Is The Economy Making Marketers Risk Averse?

A few years ago, Heinz embarked on a journey to extend their Heinz condiment franchise. The concept was simple and straightforward: Let’s add some stuff to ketchup/mustard/mayo and see what happens!

The branding was straightforward too. It was a very simple 1 + 1 = 3 idea of branding, as evidenced by the photos above and below. Add two standards together and you get a new creation! What fun!

Heinz recently announced some new varieties of ketchup/sauce. They look like great products and I can’t wait to try them, but notice the simple and straightforward branding:

Gone are the clever monikers (e.g., MAYOCHUP) as the branding just says this is ketchup with an added ingredient.

Did Heinz not want to take the risk of introducing a new name into the category? Are consumers tired of “cute” in branding?

Time will tell if this is a blip or a trend.