Marmite serves up ‘tips for first-timers’ in new campaign

Marmite is targeting young adults with a playful campaign, "First Timers", inviting them to experience their first time with Marmite after YouGov research revealed that 43 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds in the UK have never tried the spread.

Coinciding with Freshers’ week – famously a time of experimentation – "First Timers" treats viewers to a useful lesson in how to eat Marmite, and, perhaps even more importantly when it comes to first timers, how not to eat it.

The 60” hero film, airing today, features two puppets who try putting Marmite on a slice of toast for the first time, where they are invited to “stroke that” “push that” and “lick that” via a series of suggestive scenarios. The film is set to a specially recorded music track by US music producer, Giraffage, who remixed his electro track “Workout”. The end line is “Love it. Hate it. Get it on,” with shorter films running across video on demand.

The campaign is also supported by social media and digital OOH. Marmite will also reach young adult audiences through social media and dating platforms, including a TikTok challenge called “Are you a Marmite First-Timer?” and a quiz on Tinder called “Sticky Situations” asking participants to “love” or “hate” certain behaviours in a potential partner, in humorous and saucy language. The campaign also includes Spotify and banner ads, with one Spotify ad featuring a remixed version of the Giraffage track used in the film, and another using ASMR to get potential Marmite customers in the mood.

“Marmite is a brand which is embedded in UK culture, and so many of us have grown up with it," said Laura Iliffe, Marmite Brand Manager. "We pride ourselves on sparking debate and strong opinions with both lovers and haters. However, when we saw the number of young adults who had never even tried it – we knew we had to do something to dare them to take the plunge and try our special spread.

“This campaign represents a step-change in the way we advertise Marmite – with a clear focus on driving trial and changing perceptions. We want to recruit our next generation of lovers and show young adults how to approach their first-time with Marmite.”