't have sat with you," Jimmy rolled his eyes. It was always like this in school—whenever a pretty girl appeared, she was always interested in Ethan, leaving him to look like an accessory.
"You're handsome too, Jimmy, just not quite as much as me," Ethan said, then glanced at the other two. Apollion was still as solid as a hill, sitting on his chair, rising and falling like a balloon.
Maroni, on the other hand, was more flamboyant today, dressed in a white suit with a pink tie, looking like a nightclub host.
He was silently rehearsing his lines, clearly having prepared thoroughly.
In contrast, Ethan seemed much more casual.
After a while, the door of the conference room, painted a light yellow, creaked open, and a group of sharply dressed elite professionals walked out.
They were from IPG, a large global advertising firm based in New York, and their presence exuded a certain arrogance.
As they passed by, Maroni tried to stand up to greet them, but as soon as his butt left the chair, he realized they had no intention of stopping and simply walked by.
"Uh…" Maroni pretended to dust off his clothes and muttered to himself, "Sitting down is really tiring."
However, no one paid much attention to him, as Ethan had already stood up and walked toward the conference room.
"Wait…" Maroni quickly stood up and hurried to the door, managing to get in ahead of Ethan.
Jimmy, seeing this, whispered sarcastically, "I thought he was like an African chimpanzee during mating season, so impatient."
"Don't insult chimpanzees, Jimmy," Ethan adjusted his collar and followed Apollion into the room.
Inside, there were several sofas arranged to form a judge's panel where Heinz's executives were seated. Opposite them was a whiteboard and a few easels.
"Hello!"
"Hello."
As the Heinz executives greeted them, Maroni was notably attentive, shaking hands and introducing the four of them.
One of the Heinz executives, David, briefly introduced the names of the panel members.
Ethan didn't focus on the others; he only remembered the young man with golden short hair sitting in the center, named Henry, because he was the decisive CEO.
"Alright, let's not waste any more time. You may begin."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, David announced the start of the ad presentations. Maroni immediately stood in front of the easel and began his pitch.
"In fact, we at Leo Burnett have prepared two creative ideas for Heinz's advertisement."
Maroni's mannerisms were a bit excessive, like a hip-hop artist, and his flashy outfit dazzled everyone.
"The first idea is mine, and it's called 'Bring Heinz Over.' Gentlemen, please take a look here."
What he was presenting was still the previous idea. After showing a few food items, he flipped over the plastic sheet, revealing a line of text. He then praised this tagline, discussing it from user psychology to advertising theory, and then to media studies.
In short, it sounded very impressive and grand.
However, Ethan noticed Henry's brows furrowing and then relaxing as he read the text. Midway through Maroni's pitch, Henry suddenly interjected, "But this doesn't seem to be showcasing our ketchup."
"Of course!" Maroni didn't catch Henry's underlying message and instead excitedly said, "Salad, steak sauce, ketchup, various seasonings, Heinz, those two words represent everything. The most effective marketing method is association, it's about the audience's imagination."
"Hmm." Henry leaned on his chin, making a short sound.
"Of course, if needed, ketchup can also appear in the visuals. We can use both methods simultaneously."
"Okay, I understand," Henry nodded lightly, his eyes drooping as if disinterested.
Seeing his expression, David said, "Alright, thank you for your idea. We will consider it carefully."
Even Apollion, who was usually oblivious, sensed something was off and quickly said, "Sorry, but we haven't finished yet. We have another idea."
"Another one?" David's expression showed impatience.
"Yes," Jimmy chimed in, "A completely different idea."
"Then let's hear it," Henry said, forcing himself to be attentive and smiling at them. David, however, glanced at his watch. "You have five more minutes. Start now."
Upon hearing this, Ethan stood up and went to his easel. "Actually, we only need two minutes."
"Oh?" This statement piqued Henry's interest, and Ethan's confident demeanor made him more serious.
"You must be troubled by competitors, right?" Instead of starting with his idea, Ethan posed a question.
He continued as they raised their eyebrows, "Various seasoned ketchups keep emerging. In promotions, each one claims its taste and flavor are identical to real ketchup, but in reality… it's just deceiving the public, and they've been deceiving them for too long."
Henry nodded silently. This was a problem they were constantly worried about. The market for ketchup was limited, and if other seasonings took over, their company's profits would decrease.
The cost of making real ketchup was already high, so they couldn't afford to lose market share, which was why they kept advertising.
Ethan had hit the nail on the head. Now it was up to him to offer a solution or relief.
Ethan was prepared. "Look here."
He turned the easel around to reveal a vertical poster. At the top was a classic Heinz tomato glass bottle with rich sauce flowing down, and below was a line of advertising text.
"Heinz, the only ketchup."
As Ethan read out the text, Henry straightened up and leaned forward slightly.
"We don't need to emphasize much. Just stressing the three words 'tomato ketchup' is enough because other companies' products are seasoned ketchups. This is the biggest difference between them and us.
"So what we need to do is not lower ourselves to their level, discussing discounts or flavors with customers. Instead, we should dominate the consumer's mindset, equating Heinz with true tomato ketchup. This way, those seasoned ketchups won't be a threat to us. Isn't that right?"
After Ethan finished, the room was quiet for a moment before Henry started applauding, smiling as he stood up. "A very good idea."
The other executives also stood and clapped, leaving Apollion and the others a bit stunned.
As for Maroni, although he forced a smile, there was clearly an undertone of jealousy.
"Heinz is the only ketchup. I believe once customers see this, they'll ditch all those inferior seasoned ketchups."
Henry continued applauding and said, "Direct, clear, and fundamentally different from other brands. Do you know what makes a truly great idea?"
"What?" asked a puzzled executive.
"It's making it so that other companies can't use the idea!" Henry pointed to the phrase, "The only ketchup." "They simply can't use it. Only we, only Heinz, can use it. That's a great idea!"
"Henry, what about the other companies?" David, surprised by the CEO's high praise for the idea, quickly asked.
"Other companies can be rejected directly, David."
Henry looked at Ethan with a smile. "I don't have time to deal with them now."
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