The Brief

Ferrero leads the market in China for the chocolate gift-giving category. But with the on-going growth of the competition in this market and the growing affluence and sophistication of Chinese consumers, Ferrero has lost its hold on the market. Gifting has also lost its meaning. Once a big ritual in China, it has lost much of its significance and is often perceived as duty bound.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

This experience started at “Search”, where we encouraged consumers to give with an extra layer of thought. Consumers were then directed to the brand site. Here, they could purchase their Ferrero as well as personalise the gift via a physical or virtual card that would be delivered to the receiver alongside the customized box of Ferrero Rocher. The giver could also share their message across social channels. Once this is shared, the extra layer of surprise comes through: An invitation to the Ferrero golden event on Christmas day where they could win an exclusive Ferrero Rocher 96 gift cone.

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

Impressive website performance Over 800,000 site visits 1 million pageviews 50,000 greetings created Huge social buzz generated 1.5million viewers and 100,000 comments on largest social networks 50,000 user shared content on just Weibo 50,000 new fans on Weibo 100,000 users viewed and shared content 5,000 changed their microblog background to Ferrero Golden Christmas. Growth in search 300% increased in search High event attendance 8,000 people attended the Ferrero Xmas party
 Accelerating sales More than 10,000 products sold online

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

Our solution springs from the layered nature of the product. In addition, with every Ferrero Rocher are layers of care, pride and craftsmanship. The organizing idea: Add an extra layer of thought. The idea was to enable a consumer to build on the existing layers of care and quality of Ferrero Rocher by adding their own layer of thought. We chose to launch the campaign at Christmas, where we enabled our consumers to put thought and meaning into gift giving.