Before anyone starts on me, the title of this post is deliberately puntastic, as a throwback to a previous post.
Anyhoo, I was always taught – and agree with this – that if a creative concept works, it works across any platform; posters, TV, radio, press ads, on stamps, as a tweet (or a series of them), as an outdoor stunt.
I always cite the same examples;
CompareTheMarket.com / meerkats – posters, TV ads, press ads, digital, their own range of toys.
Mastercard / ‘Priceless’ – posters, TV ads, press ads, sponsorship, messages on Oyster card holders, live stunts.
Carlsberg / ‘Probably the best in the world’ – TV ads, posters, virals/live stunts, press ads, litter.
Well, another example of a concept with leg(g)s (you’ll get the bad pun in a minute) is Marmite’s ‘Love it or hate it’ idea, which has been running since time immemorial.
They’ve run TV ads – including this recent beauty – posters, radio ads, press ads (for example, when a new squeezy bottle came out), all with the ‘Love it or hate it’ concept underpinning them.
And it works, because it’s true: people do seem to fall into one of only two camps;
‘Mmmm, Marmite is lovely’
‘Eugh! It’s disgusting’
No-one seems to just think it’s ‘alright’. The idea is based on truth.
Anyway, proof that the idea can go anywhere, has now arrived in the shape of … Marmite Easter eggs.
My friend posted about this product, on Facebook, and is firmly in the ‘eugh! What a disgusting idea!’ camp.
I, however, fell firmly into the ‘oooh! I like Marmite – I wonder what it’ll taste like with chocolate?’ camp.
So, already – within a couple of comments – the idea had driven the pair of us into ‘love it / hate it’ positions … which means, in terms of continuing the original Marmite idea, the Marmite Easter egg has simply extended the existing campaign.
Also, my friend doesn’t like the idea of a Marmite Easter egg… but is still putting up a post about it , which means that Marmite’s advertising simply goes further and the egg idea effectively becomes ‘viral’.
Not only that, but – putting aside the extension of the campaign itself – people are going to buy this product out of sheer curiosity; ‘what on earth will that taste like?’
It’s not really intended to be a repeat purchase across the year, so if people buy it just once, to try it, then Marmite have ‘won’.
They’ll certainly make their money from that aforementioned curiosity.
Whatever way you look at it, it works;
– If you think it’s disgusting, you talk about/post it, so it’s seen by all your followers.
– If you think it’s amazing, you talk about/post it, so it’s seen by all your followers.
(all free marketing for Marmite)
– On the basis of those who share it (or their reasons for sharing it), it completely ticks the box for making people ‘Love it or hate it’.
– People will buy the egg out of sheer curiosity.
– If they don’t like it, too late – they tried it, and the bought the one Easter egg, this year, that Marmite needed them to.
– If it doesn’t work, it’ll be a one-off (but will still have made Marmite some money). If it does work, it’ll be around again, next Easter.
… and it extends the original Marmite concept beyond traditional media channels.
It’s simple: if an idea is that good, it works in any format – it has legs.