Search results matching tag 'Cadbury'

Calm down dears; Jedward will live on

2090227 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:59:00 GMT

So Jedward are out and didn’t they do it in spectacular style? Moaning and growling through a uniquely atonal version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Boyzone classic “No matter what”. It clearly even tested Louis’s powers of positive thinking. At one point the camera turned to him and there he was, fixed grin, singing along under his breath clearly in a desperate attempt to guide his protégés back to the tune. Before striking the killer blow, Dannii was prompted to ask whether this was a singing competition; a question to which none of the other judges seemed able or willing to give an adequate answer.

But, you can’t blame Dannii for asking the question as, during the stellar rise of Jedward from zero to Nero in just a few short weeks, their singing ability (or lack of it) has never really been the issue at hand. They are one of those classic TV inspired media phenomena that in these disaggregated days we identify, embrace and celebrate together with a frenzied enthusiasm which is often in inverse proportion to their talent. We love them, we love to hate them and we love to talk about them. Even if you have been cut off from all broadcast, online and print media for the last 3 months there’s no way you can escape knowing about them because everyone else is talking about them, all the time. (I see that even the IAB has written a blog post about them.)

And, finally, they receive the ultimate accolade. Jedward are considered to be such an important and populist cultural reference point that both of the main political parties have tried to appropriate their image to knock their competitors.

Such is the power of TV to create and then fuel these incredible phenomena. But their success also depends on 2 other things: our need to find things which bond us together (a need which TV satisfies every day of the week): and our very British determination to embrace eccentricity, to celebrate the anti-hero or the underdog (think Eddie the Eagle), to revel in stuff which is so bad it’s good.

And, of course, some very canny advertisers have tapped into this insight. Think of Howard from the Halifax, Michael Winner telling us to “calm down, dear” and the utterly stupendous Ambassador’s dinner party. I was reminded of the amazing long-term effect of TV campaigns like this while listening to the Today programme last week on Radio 4. A story about Ferrero appearing as a possible competitor to Kraft in the bidding war for Cadbury inspired a 2 minute down-tools by the presenters as they wallowed in a nostalgic and loving homage to the famous ad which they all clearly held in great affection.

With this, TV, you are spoiling us.

Business with soul

2114008 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:50:00 GMT

Last week’s Marketing Society Forum question asks whether corporate social responsibility is replacing traditional campaign marketing. The resounding answer from the four respondents was 'No'.

Of particular interest to me were the thoughts of Mike Welsh, the chief executive of Publicis Dialogue. ‘Most of the world's big corporations undertake CSR projects because they have to not because they want to,' he argued. He may well be on the money but what a depressing state of affairs.

If Welsh is right this suggests that senior management - or shareholders - are solely driven by profits and would only approve of CSR for the sake presentational issues. Do you get to a certain level and automatically lose your humanity? I'd like to think that if I were a chief executive of multi-national I would give something back to society but then maybe that's why I wouldn't make a good one.

Business and social responsibility were not always seen as mutually exclusive. Kraft's rejected bid for Cadbury put the story of philanthropist John Cadbury back in the spotlight.

Yes it is true that his brand of paternalism would not work in today's world where people resist being told how to lead their lives. But nonetheless the example he set shows that CSR, although it was not called that back then, can be embedded in a business and not just an add-on.

What's in a (brand) name?

1713999 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:40:00 GMT

Monday morning we all woke up the news that Kraft Foods had made a £10bn bid for Cadbury, a bid which Cadbury quickly rejected the offer as it ‘undervalues the company’. Who says no to a takeover bid with a 31% premium on top of share price? – A brand which knows it can get a lot more.

Cadbury is the world’s second largest confectionery company with a stronghold in Britain and emerging markets which account for over one-third of the company’s revenue. Kraft is strong in markets such as Scandinavia and Brazil, where Cadbury has small presence.

Kraft is looking to use Cadbury’s strong brand presence in Britain and its positioning in emerging markets to create ‘a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals’.

I am not suggesting that a strong brand name is all a business should be about, but Cadbury’s decision to decline the Kraft bid had a lot to do with the strong brand Cadbury has created through innovative ad campaigns. We all know building a brand / brand equity requires huge investment and a long term commitment (not to mention a lot of creativity and market intelligence) and unfortunately the performance and return are never as easy to measure as they are with a direct response campaign. In the last couple of years, Cadbury has grown their brand through brilliantly planned and executed campaigns such as the ‘Gorilla’ and ‘Trucks’ spots – campaigns so persuasive we all forgot about the huge Cadbury product recall in June 2006. This means that, if they were to purchase Cadbury, Kraft would be able to focus on growing sales in Cadbury’s existing markets rather than their current conundrum – how to build Kraft’s own brands to be more personal and meaningful.

Kraft executive Michael Osanloo suggested that Cadbury was only worth what someone was willing to pay for it – as the world’s second largest confectionary company with average 12% growth per annum in emerging markets and a strong brand identity Cadbury doesn’t have to sell. Whether Kraft decides to put in a new (higher) bid or Hershey’s and Nestlé propose a counter offer, Cadbury is in the fortunate position of choosing when to sell. Osanloo would perhaps have been closer to the mark then if he had said that Cadbury is only worth what someone is willing to pay when (and if) it actually decides to sell.

Sounding off

1368741 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:29:00 GMT

Our lovely cousins at the RAB have made an online TV ad to promote radio advertising. The cheeky blighters have based it around our TV ad, but, as they don’t say much we’d disagree with, we have decided to take it as a tribute. Don’t forget to put the sound up.

Our TV ad does strongly feature lines and catchphrases from TV ads but also important gestures and movements: the Cornetto gondola rowing, the R White’s dance, the JR Hartley head-nodding. No matter; the RAB has highlighted an issue we feel strongly about which is the importance of sound in TV ads.

Radio can indeed through sound alone provoke a visual memory from a TV ad; in one of our own research groups someone talked about the British Heart Foundation’s TV ad from a couple of years back where blood clots were seen moving sinisterly under the skin to the accompaniment of the Frank Sinatra classic ‘I’ve got you under my skin’. She said that every time she heard the music she could visualise those clots creeping along veins.

But unless that strong visual image had been linked to impactful sound via the TV ad the radio wouldn’t have worked as well. TV works that way with other media too. Seeing a still image in print or outdoor from a TV ad can remind people of the full glory of the original, but they can be confusing without the TV narrative.

Current fashions in TV favour some stylish action with either a voiceover or a music track; think Sony Balls, Guinness surfers or Cadbury’s eyebrows. And fabulous results can be produced in that way; the latest Budweiser and Hula-Hoops TV ads are part of that trend – even the Philips Carousel film. All of them could – and do – run in any market in the world, either as they stand or with a local voiceover.

But what we’re seeing less of is TV ads with dialogue, where we get to know and love characters through conversations. Some of the classics like Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins for Cinzano or the Gold Blend couple gave us ongoing mini-dramas that compelled us to watch the next instalment.

There are ways round this of course and one of this year’s most successful campaigns has created a loveable character, with a back-story, narrative thrust and great scripts.

His name is Aleksandr Orlov. VCCP has created strong emotional connections for the comparethemarket.com brand in a low interest crowded market with some classy anthropomorphism. If they did need to export the advertising I guess that the marvels of post-production could transport Aleksandr and Sergei anywhere in the world. It would work for the PG Tips monkey too, though Jonny Vegas wouldn’t travel so well I guess.

The combination of moving images with sound is one of the enormous advantages TV (and cinema) has over other visual media like digital outdoor or online video. Yes, online video has the capability for sound but the reality is that the speakers are only likely to be on if you’re watching TV or a film online. Music is a surefire solution to the sound element in TV ads; we have footage of people dancing, singing, clapping along to them. But hearing and seeing words come out of real people’s mouths – with or without music - is a special treat and provokes a deep emotional response. T-Mobile did it in Trafalgar Square. We’d love to see more.

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What are Cadbury up to now?

1365368 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:58:00 GMT

Yesterday on the bus going past Waterloo, I noticed Cadbury's huge wraparound - another addition to the Glass and a Half Full Productions madness - the resurrection of that creepy Caramel bunny. It's just not good. Cadbury's activity just gets more and more disparate and random as it goes on. There's no joy anymore. It's just not even funny. I can't get beyond seeing this latest ad as creepy arrogant nostalgia. It doesn't even look right, it seems to have had a 21st century makeover, but that just detaches it more from it's traditional roots. Like when the kids TV show 'Arthur' went all 3D - it looked creepy which only served to sever its ties with its previous incarnation. I don't know why the kids weren't more scared.

As I haven't written to Cadbury since the end of last year, maybe it's time I got back to them on this one.

Anyway, they should spend more of their marketing budget on promoting Cadbury's Tasters - the most underrated and awesome member of their chocolate portfolio!

Goodbye Bush......by Veet

812253 — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:20:00 GMT

Every now and then the role for good old fashioned advertising is reaffirmed - either by inspirational creative (Honda's impossible dream or Cadbury's Gorilla) tapping into a zeitgeist (see the new Virgin Atlantic ads) or fantastic media placement which I think the Veet ad placed in the Sydney Herald last week achieved perfectly - Nuff said !

2009 Predictions for Video

1363416 — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:41:00 GMT

Today is my first day back in the office after a long break in SE Asia and having returned to a country steeped in doom and gloom I decided to ruminate on what the positives might be for video production in 2009. Here are a couple of my predictions:

1. DOOH (digital out of home) will get a real boost. With advertising budgets being cut, this often sidelined media may come into its own. Production and media costs are lower than TV and it is a space that, in my opinion, has been starved of good creative application because the best creatives have been focused elsewhere. With money being diverted away from TVC's and business slower, perhaps DOOH will get more creative attention. It's also still quite a fresh new media that consumers have yet to tire of so here's an opportunity to make an impact.

2. We will see an increase in the trend of "viral" style ads like the Liverpool Street Station T-Mobile Dance that has been able to extend its exposure far beyond its original TV audience with a large on-line following. Similar to the Honda Sky Dive ad, you only need to show it once on TV (and build up buzz about the screening of it) and then use the cheaper media of the internet do the rest. Next to come is the follow up to the Gorilla ad from Cadbury's ....

Cadbury makes dreams come true

2228399 — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:15:00 GMT

Hot on the heels of the infamous Gorilla and Trucks campaigns; Cadbury are giving you access to the Chocolate Dream Steam Machine and the opportunity to choose from a range of sweet, fruity, rich, nutty, subtle, and downright ludicrous flavours to mix into your very own personalised bar of Dairy Milk.

For most kids (and grown-ups) this is a dream come true.

From a marketing perspective I hope Cadbury deliver on their promises on this campaign - unlike their previous campaign for the Natural Confectionery Company - which promised free sweets for signing up to their launch campaign. 2 months later - me and whole host of friends who signed up to the campaign have yet to receive our sweets . . . and nor have we bought any either.

Me and Nestle

1365368 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:54:00 GMT

My second venture into consumer champion land has left me feeling a little dejected, yet determined that my voice shall one day be heard. This time, I wrote a carefully worded letter to Nestle, airing my ideas and feelings on Nestle's chocolate world. They were mush less receptive than Cadbury, no cool brand stuff, certainly no free chocolate.

They even said that they were going to send my correspondence back to me - oh, so my letter isn't even good enough to sit in their bins it seems!

The second lot of Cadbury letters have been posted - this time with a focus on their Roses brand - I'll let you know how it all goes.

This doesn't end here...

Why has Dairy Milk lost market share to Galaxy?

2308643 — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:30:29 GMT

Despite having one of the most talked about ad campaigns in years and an increased ad spend, Cadbury's Dairy Milk brand has lost market share in the take-home category to rival Galaxy - owned by Mars.

Market research company TNS suggested that Dairy Milk's 'Gorilla' ad only succeeded in reinforcing the brand's position, while Galaxy benefitted from a smart marketing strategy which focused on its target audience.

Was the Gorilla ad a dud? Or a PR triumph which failed to deliver sales? And is a creative comms planning strategy more effective at cutting through the clutter in 2008 than a big, blustering TV commerical? Does Cadbury need a new approach in its marketing strategy?

[Poll]