Results and Effectiveness

A new marketing model is born! With increased demand pushing growth in distribution, post-campaign sales grew 20%. On-campus trial rates increased 2%. At-Store and On-Counter visibility in campus markets increased 13% and 15%, respectively. Participation rates on xiaonei .com tripled during the height of the voting campaign, with students rewarding the Choclairs “Help Your School” Competition campaign with a score of 4 out of 5 for campaign likeability.

Creative Execution

Capitalizing on this community pride, we created Choclairs "Help Your School" grant competition, where students across China could vote for their school. With every vote, Cadbury donated $0.10 toward the winning school's grant fund. Partnering with xiaonei.com – China's popular SNS for university students – we designed a Choclairs environment where students could cast their votes, send virtual gifts online, join the Choclairs group and participate in discussion forums. Linked forums elsewhere in the xiaonei.com network drove students to the Choclairs environment. A six-city, all-campus tour further supported the competition. Campus tour dates were promoted within Choclairs' xiaonei.com environment. Wild postings across campuses and university market locations promoted the tours on-site. At this traveling Choclairs roadshow, students could cast their votes and sample Choclairs products. Students could also win prizes at the event by purchasing Choclairs Stick Packs in campus markets beforehand, exchanging their wrappers then for prizes at the roadshow.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Though well-established in China, Cadbury faced an aging consumer profile. With a focus on reviving their youth consumption, Choclairs' initial Stick Pack launch had seen limited success. Looking to move forward, Cadbury research identified an opportunity with students. But with poor visibility and distribution in campus market locations, Cadbury was unsure how to translate this into business success. A brand's proximity to campus life is critical to influencing student purchase decisions – we needed to increase demand for Choclairs, improve distribution and visibility in campus markets to drive trial and sales. Chinese young adults, raised as only children in strict and overprotective environments, closely overseen by their parents/grandparents, see college as the chance to "do it their way". For most students, university represents their first experience of freedom to build their own community – not one dictated or controlled by family – one that relies on them to sustain and contribute to it.