Marketing and Vegemite
VEGEMITE (: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In the report, I will talk about The Marketing Mix. This includes the Product itself, Vegemite, the Price, Promotion, and Place. INTRODUCTION: The marketing mix is the marketing decisions of the business for specific goods and services in a market. The marketing mix includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Promotion and Place. Making smart decisions in these four key areas, will ensure success in the marketing of your product. PRODUCT: BRAND: The Vegemite brand has been a staple in every Australian’s household pantry for over 90 years now.
Vegemite fits the needs of its targeted markets. The original Vegemite recipe contains Vitamin B and is suitable for vegetarians, kosher diets, and is halal certified. This means that Vegemite can be consumed by anyone, regardless is their beliefs and dietary needs. Vegemite has been promoted and recommended by Medical professionals and experts as a nutritious spread, especially for growing bodies and pregnant women. Vegemite has become an Australian icon and its name is widely well-known, not only in Australia and there is no other spread quite like it.
PACKAGING: The packaging of Vegemite has changed during it’s 90years of business. Vegemite started out in glass and tin jars with metal lids but has evolved into the big plastic jars with a yellow label design and a big bright yellow screw cap that is easily identifiable. In the 1940’s, Vegemite was sold in reusable plastic beakers that featured famous Disney characters such as Pinocchio, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. This targeted the children to want Vegemite because of the familiar faces on the packaging.
In the 70’s, government regulations required Vegemite to put the ingredients on the labels on each Vegemite jar. In the 90’s, Vegemite designed a handy little travel tube that allowed for ease when spreading without a knife, and didn’t easily break. The barcodes on each Vegemite jar have allowed for quick sales at the cash register. In fact, the first ever item to be scanned at a checkout in Australia, was a 115g Vegemite jar, in a Woolworths in NSW. PRICE: Vegemite have special value jars at discounted prices.
The price includes the brand name, packaging, delivery, ingredients and production costs. There are sometimes sales in supermarkets such as Woolworths and Coles, which gives discounted prices when you bulk buy. EG: Buy 2 Jars of Vegemite, for the price of 1. Because Vegemite is the only spread with such nutritious value, and Australian Heritage, the pricing is dependent on the company, rather than the consumers themselves. PROMOTION: Vegemite used a genius strategy to promote their product.
They had the whole Australia public officially name their spread in a national competition. This not only cleverly make Australian’s aware of their product, but it obliged the public to buy and try it as well, as they feel that they had were involved in this product. Although Vegemite wasn’t very successful because of another similar US spread, Marmite, after 14years of unsuccessful attempts at promoting Vegemite, including changing its name to Parwill (‘If Marmite, then Parwill’), and back, Vegemite finally took some momentum in the business world and sales began to increase.
Troops in WWII bought so much Vegemite in bulk because of its nutritious value. ADVERTISING: Soon enough, Vegemite launched a television campaign containing its infectious “Happy Little Vegemite” tune and since, it has become Australia’s unofficial anthem. MEDIUM USED: Vegemite used all sorts of mediums ranging from posters and newspaper advertisements in the earlier years, to television in more recent years to reach to larger audiences. Vegemite also now has their own domain and ebsite, providing consumers with all the knowledge and information needed, as well as using their website as an advertisement medium. PLACE: Vegemite is situated on a shelf on almost any good supermarket and convenience store. They are easily differentiated from other spreads with its bright yellow packaging. CONCLUSION: The reason behind the immense success of Vegemite, is its cleverly thought out marketing mix decisions. It had a catchy, infectious advertising tune, a bright, distinctive packaging, a well-established brand name and its spot on a shelf on every supermarket.
