Comments on: Marketing disasters: Westpac’s monkey business tops 2009 list

By: dave

dave — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 11:30:30 +0000

O.f.f.s Isnack was clearly a stunt planned well in advance, I can’t believe how gullible the mainstream media are.

It reminds me of when a donut chain opened recently in Melbourne, they offered free packs of donuts to people, which naturally caused a crush of people at the shopping centre, the media went on and on about how people were ‘stampeding’ the store, but none of them mentioned the obvious fact they were giving their product away free, thus causing the stampede.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:53:22 +0000

Wow the hierarchy of this list really does show how quickly stuff gets forgotten. I-Snack should have been the winner here mainly because it caused every viewer of the AFL Grand Final to comment on how stupid it was. Watch Chris Brown’s star rise again to see how quickly people forget and this article on Cracked really shows what the public are willing to forgive
http://www.cracked.com/article.....-they-did/

By: 2009 Wrap-up – the highs and lows of earned media | FRANkVizeum - Brand Strategy Company | Media Innovation | Social Media Strategy | Marketing Communications | Social Media Agency

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:33:32 +0000

[...] Mumbrella’s FAIL list for 2009, Ben Shepherd and Julian Cole 2010 predictions (With a great comment from Mo from NOVA) and this video by Laurel Papworth: [...]

By: Kristian

Kristian — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:06:38 +0000

@Rex D

Do you think it might be pertinent to look at the product over a longer term?

Would there be… isnack2.0 or whatever it is called now… in 20% of household’s fridges if it was called something else? I suspect that any new vegemite product would get a trial from consumers, given how popular the original is. But how many times after that would they buy it?

Isn’t this supposed to be about building brands, not controversy?

By: aplet

aplet — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:33:23 +0000

@RexD – well put!

Where’s the list of brands that took no risks in 2009? I barely watch TV these days, so I can’t tell you whether my brand affinity has changed for the traditional big names, but what I can say for sure is that a brand that takes a risk, is a brand that is hungry. And a brand that is hungry tends to be at the top of my mind.

By: Marketing Muck-ups 2009 | Aussie Rules | BNET

Marketing Muck-ups 2009 | Aussie Rules | BNET — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:01:16 +0000

[...] media and marketing site mUmBRELLA has released its list of the worst marketing disasters of 2009. Here are just a few of the [...]

By: Rex D

Rex D — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:51:56 +0000

Does anyone involved with this blog have even the faintest idea of what marketing is? Kraft/Vegemite has SMASHED it this year. something like one in 5 households has a jar of iSnack2.0 in the fridge. A few self-appointed “experts” have branded it a failure. Hmmm…..what should I look to for information….sales data or the opinion of some online pundit who has a blog with the word “marketing” mispelled in it.

I have never seen so many people who think they know so much and actually know so little talk so much rubbish about a single topic.

And they’re STILL talking about it. And buying it in huge quantities. And coming back to Vegemite in huge quantities as well. Suckers.

By: Brian Haverty

Brian Haverty — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:19:02 +0000

Sure, they’re all “errors in judgement”, but I reckon that when those “errors” are deliberate attempts to dupe an audience, they deserve more disaster points.

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:03:02 +0000

Surely the Velocity gold card upgrade e-mail deserves a mention in the fail awards.

By: christine walker

christine walker — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:02:58 +0000

Fabulous list.
Big brands making big mistakes, which could easily have been avoided big time.

The list could include Cadbury making its chocolate bar smaller and substituting ingredients… Jeopardising a ridiculously high market share

By: LeftyBanana

LeftyBanana — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:59:49 +0000

Westpac’s wasn’t a marketing disaster. What it was was an example of a PM who should stick to doing his job rather than trying to ride every populist bandwagon that passes. (If he wanted to actually do something about it rather than leap aboard the passing bandwagon, he could easily have raised his existing party policy for making mortgages as portable as mobile phone numbers. But no, much easier to go for the quick sound bite and achieve absolutely nothing!)
Vegemite’s fiasco was by far the worst of the year. To launch a product at halftime in the AFL grand final and have the net go ballistic with criticism before anyone won the flag is an achievement beyond anything any marketer has managed in the nation’s history.

By: Sandilands on top for all the wrong reasons - mUmBRELLA

Sandilands on top for all the wrong reasons - mUmBRELLA — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:59:55 +0000

[...] It’s been a big year of marketing disasters for some unfortunate brands, with Westpac taking the mantle as the biggest loser in Mumbrella’s top ten list of the year’s Biggest Marketing Disasters, thanks to its patronising comparison of the price of bananas with its hike in interest rates. Read more » [...]

By: Kylie Chong

Kylie Chong — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:23:28 +0000

2009 is going to go down as a classic year for brands behaving badly. And what rich case studies these are going to provide for all those aspiring marketers looking to learn how not to manage a brand.

By: Justin Polites

Justin Polites — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:32:35 +0000

Show me the sales data on:
- Vegemite
- iSnack 2.0 against the target audience

Vegemite may have poorly managed a PR disaster but I want to see some FMCG numbers first. I think when we see the incremental increase of sales on Vegemite we may forgive our 2.0 friend.

By: Clinton

Clinton — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:13:33 +0000

iSnack was robbed…