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Considering it is a polarising by-product of beer brewing, Marmite is an extremely versatile product. Venturing beyond the realm of toast, it has spread its influence across the supermarket, from Marmite Lynx Africa, Marmite Walkers crisps and Wall’s Marmite Cornetto, dubbed ‘Marmetto’.
So it was only a matter of time before it went back to its roots and joined forces with the brewing process that made it.
Back in September, Camden Town Brewery introduced the limited-edition beer - Camden Love-Hate Marmite Ale. “Marmite is an iconic British brand and one that we’ve always admired for its distinctive tone of voice and divisive nature,” says Zoe Wulfsohn-Dunkley, head of marketing at Camden Town Brewery.
“So, as lovers ourselves at the Camden team, we leapt at the chance of working together when the opportunity came about. We wanted to create a beer dedicated to all the other lovers out there, and we were confident we could come up with a really great product that both beer and Marmite fans would go wild for.”
Following its successful launch, the Camden team felt the limited-edition beer deserved its own TV ad. “Marmite has done some incredible marketing and advertising campaigns over the years, and the Marmite ‘kiss’ advert from 2001 is one that we always admired in the way that it perfectly visualised the brand’s famous ‘love it or hate it’ slogan,” explains Wulfsohn-Dunkley.
“That’s why we decided to give Marmite Ale the attention it deserves and recreate the original Marmite advert with our very own fresh Camden twist.”
The iconic Marmite ad Wulfsohn-Dunkley alludes to centred on a first date where things go awry. Making it back to the apartment, the girl offers her date a coffee. When she comes back and they start to kiss, he begins gagging. The culprit? A bagel slathered with Marmite.
Relaunching the advert with a fresh look, Camden enlisted the help of director Eros Vlahos who worked with Draftline, AB InBev’s in-house creative agency.
Titled 'Marmite Kiss' the ad switches a jar of Marmite for a can of beer to highlight the nation of Marmite lovers (and haters).
Like the original, it sees two people on a date, enjoying a kiss, until one is disgusted by the taste of Marmite Ale. The camera then pans over to a can, with the famous tagline ‘Love it or Hate it’.
While the Kentish Town-based brewery made a name for itself on the beer circuit with its regular brands Camden Hells and Camden Pale, it has been enthusiastically adding to its range with new varieties of larger and IPA, like ‘Unfussy’, ‘Week Nite’, ‘Show Off’ and ‘Canapé Session IPA’.
The Camden Love-Hate Marmite Ale is its first brand collaboration, which Wulfsohn-Dunkley says the beer brand thinks is a great way of raising brand awareness and leveraging another brand’s fame to speak to a new audience.
“Although we’re a London-based brewery, our beers are available nationwide, so working with a brand like Marmite, that’s a household name across the country, helps promote the Camden brand on a national scale,” she explains. “Collaborations also do a good job of driving talkability with consumers and media alike, building hype around limited-edition products, particularly if it’s a partnership that’s unusual or unexpected.”