Case Study: Kraft Heinz and D&AD Masterclasses
Kraft Heinz set out with a clear ambition: to make creativity a core business skill, not just a marketing buzzword. By partnering with D&AD, they aimed to evolve their existing marketing fundamentals into a world-class creative curriculum that would inspire teams to make smarter creative choices, collaborate with agencies and other partners, and deliver measurable business impact.
With this in mind, D&AD’s ‘north star’ was to help Kraft Heinz to unleash creativity as a competitive advantage, one that fuels brand growth, drives engagement, and strengthens the bottom line.
The Solution
D&AD designed a global learning experience to upskill over 180 senior marketers in creative excellence. The programme focused on building practical, future-ready capabilities that turn creativity into business results:
- Understanding and articulating the commercial value of creativity
- Developing brand-led creative ideas that drive impact
- Applying creative tactics to deliver standout marketing communications
- Navigating the digital and media landscape with agility
- Creating inclusive and culturally resonant campaigns
- Building a shared language for creative critique, one that improves collaboration with agencies and internal stakeholders
- Embedding a lasting culture of creativity across every market
How
Delivered as a high-energy, three-day in-person experience across seven global hubs - Mexico City, London, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Jakarta, Melbourne and Dubai - the programme combined inspiration, collaboration, and action.
A shared global curriculum brought consistency, while regional experts ensured every session reflected local markets, cultural nuances, and audience realities. Participants learned through hands-on experimentation, live problem-solving, and peer collaboration, connecting creativity directly to brand performance.
To extend the impact beyond the classroom, D&AD built digital tools to keep creativity alive post-programme, from a shared whiteboard capturing ideas and commitments, to ongoing resources and frameworks for daily use. Each participant left with a renewed mindset, a practical toolkit, and a clear plan to champion creativity as a growth engine within Kraft Heinz.
Business Impact
The programme didn’t just inspire, it transformed. It strengthened creative capability across the marketing function, improved collaboration with agencies, and embedded a shared global language for creative excellence. Most importantly, it unlocked the power of creativity as a measurable business asset, helping Kraft Heinz deliver bolder campaigns, stronger brands, sustained commercial growth, and win awards at major creative award shows.
What participants said
“I loved the energy, honesty and excitement. Felt the pace of the training was great, gave me time to reflect and take in the learning and how I’d apply it in real life.”
“The training helped simplify the complex with clear takeaways”
“The number of examples with real campaigns and market data allowed us to digest all the theory and bring it down to earth”
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D&AD Masterclasses power up careers and future-proof businesses by focusing on the creative skills of tomorrow, taught by the stars of today. Online and offline, our creative learning programmes connect you and your business directly to the people making the most outstanding work today and enable you to learn skills to generate brilliant outcomes tomorrow.