Cadbury upweights in-store experiential spend to help make it ‘one of the top’ Christmas campaigns
A significant amount of the £10m Cadbury is using to promote Christmas will go into in-sore experiential and point-of-sale as the brand looks to be one of the top festive ads.
The chocolate brand has become a staple in many households over the festive period but hasn’t had one of the most talked about campaigns in the same vein as John Lewis. It’s why it’s pushing its brand harder in-stores than it has done in previous years to ensure this year’s campaign resonates with shoppers in more ways.
To do this, the chocolate has taken inspiration from Coca-Cola’s Christmas truck, with its TV ad showing how its own Cadbury purple-coloured fleet deliver an alternative advent countdown. Each truck represents a different door of the advent calendar, with the ad following them from the brand’s Bourneville home through quintessentially British locations as stunned onlookers wave at the drivers.
Santa also makes an appearance just as he does alongside the now iconic Coke Christmas ads. It’s all set to The Thunderbirds theme in a bid to convey the anticipation, which is capped off by a final aerial shot of all the Cadbury trucks in advent formation ready to set off on their journey.
The trucks are going to be used to bring joyful experiences for those chocolate fans luck enough to be at designated locations in the run up to Christmas. Digital will be used to reach out to those who can’t be there person, with Instagram, Twitter and Facebook doing the heavy lifting. It’s a concept that builds on the overarching marketing strategy for Cadbury, which focuses on the joy people get when they’re eating it.
“Christmas is a key time of year for us and during this time we utilize many channels across which we market our products and campaign, ensuring we all work closely together to deliver a 360 marketing campaign that can have a positive impact on sales,” said a Cadbury spokeswoman.
“This year we are employing: POS, social media, PR, TV, experiential and OOH all with the aim of driving brand and product love at this special time of year. To do so we have invested in POS and in-store experiential activity to bring more joy and magic to stores at a busy time of the year.”
Claire Low, marketing manager at Cadbury owner Mondelèz International, said the strategy aims to secure the brand’s status as “one of the top Christmas adverts, during one of the most competitive times of year”.
It’s the third year running Cadbury has tried to have a bigger presence during Christmas; In 2014 it launched its first Christmas ad by wrapping a London street in wrapping paper and last year it partnered with ITV to show what some of the nation’s biggest TV stars get up to when they come together for festivities.
Cadbury’s latest Fallon-created ad debuts tonight (7 November) with additional work produced by Golin, Elvis, PHD, Drum and RPM.