The Brief

In 2009 Cadbury moved their Dairy Milk manufacturing offshore. This wasn’t a popular move with consumers or the media. Cadbury went from being the most trusted brand for 6 years in a row to the 36th. When Cadbury decided to sponsor Commonwealth Games athletes to demonstrate that they were still part of the community, we had yet another challenge to overcome - New Zealanders just weren’t interested in the Commonwealth Games. So we had to create a campaign that involved New Zealanders at a community level while generating a groundswell of interest in the Games.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

First we set up 27 blank billboards around New Zealand. At experiential events cherry pickers enabled consumers to write a message of support for the team. Anyone who couldn’t make it to the billboards could sign our virtual billboard - creating a digital message that was displayed in the physical world. After a month, we took the billboards down, cut them up and turned them into team bags. Then we sent them over to India, so every Athlete could carry the hopes of the nation with them while they were competing in Delhi.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The campaign enabled 26,800 New Zealanders to make a genuine connection with the athletes. We gained more than $600,000 worth of media coverage, reaching over 2 million people. Almost 50% of what people heard about the campaign came from unpaid media. But most importantly, those who thought Cadbury supported the local community increased by 60% making 32% of the population feel more positive about Cadbury.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

We proved that Cadbury really did support New Zealand without it looking like corporate chest-beating or as if we were trying to buy back the country’s love. We did this by creating a campaign that truly involved New Zealanders at a local grassroots level. We also took a sponsorship that had nothing to do with the brand and low levels of interest for consumers and turned it into a campaign that was relevant to the brand’s of delivering joy - it not only worked on an awareness level but had the public lining up to be a part of.