Five Keys to Unlocking Culture Through Partnership

Together with Kraft Heinz, our team set out to answer a simple but powerful question: What happens when you unite a brand built on flavor (Heinz) with a creator who’s made his name synonymous with taste (DJ Mustard)? The answer dropped during the biggest night in music, the Grammy’s, where we turned a meme and a hip-hop moment into a movement that resonated far beyond the screen. More than a clever play on names, the Heinz x DJ Mustard campaign was a testament to what’s possible when brands and creators connect through shared values, mutual respect, and a fearless embrace of culture.

Together, Danielle and I broke down how this partnership came to life, what made it work, and why it’s setting a new standard for culture-driven marketing. In this recap, I’m sharing five key takeaways from our conversation—lessons that any brand or marketer can use to turn cultural insight into real-world impact.

Start with authenticity.

Let’s be honest; when you hear “DJ Mustard x Heinz Mustard,” the easy win is the wordplay. But great partnerships go deeper than a meme or a momentary pun. From the very first conversations with Danielle and the Kraft Heinz team, we were aligned: this couldn’t just be a clever wink to the internet. “His real name, birth name is Dijon. It works. But the why had to be deeper than that,” as Danielle put it on stage.

We started with a keen anchor in the brand equity of “irrational love” and “doing the common thing uncommonly well,” as well as remaining steeped in the business objectives: to bring Heinz out to younger generations and diverse growth audiences, bolster sales across the summer grilling season and drive salience.

As we set out to uncover those deeper connections, it turned out DJ Mustard isn’t just a producer with a catchy moniker—he’s a genuine food lover and a passionate griller. This is a guy with a diamond-encrusted mustard bottle as a tribute to his love of the product. He’s a Heinz fan who lives the brand, both in the kitchen and in the culture. Both are masters of their craft and tastemakers in their field.

In other words, this partnership was never about surface-level synergy. Both parties shared mutual respect for craft, flavor and influence, turning a critical moment into something with real staying power.

Lead by listening to culture.

One of the most underrated skills in modern marketing is listening to your audience, really listening. Before the Heinz x DJ Mustard collaboration ever became a headline, it started as a slow, playful dance. Our approach was simple: don’t crash the party, wait for your invitation.

So, instead of dropping a big announcement out of nowhere, we teased, hinted and engaged with fans across social platforms. We watched the conversations, listened to what people were hoping for and responded in ways that felt organic. Danielle nailed it when she said, “The key word is listening. We show up not just to drop a bomb on culture, but to engage and sit back and listen.”

Think of it like spotting someone across a crowded room—it’s a lot more meaningful to catch their eye and exchange a knowing glance than to shout your intentions from the start. “It’s a lot more appealing to see them noticing you across the room. And so we had to start there. To say, we see you. And then beyond that, we see you seeing us,” as Danielle put it.

That period of social listening and gentle engagement was our testing ground. The validation we got from fans turned what could have been a risky move into something everyone wanted to see happen. By the time the campaign officially launched, it felt inevitable, as if the audience themselves had willed it into existence. That’s the power of fandom when you respect the culture and take the time to listen.

Realize that culture doesn’t live in a conference room.

Cultural innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. To pull off a partnership as ambitious as Heinz x DJ Mustard required true collaboration across every boundary: brand, agency, creator and internal stakeholders.

We established a feedback loop that brought together Kraft Heinz teams, our agency partners, and DJ Mustard’s own team. The goal was shared vision, shared understanding and a willingness to drop the hierarchy at the door.

In fact, we made it a point to bring culture directly into those rooms—sometimes quite literally. I’ll never forget the moment DJ Mustard virtually joined one of our Brand Team meetings, Zooming in from the back seat of his Maybach. Beyond bringing the star power, Mustard brought real, actionable ideas for product innovation, packaging and storytelling. He also brought some humanity in sharing his personal story, his perspectives and his purpose (family, faith, cooking as a creative outlet).

That moment revealed the importance of lessening the degrees of separation between culture and the brand. When creators are invited in as true partners, not just spokespeople, inspiration flows both ways. It’s in those candid, cross-functional sessions—where titles take a back seat and passion leads—that the most powerful ideas are born. That’s what made this partnership feel not just relevant, but inevitable.

Risk and bravery are the engine of cultural innovation.

If you want to move culture, you can’t play it safe. The most memorable campaigns are born from a willingness to take risks and embrace the unknown. At Kraft Heinz, we worked hard to cultivate what Danielle calls “safe spaces for cultural strategic bravery.”

We knew there was always going to be risk in stepping into a new cultural conversation, but that’s exactly where the opportunity lies. When you create room for bold ideas and honest discussions, you empower your teams to take the kinds of leaps that lead to real impact.

We put this into practice through initiatives like our “State of the Culture” series, an ongoing curriculum that keeps marketers attuned to what’s happening, what’s coming next, and, crucially, why it matters. As Danielle said, “We stay ready, so we don’t have to get ready.” That mindset let us recognize the moment, move quickly, and launch a campaign that was truly brave. In a world where relevance is fleeting, it’s that spirit of continual learning and risk-taking that keeps our work ahead of the curve.

Don’t forget: buzz means little without business results.

At the end of the day, cultural impact must translate into business impact. Impressions and headlines are important, but true success is measured by how a campaign moves the needle for the brand. With Heinz x DJ Mustard, we saw firsthand how cultural relevance drives commercial results—and even evolves the brand itself.

Early success signals are positive: upticks in shopping intent (and the product hasn’t even dropped yet), increases in website traffic, over a billion earned impressions with some of the highest sentiment scores for the brand, and a renewed energy among the brand’s retail and QSR relationships. But the effect went far beyond just a single product drop. As Danielle challenged us, “How do we use this moment to tap into something that’s real that can then halo out to something bigger?” 

Expect more from the effort as we now head into the big summer grilling season and product drops—with more developments to be revealed soon.

We’re proving that cultural innovation, when done right, generates new relevance at retail, sparks fresh interest and creates what I call “irrational love”—the kind of passion and loyalty that transforms casual consumers into lifelong fans.

That’s the real power of culture-driven marketing. It doesn’t just follow trends. It creates new momentum, new meaning, and new business opportunities, extending what could have been just a moment into lasting brand value.