Vegemite, iconic Aussie brand and part of Australia’s favorite breakfast, was named Official Spread of the 2012 Australian Olympic Team. For most brands this privilege would afford potential upturns in sales, relevance and awareness, but for Vegemite and in fact, all Australians there was a problem: due to the time difference and the scheduling of the main Olympic events, the core viewing time was going to be 4am to 9am, and to make things worse, those mornings would be smack-bang in the middle of winter. (Yes, even Australia gets cold in winter!)

But all was not lost - we saw a golden opportunity nestled in the heart of our problem. We realized that it would take more than a few early starts to stop sports mad Aussies supporting their Olympic heroes - we also realized that they were going to need some help getting up on those cold, dark mornings. So, who better to help than Vegemite? After all, as every Aussie knows, when it comes to starting your day, nothing gets you up and going like Vegemite.

Introducing “Wake Up and Smell the Vegemite” an app that mimicked a hotel-style, wake–up call service. Aussies simply download the free ‘Wake-Up and Smell the Vegemite’ app, booked the Olympic event they wanted to get up for, and Vegemite’s team of celebrity wake-up callers guaranteed their consciousness with a carefully timed and humorous call. The app also housed the low down on all-things Olympic, including medal tallies, schedule and a news feed.

Word of the app was spread via a radio campaign and banner ads and by leveraging Vegemite’s 300,000 strong Facebook group. During the Olympics the app received over 20,000 downloads, was ranked No.3 in Australian Utility apps, featured in the top 60 iPhone apps, and achieved a reach of over 1.2 million people. During the Olympics, Vegemite’s Facebook page grew by nearly 30,000 fans, with a further 3.2 million impressions on Facebook and pleasingly for an already iconic and regularly bought brand, an 8% uplift in sales was recorded.