Cheesybite: Kicking off a Krafty new marketing era

By Sharon Williams

PR flop or PR genius? I can see a university case study on its way.

Take a product with a household name, launch a new derivative of it at a major sporting event with a crazy name.

React to public outcry with an apology, rename the product with a sensible name and allow the limited edition of the badly named product to become a sold out collector's item.

In the process, gain more PR column inches than you could ever hope to achieve through legitimate means, or be able to afford.

Well this of course is the recent reality with Vegemite or more specifically iSnack 2.0 - now renamed Cheesybite - the cheese and Vegemite version.

So what was it? A launch gone wrong or a flash of brilliance, and great foresight, from Kraft's marketing department?

It sparks a strong and contentious debate of what is permissible and what is not as we move into a new age of rules with the instant nature of social media and blogs.

And as for being more creative in the GFC with PR ideas – this one takes the biscuit - or the cheese!

Kraft Foods Australia/New Zealand Head of Corporate Affairs, Simon Talbot, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the passion for Vegemite and the new product. The new name has simply not resonated with Australians. Particularly the modern technical aspects associated with it."

I’m interested, where do you sit in your surmising of the situation? Have we been duped or have we been witness to marketing genius? And where are the ethics here?

What are the rules these days? Post-GFC desperation can creep into marketing and communication plans from under pressure executives.

Bizarre or brilliant? If branding is about connecting with or having a relationship with people – what do you think Kraft achieved with the whole scenario?

Apparently Pizza Hut registered the Cheesybite name back in 2006 and I've read that lawyers have grounds to challenge the name.

I await the outcome - and wonder if Pizza Hut will utilise this opportunity to raise their brand name in some super PR stunt.

iSnack 2.0 sounded like a food supplement out of a sci-fi movie – I have to add my favourite blog comment which, without any doubt, is from some ingenious soul who said it sounded "like a circuit board on toast”.

Personally I don’t care what the product is called. I’ll try Cheesybite once and if the children don’t like it, the name won’t affect the fact that we won’t buy it again.

Added to this, it evidently has a much higher fat content and a much shorter shelf life.

Sharon Williams is chief executive of Taurus Marketing and is on the board of the Australian British Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce Women in Management

What do you think? Have your say below.