There’s a great deal to admire about how Kraft has managed their marketing campaign for the new Vegemite. The company had first seen dwindling sales figures for the traditional Vegemite back in 2006 and, by 2008, set about finding something to fill the void. This was no overnight quick fix.
Demographic sales data showed Kraft that new Australians, people who are not or were not brought up as "happy little Vegemites", just weren’t buying the stuff. Indeed, it’s an acquired taste (and for those who were raised eating the tar-like, distinctively aromatic spread, that’s part of the appeal). How big a problem was this for Kraft? Household penetration had fallen eight percent in a short space of time and was still dropping. Not only were significant numbers of Australians falling into that category of non-buyer, they also did not understand the legacy of the brand – so the issue was big on a couple of fronts.
So, how to attract a new set of buyers, a new set of Vegemite lovers?