Are you afraid of the dark? Seems quite a few people are but Marmite’s brilliant Halloween campaign is encouraging people to be brave and try the original dark stuff as there really isn’t anything to be afraid of.
The campaign, by MACHINE, plays to the ‘dark stuff’ with horror characters such as Freddie Kruger, the ghastly Pennywise for Stephen King’s IT, the terrifying Pinhead as well as a host of grisly South African murders told in a series of 13 illustrated books.
Incorporating video, graffiti, bespoke Marmite jars (being auctioned on Bid or Buy), the campaign used posters, out of home, Facebook and the brand’s own site to encourage new users to try the dark stuff.
“With an icon brand like Marmite that has been around for almost 110 years, it is almost imperative to keep pushing the boundaries of traditional advertising in order to keep the product front of mind in an ever increasingly complex FMCG environment. It is exactly for this reason that MACHINE has created some of the most exciting viral and tactical campaigns that the brand has been involved in to date’, says Neil Meyer, brand manager at Bokomo Foods.
The integrated campaign is the second Marmite activation from MACHINE, the first being the multiple award winning, ‘If Mother didn’t tell you about Marmite, what else didn’t she tell you?’ campaign which recently had a first rate showing at the Loeries, winning six awards in total, and more recently, a Bookmarks award.
‘Illustration and hours of craft sit at the core of this campaign. I believe this is some of the most beautifully executed work that the agency has ever done’’, said Jake Bester, group creative director at MACHINE. ‘Most importantly, it also succeeds in placing Marmite in a younger consumer’s consideration set’.
Bester says people are afraid of the “dark stuff”.
“I know I am,” he says.
Check out all the artwork on our Pinterest board.
Creative Director: Jake Bester / Gareth McPherson
Design Director: Dani Loureiro
Original artwork: Andrew Ringrose
Mural: Nick Herbert
Animation: Natalie Perel / Nick Herbert
Editor: Natalie Perel
Sound design: Say Thank You
