Marmite. A strong savoury spread, dividing Brits into Lovers and Haters since 1902. But in 2023, it was disappearing from family breakfast tables. Busy parents were choosing 'safe' options like Nutella and cereal - not wanting to risk Marmite rejection with their young children. So how could we get parents - stressed and with a million things to worry about - to take the plunge and raise the next generation of Lovers and Haters? We needed a campaign idea that would put Marmite at the top of the breakfast agenda for parents across Britain, and most importantly cut through at a time when prams, nappies and nurseries matter far more to our audience than breakfast choices.

"They say ‘get them while they’re young’, so we thought why not get them really young… like not even born young. For years Marmite, an infamously divisive savoury spread, had been asking whether people loved or hated it, but had totally ignored unborn babies. It’s then that we found our subject matter – babies in the womb. We needed to remedy this! Afterall they’ll grow up to be our next generation of consumers. What if we could make them really early adopters?

We found scientific research proving that babies in the womb can taste what their mums eat. So we knew we could do this for real. 4D baby scans are such an arresting image and there is so much emotion in seeing your unborn baby for the first time we knew it could make a compelling campaign, which continued the story of ‘you either love it or hate it’."

"We had one big question to answer for expectant parents: am I having a lover or a hater?

To answer this question we needed to turn to science - using data driven analysis to determine the outcome. We used 4D scanning technology to look for 17 types of facial movements in response to Marmite in the womb, and used a coding system to identify whether the baby’s expression represented delight or disgust. Based on the outcome of the scan, we targeted participating parents with bespoke Lover/Hater merch and kits to help them bring their new Lover or Hater into the world. "

Marmite Baby Scan was born. In a scientific first, we partnered with the UKs largest baby scanning clinic and invited expectant mothers to find out what they were having. We launched a nationwide recruitment campaign in TV, OOH, Press and Social, inviting pregnant women to attend our clinics. We even created Lover/Hater reveal social posts, tapping into the gender real trend. Within hours the scanning slots were fully booked. On the day, we gave our mums Marmite 20 minutes before scanning them with the latest in 4D technology, to see whether they were having a lover or a hater. We even created our own range of merch to help mums welcome their little lovers and haters into the world.

"All scanning slots were filled within hours.

Over 7M earned media impressions in one week. We saw a 37% increase in online conversation in the two weeks after our campaign launched

We saw a 267% increase in Marmite press coverage the week after our campaign launched.

Front page news in national print media, and featured on national radio.

Talked about by Mumsnet, and expectant parents across Britain. "