And maybe Australia will get on the holiday agenda for many for whom the campaign failed for first time round. Unlike Coke, it would be interesting to see if the customers showed their displeasure by searching out the product despite the campaign. GFC or poor tourism campaign, the campaign itself became well known, with opinions and blogs turning up everywhere. “Where the bloody hell are you?” was not popular with Australians when it was launched and, even more importantly, not popular with anyone anywhere, as the tourists stayed away in droves. Then consider the campaign to market Australia to the world. The advertising agency and head honchos at Coke might have taken a lot of flack, but was the product damaged? Not that I can see. Although I would argue that this was a ‘bad’ or poorly researched rebranding exercise, the overall result was very positive for the original Coke formula, with a major spike in sales, renewed popularity and a consolidation of customer commitment. The new drink was considered a failure and the original formula reinstated. When New Coke was launched in 1985 to replace the original, much loved existing Coke formula, there was a huge public outcry. It would seem however that often the short-term pain endured by a rebrand will offer long-term gain, especially if you consider the huge kick to product awareness generated by all that free publicity. These included the reformulated Coke in the 1980s, the ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ Australian tourism campaign and the British Airways image update in the mid-90s.

In a two-minute office poll, we were able to come up with a list of rebrands that inspired significant media debate and opposition at the time. I mean what can go wrong with a brand as strong as Vegemite? There isn’t much to stuff up. While I understand this was a launch of a complementary product to an existing household name, the whole debate got me thinking about the wisdom versus the perils of rebranding, especially when it might affect an existing, highly successful, universally known and loved local brand, such as Vegemite. Whether or not the antics employed by Kraft in the naming of its new product were a ploy to gain publicity or a genuine naming gone wrong saga, the company has successfully launched its new product with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of free publicity.

The naming of the new Kraft product Cheesybite proved to be a highly amusing spectacle. So what lessons can we learn from iSnack 2.0? Whether iSnack 2.0 was a publicity stunt from the start or a genuine renaming gone wrong, it’s provided a great case study in branding and rebranding.

Isnake 2.0