Marmite fans invited to join in Facebook competition
Unilever is hoping to encourage consumers to use Marmite as an ingredient in cooking with the launch of a new Facebook competition.
It is inviting consumers to submit ideas to its Facebook fan page, and the winner will have their recipe printed on pots of Marmite Squeezy next year. The digital campaign has been developed by AKQA.
A new burst of its Paddington Bear campaign will run alongside the promotion across print and TV.
Cheryl Calverley, marketing manager for Chrysalis brands at Unilever UK, says: “This is the first time we have linked consumer feedback and participation through the Web to a product so closely, and we’re really interested to see how this develops.”
Over 125,000 Marmite fans on Facebook will be sent a message inviting them to participate in the online-only contest. Each week, judges from Unilever will choose one winner and two runners-up.
The weekly winners and runners-up will win a prize, including exclusive Marmite kitchenware and limited-edition Paddington DVD box sets, and will enter the draw to feature on the back of Squeezy pots.
AKQA says that consumers already use the Facebook page to talk about Marmite recipes, and the campaign was a natural progression of that.
Hester Bloch, the agency’s marketing director, says the competition aims to make Facebook users “feel part of the brand” as many consumers already discuss their favourite ways to use Marmite on the social networking site.
