When A Slow Page Load Time Is Brilliant Marketing

It is imperative that we look outside of our industry for trends, best practices, and sometimes things that are just plain cool.

For the month of February, the Heinz website took 57 minutes to load. Yep, you read that right — 57 minutes.  Usually that would be an incredible fail, but not in this case. Here, it is super clever marketing.

Fans of traditional Heinz ketchup bottles will know that pouring the red stuff sometimes requires a little patience—something that can be lacking in today’s world of instant gratification.

So the ketchup brand is asking fans to test their patience, by adding a 57 minute long loading screen to its website this week. Until Feb. 28, anyone visiting Heinz.com will find the bright red loading screen, and if they hang in there long enough they will be entered for the chance to win a Heinz Burger Kit designed for a “family burger night.” This consists of a red spatula, special apron and grill mitt, napkins and plates, plus portions of Heinz Ketchup, Mustard and Sweet Relish (the burgers themselves are not included).

How can we think creatively to come up with experiential campaigns like this one to bring surprise and delight to our patrons?

Read the full article with screenshots here.

Note: All of my fellow Pittsburghers know that the fastest way to get Heinz ketchup out of the glass bottle is to hit the 57 on the side with your hand. I tried hitting the side of my laptop screen while on their website to no avail.