My little rant on iSnack2.0

I like this comment from a person’s reply to one of the blogs about iSnack 2.0:

“Snackerific? Crackermite? These round out the top three entries?

Who were the judges? And how do they have jobs?”

However I've always been a bit suss with these sort of 'competitions' as a marketing background guy (and I do have a love for marketing too) I think they've been really smart in this campaign.

The first wave is the "name me" which was a huge success according to the sales figures. then the second wave, the announcement of a crappy name that they've 'chosen' to do exactly what they expect it would do- generate so much discussion that people who didn't know about vegemite's new snack will now no doubt know about it.

iSnack2.0 0 image taken from the interweb

They took a risk that this might alienate some customers, but i reckon they've done their sums and thought the risk was well worth the publicity. I reckon some marketing guru has come up with a sort of guerrilla marketing, in that they get someone to do something really controversial that news agencies will pick it up as a "story" run it. This will in term lead to other news agencies running it, and cause massive debate and blogging on the interweb... and voila! instant editorial, publicity, and brand awareness all for the price of a simple tv ad... or less...

I look forward to see their third wave- the "actual" name they were going to give the snack, and they'll spin it as how they always respect their customers' opinions and that they're a company that listens, etc etc... make them sound like they're your best friend and that because they listened to you, you should buy their product.. Brilliant!!

I reckon this is right up there with that MTV marketing stunt involving Kanye, beyonce and taylor.

No one gave a toss about MTV Video music awards the last few years till this happened. Kanye's always been a bad boy and he doesn't give a rat's about what people think of him. he'll continue to sell records, perfumes, clothes, despite "outraging" so many people. Beyonce wins even MORE fans by being the gracious, nice girl in the whole thing, and Taylor gets a brand recognition boost. she was a relative unknown until the incident. I'm sure a lot more people know about her now...

who says we don't need marketing?? heheh...

I hope someone writes up a book using these examples as case studies.. I'd buy that book...

[Onomatopia]