The right campaign can turn everything around — the Cadbury Case Study, part 2
A very quick recap from last time:
It’s 2017, and Cadbury has been flailing for a few years. But they're about to turn it around.
They’ve just uncovered a new insight/category entry point — everyone has an instinct for generosity, which becomes,“There’s a glass and a half in everyone.”
Creatively, they could’ve taken this in any number of directions. What Cadbury did was breathtaking.
We’ll walk you through the campaign that began in 2018 with a TV spot called “Mum’s Birthday.”
This is simple, gorgeous, emotional storytelling. We feel for these people. We know people like this. Some days we are people like this.
And there’s an amazing tension when the girl starts to pay with her little treasures — the plastic coin, the buttons, the ring and the unicorn.
The shopkeeper can break her heart, or he can be kind.
He chooses to be generous and even gives the little unicorn back in change. The payoff for him is a sweet moment between the mom and the girl.
So much depth and heart … from an ad for a candy bar.
Yes, “Mum’s Birthday” is a little light in Distinctive Brand Assets. We don’t even know it’s a Cadbury ad (or an ad at all, really) until about halfway through. But by then we’re so invested in the story and the relationships between the characters that it almost doesn’t matter.
Cadbury followed “Mum’s Birthday” with “Fence,” the story of an older man dealing with some boisterous younger neighbors.
After Cadbury released “Fence,” they launched a campaign called “Donate your words” encouraging people to reach out to their elderly neighbors, friends and loved ones.
Then Cadbury released an ad called “Speakerphone.”
And they followed that up in 2023 with “Garage.”
What’s wholly remarkable is that these ads feel authentic, lived and real.
A young girl wants to give her mom a special gift for her birthday.
An older man wants to feel less alone, less disconnected from the world.
A middle-aged guy starting a new job isn’t sure if he can cut it.
A daughter needs to know her dad loves her.
None of the character’s needs, wants and desires are resolved with candy. To the extent they are resolved, it’s because of a small act of kindness.
And each ad is so tightly focused on telling a story that links the idea of generosity to Cadbury Dairy Milk there is no room for anything else.
It’s not generosity and the amount of milk in each chocolate bar and brand history and where the chocolate comes from and the cows and all the other flavors they make and so on.
One idea, one story and two or three compelling characters.
It wasn’t just TV, their OOH ads have been brilliant as well …
Copy: “On an average morning, 6,924 people will cover for a late colleague. There’s a glass and a half in everyone.”
“Over 3 million of us have shared an umbrella with a stranger. There’s a glass and a half in everyone.”
Simple, clever, compelling. And the distinctive brand assets are really tight. There’s the glass and a half milk pour, the font, the Cadbury purple and the gold writing.
So let’s review …
A knotty business problem to solve? Boy, howdy.
A brilliant insight? Yep.
Category entry point? Yes.
Distinctive brand assets? A little light, but they nailed it in “Garage.”
Emotional brand campaign that builds mental availability? Absolutely.
Entertaining ads? Yes.
Effective ads? Yes.
“Mum’s Birthday” was in the top 11% of effective ads in the UK for 2018.
The entire campaign won an IPA Gold Effectiveness Award in 2020, and they were the IPA Grand Prix winner in 2022.
“Garage” was easily in the top 1% of effective ads in 2023, and it was #10 in System 1’s 2023 list of the UK’s 50 favorite ads. So it worked … and people liked it.
Next time we’ll get into the business results, and we’ll talk through a few takeaways from this campaign.
See you then.
Sources!