I’m just back from visiting friends in the UK and made quite the discovery that had me go back to and reconsider Marmite and its advertising.
I thought I was clearly in the “I hate Marmite” camp, decided probably over twenty years ago. That was reinforced by years of love/hate advertising that I’ve always thought clever and fun.
Sure it’s a divisive product, but this past weekend as my friends were telling me how they love marmite, had lovely sourdough bread, I thought well I actually haven’t tasted Marmite in a very long time. Turns out I thought “hey this isn’t actually bad”, let me have some more, and I had more the following day too. Same for my girlfriend, she thought she was firmly in the hate camp and we both changed our minds.
My main big surprise of the past week is I actually quite like Marmite. I might even love it.
Their latest ad campaign launched in June is fun, sure, but how much room is left for people changing taste? Not so much it seems.
Our tastes change over time, if you go as far as strongly conveying the idea it’s about genetic material then how can Marmite acquire new consumers, as in haters deciding to give it another go rather than simply leaving it like it’s set for life… Similarly if it’s a given these are the two camps, do many self professed lovers share their appreciation, or do they give up because some are just haters..?
As much as I appreciate their brand positioning and advertising, I’d say going into genetics and scanning babies is taking a step too far – unless it’s all just a joke, but the video seems almost serious enough that I wonder if people find it funny or not?
