Posted on October 7, 2009 by by jr

What would you have expected had you been the winner of the recent KRAFT promotion to name the new Vegemite product?

Perhaps:

• A cash prize,
• An overseas trip away,
• A fabulous prize package of highly desirable consumer electronics
• Extensive positive personal media exposure and coverage

Well if you thought it was any of the above items then you would have been deeply disappointed.

Kraft has offered absolutely nothing in return for the winning entry… unless of course as the winner being held up as an object of public ridicule and being hung out to dry by a large multinational corporation were what you were actually seeking.

The competition terms and conditions explicitly stated the following (OCR scanned from the entry form found in Coles supermarkets with my emphasis added in bold red):

Terms and Conditions:

14. The entrant whose entry is chosen by the judging panel may be invited by the Promoter to participate in a media campaign (as determined by the Promoter), including but not limited to, being interviewed and photographed, filmed and/or chaperoned, and having their name and photograph published in any newspapers, publications, the Kraft newsletter or press releases, at the absolute discretion of the Promoter. By submitting an entry, entrants agree that if their entry is chosen by the judging panel, they will participate in and co-operate as required with all reasonable media editorial requests made by the Promoter. The Promoter will not pay the entrant any monetary prize, fee or compensation for their entry. The Promoter is not obliged to invite the entrant whose entry is chosen to participate in any such media campaign and the invitation is at the absolute discretion of the Promoter.

15. By submitting an entry and taking part in the opportunity to be involved in the naming of the Product, each entrant agrees that the name they have submitted for the Product in their entry and their name (or any nominated user identification submitted as part of an online entry) may be published on the Promoter’s website in connection with the Campaign and that the entrant will not be entitled to any monetary prize, fee or compensation for such publication. By submitting an entry and taking part in the opportunity to be involved in the naming of the Product, the entrant whose entry is chosen by the judging panel acknowledges and agrees that the Promoter has all right title and interest in and to the entry and the name for the Product contained in the entry and any copyright therein. The entrant whose entry is chosen by the judging panel acknowledges and agrees that the Promoter is free to use the entry and the name for the Product contained in the entry and to exercise its rights in relation thereto and that the entrant will not be entitled to any monetary prize, fee or compensation for such use.

16. The entrant whose entry is chosen permits their image and/or voice, as recorded, photographed or filmed, to appear in connection with media or the advertising or marketing thereof, in any media whatsoever throughout the world and the entrant will not be entitled to any fee for such use.

Apparently the winner of the “Name the new Vegemite” competition, Dean Robbins has been well and truly taken for a ride.

To add insult to injury just days after announcing his winning entry of “iSnack 2.0″ during the telecast of the AFL Grand Final, KRAFT advised that they were “pulling” the new name and  seeking public consensus on a number of alternative names. This occurred in light of huge public revolt at the new name.

The following is an interview that Radio Station 6PR carried. From the tone of voice it is clear that Mr. Robbins appears distraught and shattered by the incident. It is his wife (who rings the radio station back after the line drops out) that strongly eludes to the fact that the KRAFT spin-doctors have instructed them not to discuss the matter, and refer all enquiries to the company in an attempt to minimize any potential PR damage .

Interview (audio) from Radio Station 6PR

Perth man Dean Robbins, the man who came up with the name for the new Vegemite, iSnack 2.0, breaks his silence to Millsy and Tony Mac about the name being dumped after a public backlash. Audio: Interview with Dean Robbins (Windows WMA format)

Ultimately another name “Cheesybite” has been chosen by KRAFT as the new name for the product. This was after a public on-line vote on the Vegemite website.

One would have hoped that the controversy would end here, except according to mUmBRELLA – a media and marketing blog, revealed that almost as many people chose a “none of the above” option from the name choices made available:

Vegemite’s Cheesybite neck-and-neck with none of the above

About the same number of people who took part in the public vote on the new name for Vegemite’s disastrously launched iSnack 2.0 did not like any of the names on offer as voted for the winning Cheesybite, Mumbrella can reveal.

When Kraft announced the winner earlier today, it said that 30,357 people had voted for a name, with 36% choosing Cheesybite. This would amount to about 10,900 people.

But in the online vote, as well as six names, a seventh option had been to say that none of the choices appealed. But this option was not included in today’s announcement.

However, after questions from Mumbrella, the company has said that a total of around 40,000 people took part in the weekend’s online vote, with approximately 25% not choosing any of the six names on offer. This would also amount to roughly 10,000 people.

Although he declined to share the exact numbers, Kraft’s corporate affairs head Simon Talbot insisted that Cheesybite had still come out just ahead of those who did not like any of the names.

He said: “It came out in front, just. Otherwise I’d have thought that we would have had to go back again.”

The upshot of the whole process is that many feel that the whole process appears to be a badly run media stunt by KRAFT.

B&T, another marketing,advertising, media and PR blog reports that ad agency BCM undertook an online poll and 77% of respondents confirmed that they thought that the whole process was a ploy to maximise media exposure.

Public still thinks iSnack 2.0 was a stunt

Consumers have labelled the naming of Kraft’s new vegemite product as a “carefully crafted media stunt”, according to the results of an online survey by ad agency BCM.

Launched on October 1 and run until Sunday night, the poll, which included over 1,250 respondents, revealed a majority of respondents (77%) thought Kraft’s choice of name for its Vegemite spin-off, iSnack 2.0, and subsequent axing of it, was nothing more than a ploy to maximise exposure for the new product. The remaining participants (23%) said it was a “poorly planned, unintentional marketing fiasco.”

The survey results were released as Kraft closed its online public vote for a new name. The latest naming competition, which was launched on Friday evening and closed yesterday, included the names Cheesybite, Creamymate, Smooth, Snackmate, Vegemate and Vegemild, with the new name being announced on Wednesday.

BCM’s survey was launched despite a statement from the FMCG giant last week that that it was not seeking media attention by scrapping the consumer-generated name but rather succumbing to consumer backlash about the brand.

Kevin Moreland, agency partner of BCM, said the study clearly demonstrated to marketers the lack of trust consumers have for many brands and how cynically they view the marketing community.

“We now know overwhelmingly that people considered it a stunt,” he said.

“It would seem that people simply couldn’t accept that iSnack 2.0 was ever a serious contender as a name. Blogs and forums all over the internet were abuzz with people saying the name must be a joke, it was un-Australian, and that it failed to connect with Gen Y, the very audience it was intended to attract. People assumed therefore that Kraft must have carefully planned the marketing to maximise publicity.”

6 October 2009

The facts are clear, KRAFT have a highly incompetent and inept marketing team (or it could be an external marketing agency they have engaged).

Instead of taking the smart route of entering in to negotiations with Bakers Delight to buy or license the name from their “Cheesymite Scroll“, it appears they have decided to take a disastrous PR  route to end up with an almost identical name. I’d be very surprised if Bakers Delight do not turn round and become litigious over the use of a similar name/trademark, in the same vein that Apple are currently challenging Woolworths over the use of a stylized “W” in the shape similar to an Apple logo.

Name the New Vegemite Competition Entry Form (Coles)

Footnote: And what do I personally think about the merits and taste of the new product. I was one of the mug punters that bought one of the 2.8 million jars of the “Name Me” product that have been on sale since July.  My verdict – its terrible. I’ll be sticking to the classic Vegemite.

Note: copyright of the selected material in images, audio and clippings in this article resides with the original copyright and trademark owners. Usage is permitted in accordance with the Australian Copyright Act 1968, Section 42: Fair dealing for purpose of reporting news. Sources: KRAFT,  Radio Station 6PR, mUmBRELLA and B&T.

KRAFT’s Epic VegeFAIL - iSnack 2.0 / Cheesybite - naming competition debacle, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

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