To turn sales of Marmite around, we had to find a way to get families to try Marmite. And because our budget was limited, a traditional advertising campaign wasn’t going to be enough. So we decided to set up a real-life experiment, carried out and approved by real scientists, underpinned by real science, and based on real results from real people. And we invited the whole nation to take part.

Our hunch was that if we could discover a genetic link to loving or hating Marmite, news of the discovery would give families a compelling reason to try the brand, which could be leveraged in all sorts of paid, owned and earned communications.

And so we embarked on a nationwide, cross channel campaign to get people to test whether they were born a Marmite lover or a hater. The Marmite Gene Project was born.

The campaign launched on 6th September 2017 with the publication of a Scientific White Paper announcing our discovery: your Marmite taste preference is genetic. This story was seeded with multiple scientific news sources, generated a heated debate amongst the scientific community, and was then picked up by the national and international popular media. Key scientists from the research study provided a series of TV and press interviews. This massively extended our reach and enhanced conversation around the Marmite Gene Project, without any paid media.

On 9th September we launched our Marmite Gene Test kit. The kit was promoted in a nationwide cross platform advertising campaign (TV, online, social, digital, OOH, radio, point of sale and on-pack labelling). The Marmite Gene Project campaign is ongoing, and expected to continue throughout 2018.

The Marmite Gene Project was designed to inspire the UK public to action, but we hadn’t anticipated how strongly people would respond. The impact on the business was unprecedented. A heated debate amongst the scientific community and in the national media gave our campaign an unprecedented momentum, achieving an earned reach of 1.4 billion impressions. But most importantly, the Marmite Gene Project has changed consumer behaviour: families have started trying Marmite again. Brand awareness quadrupled, from 4% to 12%. And year-on-year sales for the brand saw a remarkable uplift: 14% across all retailers.

In conclusion, the Marmite Gene Project has reasserted Marmite in the minds of the British population, strengthened relationships with our existing customers and, most importantly, encouraged trial amongst non-users. It is the brand’s most polarising marketing campaign to date. And its most effective campaign ever.