Cadbury urges consumers not to judge a book by its cover

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Cadbury's latest TVC titled "Cadbury Dairy Milk | Strangers On A Bus" seeks to reinforce the brand's ethos of generosity and encourages consumers to not judge the book by its cover. Done in collaboration with Ogilvy for Southeast Asia, the ad features a mother and son travelling on the bus. It begins with a male passenger boarding the bus.

However, as he appears to be intimidating and dangerous, other passengers and even the bus driver himself are wary and fearful of him. Eventually, their impression of the male passenger changes when he manages to cheer up the young boy, who was sobbing, with Cadbury chocolate and magic tricks. Towards the end, Cadbury's tagline, "Goodness that melts your heart", appears along with the brand's chocolate product. The TVC has launched in Indonesia and Malaysia, and set for launch in the Philippines next month.

Cadbury said that the ad was developed to demonstrate the brand's goodness, encouraging its consumers to “Rasakan Lembutnya Kebaikan” (taste/feel the softness of goodness)". Directed by Johan Stahl from production company Hanzo Films Dubai, the brand explained that the story is anchored in the universal truth of not judging a book by its cover, to go beyond snap judgment, which will manifest into more goodness - something that it believes people need more of. Additionally, Cadbury claims that its latest TVC captures the duality of goodness in both its chocolate product and its consumers, breaking ad stereotypes in Southeast Asia.

“We fell in love with the script and it’s amazing to see it come to life on screen. "Rasakan Lembutnya Kebaikan" is our way of marrying both product and purpose for Cadbury Dairy Milk by showing how softness leads to goodness which speaks to the heart of this piece of communication," Nikhil Nicholas, chocolate category lead, Southeast Asia, explained.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Courant, chief creative officer of Ogilvy Singapore said: “Our Ogilvy teams in Southeast Asia came together and undertook a massive strategic and creative exploration process across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Philippines, over a six-month period to bring this story to life. It was a true reflection of our commitment to borderless creativity and to Cadbury as a brand." Courant added that as the agency's relationship with Cadbury stretches over 50 years in some markets, Ogilvy could tap into an immense amount of knowledge and experience across the network.

Throughout the years, Cadbury has been attempting to launch campaigns that seek to empower groups of people and local culture. For instance, Cadbury Malaysia extended its help to local kuih vendors last August by creating a digital presence for selected vendors. As part of the #MYCadburyFlavours initiative, the brand promoted the vendors' business through paid ads on social media and sought to drive this through the hashtag.

Additionally, the Instagram-led campaign built on Malaysians' affinity towards food by welcoming individuals to share their favourite kuih stalls in a collaborative effort to curate an easily accessed feed that ultimately works to create awareness and support for them. Consumers were encouraged to share their favourite local kuih vendors with the hashtag #MYCadburyFlavours.

Two years ago, Cadbury teamed up with Manchester United and Mondelēz International to highlight the issue of loneliness among the older generation. Titled "Donate Your Words", the chocolate brand donated the words from its Cadbury Dairy Milk bar to help the 225,000 older people who often go a week without speaking to anyone. “Cadbury is now harnessing the Manchester United partnership to continue to shine a light on loneliness amongst the older generation," Mondelēz International's spokesperson explained in a previous statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

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