Strategy and Planning Assignment - Marmite
This controversial advert was launched on UK television mid January in 2015 and caused sales to increase up to 14%.
Marmite was invented accidentally in the late 19th. This was then first produced in 1902 and became very popular in hospitals and schools due to its high source of B vitamins.
This particular campaign is a very tongue-in-cheek one as it treats unused Marmite bottles as if they were neglected pets. Teams of āMarmite rehomingā experts appear at the owners houses and then proceed with caution to find and retrieve the neglected bottles. The marmite is then brought to a rehoming facility. The families or owners of the bottles always appear very distressed, as if it were in fact a neglected animal that the people were retrieving.
Marmite does not have anything new news to offer its consumers so instead came up with this clever advert to remind people that Marmite is around, and inevitably boast sales. In most of the ads within this campaign it features a family rather than just one specific person. This initially gives off the impression that they are targeting families and people of all ages. However the adverts are set with a very documentary feel that will apply to an older generation of people rather than say children and young adults. By doing so, that campaign targets parents and older people who will shop in supermarkets and buy the product.
The documentary style of the advertisement is done cleverly by the voice over and also the camera shots. The voice over has a very informative tone and also a dramatic one to keep you enticed whilst watching it. Camera shots and angles are done as if the camera was being handheld, causing the footage to appear jumpy and give it a more lifelike quality.
A possible proposition that was used for this campaign could have been something along the lines of āWhat ever your view on Marmite is, donāt let it go unused and forgottenā. This fits in very well with the advert as it is all about neglect and the end caption is āLove it, hate it, just donāt neglect itā.
There are also many emotional triggers within this ad that link with the āUnused and forgottenā. As this campaign is set around animal neglect it is already a touching subject, and the way in which the retrievers of the Marmite act around the forgotten bottles is caring and emotional to watch. Also the distress in the families of which the bottles are taken from also stirs up an emotional response of sadness to the viewers.
Although the concept of the advert is a rather sad one, the feel is also very humorous. It is very far fetched as these are only Marmite bottles and also at the end of the advert is shows a little boy disliking the taste of marmite. This shows that Marmite are comfortable with the prospect that not everyone likes Marmite but they are willing to make a joke out of it and use it to there advantage and create a whole campaign.
