Vegemite’s decision to name its new variant ‘iSnack 2.0′ has stimulated a lot of debate on Twitter and Australian marketing blogs in recent days, culminating in Kraft’s decision to axe the name just four days after it was unveiled.
Kraft’s explanation for the U-turn
“The new name has simply not resonated with Australians. Particularly the modern technical aspects associated with it.”
Simon Talbot, Kraft Foods Australia/New Zealand Head of Corporate Affairs
While their statement sounds designed to characterise Australians as parochial idiots who don’t understand the web, sadly it is Kraft that comes across as being out of touch.
The backlash occured not because Aussies hate technology, after all, the protest was conducted almost exclusively through social media. ‘iSnack’ bombed because the name has no relevance to the product, coming across as an opportunistic attempt to jump on the Apple / web 2.0 bandwaggon. The brand positioning seems particularly bizarre given that Vegemite has little pedigree of embracing these web 2.0 tools - it has only been using Twitter since July.
Of course, the whole affair has generated a huge amount of publicity for Vegemite, and sales are unlikely to be adversely affected, particularly now ‘iSnack 2.0′ is a limited edition product.
However, the criticism acts as a valuable warning for brands looking to take advantage of the popularity of web 2.0 with no understanding of the context in which these tools are used or where the relevance is for their brand.
One company that has a better record in this area is Ford, whose Head of Digital, Scott Monty, recently published an interesting overview of his company’s own social media strategy.
Unlike Simon Talbot’s wooden comments, Ford’s Scott Monty recognises if you want to benefit from social media, you have to be prepared to participate on consumers’ own terms:
“Ninety percent of social media is just showing up. It’s the other half that’s hard…You can’t outsource authenticity.”
Scott Monty, Zero to 60: Social Media Strategy via Ford
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