Perfect way to end a day

The new campaign for Cadbury Bournville brings out the joy of slowing down and savouring the 'me' moment

Cadbury Bournville is back on television with a new communication message and packaging for chocolate lovers. The latest campaign, 'A perfect way to end your day' pitches Cadbury Bournville as an ideal partner for unwinding following a day's hard work. The campaign shows an exhausted executive coming back home and treating himself to Cadbury Bournville. The chocolate captivates his senses and he slips into a different world enjoying his me time.

"Dark chocolate which has a bitter - sweet taste was introduced into India by Cadbury Bournville. While imagery and equity largely drove business for Cadbury Bournville, further growth on the brand could only be fuelled by a strong consumption occasion. Hence the time is right for re-introduction with fresh positioning message," says Prashant Peres, director, marketing (chocolates), Mondelez India.

The new pack design and new positioning communication have been developed after a thorough analysis and understanding of the pack and communication concept with consumers. Two key insights have led to the repositioning of the brand. First, as mature consumers tend to explore beyond the mild, milky flavours and sweets, dark chocolate which offers varied and complex taste wins favour with them. Second, there is a need to build a big consumption occasion (for dark chocolates), where a less indulgent but deeply satisfying taste of Bournville is seen as a great end to the day. Peres asserts that even as the new brand campaign spots strong occasion led communication it stays true to its premium, product experience image.

The campaign has been conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather (O&M). Says Ganapathy Balagopalan, senior vice-president, planning, O&M, "The initial campaigns established Bournville's premium, international credentials, while that was enough to get some of them to upgrade to Cadbury Bournville, the rest struggled to fit this unfamiliar tasting chocolate into their lifestyle. 'Dark chocolate' was unfamiliar territory for them. India has grown up thinking of chocolate as 'meetha'. Cadbury Bournville did not fit this convention." He adds, "To get them to unwrap a Bournville more often, we had to give it a role in life. Much like Cadbury Dairy Milk was a perfect choice of 'meetha' for celebrating happy together moments with loved ones, we had to find an occasion that fit Cadbury Bournville into the lives of our consumer."

O&M's interactions with consumers revealed that given their rather rushed professional life and commitments, they looked forward to some uninterrupted 'me-time' at the end of a wearing day. The creative agency tested a few expressions with consumers before zeroing in on the one that worked best..

In the past, O&M addressed a niche chocolate audience by bringing the international 'dark chocolate' experience with Cadbury Bournville. Meanwhile, this time the creative agency's mandate was to create a unique place for Bournville in the Cadbury portfolio - widening the brand appeal. Given that Cadbury Bournville is well known to Indian consumers as a premium, international chocolate all that O&M had to do is give it a consumption context - help consumers fit it into their life. According to Balagopalan, adding this accessibility dimension to the brand was the tricky bit as it entailed a slight departure from the earlier brand personality (the humour wasn't universally accessible) While that was by design and had helped to create the premium appeal we now had to widen brand appeal, become more welcoming without losing out on the international, premium equity we build for brand. "We believe the new campaign manages to walk the tightrope."

According to the industry estimates, the budget for the campaign is around Rs 20 crore. India is primarily a "meetha" eating country, and the 'meetha' chocolate has become synonymous with Cadbury Dairy Milk (another Mondelez India brand). With meetha representing the benchmark taste of chocolate for all Indians - what are the challenges involved in promoting a dark chocolate brand? "Chocolate is an acquired taste and hence it requires few trials before it becomes one's favourite chocolate. Our new campaign is trying to dial up the occasion for Dark Chocolate consumption and hence driving the task of establishing premium Dark Chocolate category," says Peres.

Brand: Cadbury Bournville
Budget: Rs 20 crore
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather (O&M)