Situation

Cadbury Dairy Milk has been the first taste of chocolates for a billion+ Indians and proudly ‘owns’ the sweet space amongst Indians’ tastebuds. To unlock growth, the brand went beyond building the functional attributes of chocolate and position itself as a sweetener of interpersonal relationships

In light of COVID-19 crisis that hit globally and resulted in national lockdown, the economic machinery came to a standstill. Many Indians lost their livelihoods and were struggling to make their ends meet. Chocolates, which is considered discretionary, faced potential deprioritization to other essential categories.

Also, since people were spending less time outside of home, it was an even bigger concern for the category which is traditionally driven by impulse purchases in physical stores.

Brief & Objectives:

Reignite category growth in the aftermath of national lockdown while invoking the generous instinct of Indians by encouraging them to be generous to their personal ecosystem

To ensure our campaign cut through the Thank You messaging launched by other brands, we had to build the campaign on the following principles

Acknowledge the Unacknowledged: While most brands were typically thanking the medical staff and frontline workers, there were a lot of other professions whose efforts were unacknowledged

Build substantial scale required by a market leader, ensure platforms chosen cut across demo+geos

Carriers of Brand Message become Participants in the Brand Campaign: partner with the biggest media houses across India, and encourage them to participate in our campaign by thanking those working behind the scenes

From Story-Telling to Story-Doing:

To make a material difference to the campaign, we launched limited edition packs with the CDM logo replaced with “Thank You” in 8 languages covering the length and breadth of the country. Proceeds from the sales of Thank You Bars went towards funding medical insurances for daily wage employees

Over 9 months, multiple associations helped bring alive the brand proposition in the most evocative fashion. Considering the scale needed for a category leader, we partnered with the biggest entertainment network (Zee), biggest sporting event (Indian Premier League), biggest reality show (Kaun Banega Crorepati) and the biggest Film Awards(Filmfare).

Through each partner, we thanked the production crew who relentlessly work behind the scenes to bring us entertainment but are almost never acknowledged. Many of them had put themselves at considerable risk to continue production even during lockdown. These were played out to the audiences as video assets, social media posts and content capsules on live TV.

Zee Network also rejigged their programming to air Ending Credits at the beginning of the shows.

CDM committed to insuring 2 underprivileged people for every run scored by Mumbai Indians, the most successful IPL team. Filmfare awards brought spotboys &cameramen to the red carpet

• 20Mn+ Thank You bars were created and sold across the country

• The campaign helped halt the sales degrowth caused owing to national lockdown; instead the brand witnessed a 20% upswing during the May-July period which sustained through H2'20

• The campaign also had a significant positive rub-off on the rest of the category

• 25000+ laborers, belonging to the lowest strata of the society, were provided health Insurance from the bar proceeds as well as the runs scored by Mumbai Indians

• The campaign reached out to 200mn+ urban consumers; 90% of our target consumers were reached on TV while more than 150mn people engaged with the brand across touchpoints

• Star Sports showcased the case study as part of their showreel comprising of some of the best work done during IPL2020

• Mumbai Indians showcase the CDM Thank You campaign as the best piece of work done