For Heinz, summer is when food, friends and big cultural moments come together. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup™ bringing fans to the screen, Heinz saw an opportunity to show up where viewer enthusiasm was already running high: Roku’s Soccer Zone.
The challenge
Heinz wanted to stay top of mind with Millennial families and make the brand feel relevant in the moments that matter most. Think burgers, BBQs, and game-day gatherings. The goal was simple: remind audiences of the iconic burger sauce, while building stronger connections with a younger, highly engaged streaming audience.
The opportunity
Connected TV gave Heinz a way to extend its big-screen presence beyond a traditional TV buy. Roku’s Soccer Zone added the perfect context. It provided a dedicated destination that made it easy for fans to find World Cup matches, highlights, and related content all in one place.
The opportunity reached beyond a single sporting moment. During the World Cup window, the Soccer Zone achieved a 16% penetration rate among active Roku users in Canada1. That gave Heinz a direct line into a relevant audience gathered around a shared interest.
As Heinz notes:
“Our sponsorship of Roku’s Soccer Zone allows us to tap into one of our targets’ passion points in an innovative and engaging way. Connected TV is an increasingly important part of our brand media plans, providing us with incremental, unduplicated reach.”
The approach
From May 13 to July 31, 2026, Heinz activated six branded touchpoints across the Roku platform. These included Home Screen Marquee ads, screensaver billboards, in-destination banners, a Brand Showcase, and in-stream video. Together, the formats surrounded the viewing journey, from the moment fans turned on their TV to the moment they settled in for the match.
This strategic mix helped Heinz connect its summer message to the energy of the tournament while giving viewers a clear and easy path to discover more.
The results
The campaign delivered incremental reach on top of Heinz’s linear TV buy to successfully capture streaming-first World Cup fans. In fact, 90% of Soccer Zone visitors were not reached by Heinz on linear TV, while 77% were not reached by soccer programming on linear TV. 2
The brand impact was just as strong. Kantar Brand Lift Insights found that Heinz’s sponsorship association rose 6 points, sponsorship favourability rose 6 points and sponsorship intent rose 20 points among exposed Canadian Roku households. Purchase intent linked to the sponsorship also increased by over 8 points.
The campaign connected particularly well with younger viewers. Among Roku audiences aged 18–34, brand affinity rose 22% above baseline. On the platform, Heinz’s native ads measured above a typical video benchmark and viewers who reached the brand destination watched the video through to completion 99% of the time.2
The takeaway
Heinz’s Soccer Zone partnership shows how a culturally relevant moment can become more than a standard ad buy. By pairing a high viewer enthusiasm with a discoverable streaming destination and measurable brand outcomes, Heinz made its presence felt before the first whistle and kept the brand in the conversation after the final one.
Want to score big with sports fans? Get in touch to learn how your brand can show up in the moments that matter on Roku and look out for more dedicated sub zones launching soon.
1 Based on Roku Media & Entertainment first party data, 2026
2 Kantar Brand Lift Insights, 2026
