Australian brand Vegemite has seriously upset its fan base by a recent experiment with crowdsourcing, according to an article on the BBC. They asked users to suggest a new name for a new product and have launched it as isnack2.0. This new name has incensed users who have been protesting about the brand name.
The problem might well be that Kraft (the owners of Vegemite) only went partway down the crowdsourcing route. They asked for ideas, but selected the winner themselves.
Now they are going to re-do the exercise, getting people to vote on the new name.
Interestingly, an article on AdAge claims the original Vegemite name was chosen via a public competition in the 1920s.
Off course Vegemite has done very well out of this campaign now that the old world is talking about it.
Not a bad idea, let the public select your name, choose a silly one, create a consumer uproar and get everyone talking about it, then let the consumers have another go and choose something like - 'Vegemite and Cheese'
Posted by: Jared | September 30, 2009 at 06:32 PM