When you think of Brand Experience and Activation, what do you picture? A slick experience design, perhaps. Or a polished immersive physical presence. Well, we didn't do any of that. But our customers definitely went on a journey. To New York. To smuggle Marmite. We didn't pay for their trip. And they had to text a dodgy WhatsApp number to sign up. But in doing so, they demonstrated just how much Marmite lovers really love Marmite.

Marmite is a divisive British salty savoury yeast spread, which is dark, sticky and strong smelling. For decades it has been known in the UK as the product you have to pick a side on, thanks to famous advertising campaigns by us using the line 'you either love it or hate it'. In recent years, Marmite campaigns have asked Marmite Lovers and Haters to participate in an increasingly bizarre and high-stakes experiments - including submitting themselves to gene testing, hypnosis and ultrasound scans for pregnant mums.

Every single day, 700,000 British expats live a miserable Marmite-less existence in the US.

It’s almost impossible to find and criminally overpriced.

Back in the UK, we really felt for our fellow countrymen in New York, because once a Marmite lover, always a lover. To get Marmite to these expats in need, we needed to take drastic measures. So, we tapped into a powerful force at our fingertips: a network of British Lovers so dedicated to Marmite they would do literally anything for us. Or would they? We decided to find out by attempting to recruit a ring of Marmite Smugglers, to stash the yeast spread and take it on their flights from the UK to NYC.

In the UK, Marmite is outspent by peanut butter and chocolate spread brands, and stands alone as the only yeast spread. We couldn't compete with our competitors' budgets, but we could compete in another way. Marmite Lovers are always willing to help the brand, especially when they can get their hands on a coveted limited edition jar. So we decided to test just how far Lovers were willing to go. In doing so, we could leverage that love to generate PR and conversation around the brand, while spending a fraction of what our competitors do. It was a tried and tested approach to gaining a dispropriate share of the attention, previously seen in campaigns that subjected Lovers and Haters to gene testing, hypnosis and even pre-natal scans. The question was, how could we go even further this time?

We spammed London with low-fi posters and stickers, and took over UK radio waves. Asking Brits ‘Willing to Smuggle Marmite’ into New York to WhatsApp us.

Once recruited via WhatsApp, we delivered a discreet package containing Marmite to their address. On social media, we used footage smugglers sent to us on WhatsApp that documented them stashing jars into their suitcases, arriving in New York and getting through customs to make the drop to our driver. Successful smugglers were rewarded with a limited edition ‘Marmite Smuggler’ jar.

In the US, we hit expats where they were, with street posters and stickers outside popular British pubs and overpriced English grocery stores. ​​We infiltrated expat Reddit forums and Soundcloud mixes of British music, letting Marmite-less expats know where they could get their fix - at a dodgy store in the home of the New York black market, Canal Street.

1,325 Lovers willing to smuggle Marmite.

4,246 WhatsApp messages exchanged co-ordinating the smuggling operation.

26 Brits risked it all to ferry the goods across the US border.

2 smugglers offered to put jars inside themselves.

289,665 kilometers travelled by British lovers to smuggle Marmite.

33 separate pieces of PR coverage.

5.6 million earned reach in UK print and online publications.

We knew from anecdotal evidence and online reseach that Marmite smuggling was already a behaviour between close friends. Millions of British expats around the world love Marmite but struggle to get their hands on it when they are living abroad. So we decided to tap into this behaviour, and scale it up. Though we didn't expect to be treated like such a close friend when we asked for Marmite smugglers. "Bought lube and everything" was one message from an 'enthusiastic' would-be smuggler.