brand trainwrecks
Posted by Abe Sauer on October 2, 2009 02:36 PM
As Kraft backpedals on its treasured Vegemite brand, Australia is experiencing its own Tropicana debacle (a profound branding change that upsets consumers).
Hoping to increase consumer involvement, Kraft recently crowdsourced the brand name of its new, more spreadable version of Vegemite. Having consumers choose the name worked well with the original Vegemite brand, so it made sense to try the same approach again.
The result? "iSnack 2.0."
Seriously.
Who can’t imagine enjoying a biscuit and with a little delicious iSnack two-point-oh spread on it. Mmm, right?
Now a virtual lock for biggest brand screw-up of the year, Kraft has heard from thousands of outraged brand champions since the product launched. Consumers also started isnack2.com: "Names that are Better than 'iSnack 2.0'" (Helpful suggestions included "Spread-Germite!").
Poor Simon Talbot, head of Kraft corporate affairs, had to put on the happy face and go for a spin: "Vegemite iSnack2.0 was chosen based on its personal call to action, relevance to snacking and clear identification of a new and different Vegemite to the original."
Apparently chastened by the response to their "personal call to action," Kraft is announcing a rollback of the iSnack 2.0 brand name. "The new name has simply not resonated with Australians - particularly the modern technical aspects associated with it,” said Mr. Talbot. A second round of voting for the new name will be held today, October 2.
But decisions based on user-generated suggestions and people who vote in online polls brings risk if these participants have little in common with the broader audience, as is normally true.
Perhaps iSnack 3.0 will be on Australian supermarket shelves soon.
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