What do Vegemite and Janet Jackson have in common?

They both upstaged major sporting events, miring their respective brands in controversy for weeks to follow. The new Vegemite name (which was iSnack2.0 for four short days) is to the Australian Football League grand final 2009, what Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction was to the Super Bowl 2004.

OK, that’s the inevitable dig out of the way. Name and possible short-term branding impact aside, there’s a great deal to admire about how Kraft has managed their marketing campaign for the new Vegemite. The company had first seen dwindling sales figures for the traditional Vegemite back in 2006 and, by 2008, set about finding something to fill the void. This was no overnight quick fix. 

Demographic sales data showed Kraft that new Australians, people who are not or were not brought up as “happy little Vegemites”, just weren’t buying the stuff. Indeed, it’s an acquired taste (and for those who were raised eating the tar-like, distinctively aromatic spread, that’s part of the appeal). How big a problem was this for Kraft? Household penetration had fallen 8% in a short space of time and was still dropping. Not only were significant numbers of Australians falling into that category of non-buyer, they also did not understand the legacy of the brand – so the issue was big on a couple of fronts.

So, how to attract a new set of buyers, a new set of Vegemite lovers?

Kraft Australia spokesperson Greta Cooper tells us the company chose to engage with social media, “to understand what consumers were saying about Vegemite – in particular, who were the influencers and what was the sentiment and opportunities for Vegemite.”

Working with IBM, Kraft scanned 1.5 billion online posts across 38 languages and found just over 479,000 mentions for Vegemite.

“The biggest insight was the conversations people were having about the different ways people were eating their Vegemite – and they were passionate conversations,” adds Cooper.

This “conversation-starter” led to the “How do you like your Vegemite?” online campaign in 2008. Kraft found that people wanted a take on Vegemite that did not also require butter (the original does), something far more spreadable and that expanded beyond a product for toast into one that was for snacking. The new Vegemite product was based on feedback from over 300,000 Australians and New Zealanders.

Cooper says: “On top of this, we knew a milder version of Vegemite was necessary to appeal to new Australians – with more than 23% of the Australian population consisting of migrants, it was important that we develop a product that provided an introductory taste to the spread.”

Kraft then developed their new Vegemite, started selling it in grocery stores labelled as Name Me and simultaneously announced a competition for Australians to come up with the eventual name.

Synovate’s Head of Media and veteran media industry researcher, Steve Garton says whether you loved or hated the campaign, Kraft’s choices were bold and innovative.

“Kraft didn’t shy from risk. And they looked at every media opportunity and made the most of it. After all, media is any space where you can put out marketing messages en masse and I think the real genius – and the learning point in this whole campaign – was that Kraft identified the opportunity to use packaging as a media for communication.

“Those initial three months of product exposure while the naming competition was run got their message out millions of times. They put it on-the-line and then the campaign went online.”

Indeed, the unique offline exposure drove the subsequent passionate online engagement. Even before the internet erupted over the winning name, much of the campaign unfolded on social and online media. Some 48,000 entries later, the company announced the winner as iSnack2.0 during a major Australian sporting event. Then public opinion took over.

Countless tweets, Facebook posts and the like cemented the iSnack2.0 / Cheesybite campaign into marketing history.  Garton posits that the outcome of this is almost inconsequential.

“Yes, it was a big furore. But that’s the nature of the social media beast. To be good at this, brands have to let people have their say, in all its glory. Where brands either shine or fail is in harnessing this engagement. Kraft obviously expected it, tracked it, responded to it, and made big changes because of it. I’m sure they learned a lot.”

Cooper agrees: “When engaging in the social media space it is important to understand that you do not control the brand, the absolute most that you can try to do is steer the brand.”

Kraft Australia has copped flak over this campaign, much of it wondering if the naming fracas was a deliberate, equal part cynical and brilliant, use of publicity. 

Deliberate or not, Kraft must be pleased with the early indicators of success. Because in the end it’s not about clever tweets, it’s whether a new product sells. Cooper tells us that the initial consumer response and sales data shows Cheesybite performing beyond Kraft’s expectations.

“After 11 weeks in the market, the new Vegemite achieved more than 15% in consumer penetration and, to date, more than 3.4 million jars have been manufactured. Minimal cannibalisation has been recorded for core Vegemite.”

In new product launches, the true indications of success come with repeat purchase cycles. At this stage, good sales may be the result of a great deal of curiosity or Kraft may have given the people exactly what they want.

Certainly Kraft will be hoping Cheesybite is the cure for Vegemite’s hangover.