Case Study: Cadburys Adopts Viral Marketing Scheme
In this article I will look at the messages and values encoded in Cadbury’s recent venture in to viral
marketing. I will consider the ways in which campaigns such as Gorilla (2007), Airport (2008) and Eyebrows
(2009) subvert the traditional conventions of advertising to engage and sustain the interest of the viewer
with fresh take on the Cadbury’s brand identity. This will take the form of a detailed exploration of the
campaign in terms of institution, audience, representation and forms and conventions. First, however, I
will begin by defining what the term viral marketing means.
Definitions and Explanation
Viral marketing works on the premise that if one person receives a message and passes that message onto
five people (and then each one of those five people pass the message onto five more people) soon there
will be a lot of people who have heard the message (much like a chain letter or e-mail).
Viral marketing can be an inexpensive way of promoting a company, brand or product. The principle of viral
marketing is to create a buzz about something.
Traditionally viral marketing would have taken the
form of word of mouth exposure, with many
people discussing things that they had seen on last
night’s television, sometimes referred to as ‘water
cooler talk’. A recent example of a viral marketing
campaign comes from the 2008 campaign for The
Dark Night whereby the creators of the campaign
had online and offline elements to create a buzz
amongst batman fans. Elements of the campaign
included websites related to political issues and
news clips of things happening in Gotham City.
This combined with mass gatherings of joker fans
helped create a massive buzz before the launch of
the film.
With developments in technology and the
Internet viral marketing has really started to become an effective way of gaining exposure for a relatively
low cost for a company. Many people have begun using social networking sites to communicate with
friends and family about their interests, work, hobbies and many other facets of life. Companies who can
create an advertisement which grabs the interest of the public can use this new phenomenon in social
networking to boost their brand image, increase sales or achieve any objective they may have. Marketing
techniques are ever changing due to the fact that consumers become fatigued with traditional marketing.
Companies are looking for effective ways of marketing their products with a cost/exposure pay off.
Viral marketing has become a great way for companies to gain exposure at a low cost, this is because the
delivery of the message relies on the audience. Adding to this is the fact that if a message is passed between
friends it is normally more trusted.
Institution
Cadbury is one of the best know brands in the UK they have been making their simple chocolate bar since
1905. The brand however started in 1824 when John Cadbury set up a shop in Bull Street, Birmingham, the
shop sold tea, coffee and homemade drinking chocolate.
It was in 1919 that Cadbury started adding extras to their chocolate for example honeycomb and nougat.
Today Cadbury bars can be seen in pretty much every shop that you venture into in the UK; they are as well
know as Coca-Cola.
Just a quick look through Youtube.co.uk will show you
that many of Cadbury’s previous adverts were
portraying the message our chocolate tastes really
good so buy some and eat it. An example of this would
be the Cadbury Flake adverts of the 70’s and early 80’s
where by someone (usually a very attractive woman)
would be filmed enjoying a Flake in a slow and
suggestive manner with heavy sexual undertones.
The television adverts were product orientated with
taste and feeling the main elements of the advert.
Some of the adverts have a jingle or even a character that is associated with a particular product for
example the – Cadbury Caramel Bunny and the Cadbury Mini Egg Parrot.
To update Cadburys marketing activity in 1996 they embarked on a
revolutionary sponsorship deal with Coronation Street. This deal has
since been copied by many programs and companies – for example
Carphone Warehouse were the sponsors of Big Brother (Channel 4)
from 2004 – 2007, terminating the deal during celebrity Big Brother
2007 because of the alleged racial issues in the house. The sponsoring
of Coronation Street resulted in Cadbury receiving regular viewing for
over 10 years. They were able to use the slot to advertise the brand as
a whole or focus on separate bars that they feel needed more
promotion. Cadbury have shown over the years that they are not
scared of innovating when it comes to their approach to marketing.
Forms and Conventions
Gorilla Playing the Drums
First released on Friday the 31st of August 2007 (during
the finale of Big Brother) the Cadbury ‘gorilla playing
the drums’ advert starts with a close up of a gorilla’s
face and a slow build up of Phil Collin’s song ‘In The Air
Tonight’ (1981).
The advert thrives on ambiguity: the first time you see
it you can’t work out what the gorilla is doing. Then
through the camera work pans out to the gorilla
playing the drums when the song really kicks off. The
advert does not mention a chocolate bar and it does
not even show one. The only thing that has any relevance to Cadbury is the fact that the back drop behind
the gorilla is in the famous Cadbury purple, this shows the strength of the brand: the chocolate bar does not
ever have to be mentioned (although it is shown briefly at the end of the advert). The filming of this advert
is what makes it so successful, there is an ambiguity at the beginning with the close face shots create
curiousness. This is then carried through with the realness of the gorilla in such a normal environment.
Airport Vehicles
Released in March 2008 (and much anticipated, thanks to the success of the “gorilla” campaign), the
airport advert, which is backed by the rock track “Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen” (1978). The advert begins
with the “glass and a half full productions” slogan on the screen, which then fades away. A plane takes off
and then we begin to see these airport vehicles that have been modified or ‘pimped’ (in the style MTV’s
series Pimp My Ride).
The vehicles are all different colours with neon lights; the music is at the start of the song, building to fastest
point. When it reaches this point the vehicles start to pull off, there is a fire jet from an exhaust and the race
begins. It becomes apparent that the smallest vehicle is really battling through the pack of much larger
vehicles; the larger vehicles are trying to stop the small one breaking through and the advert ends with the
camera rising away from the race with the Cadburys bar coming into shot with the slogan “A glass and a
half full of joy” beneath.
Eyebrows
The eyebrows advert starts in a very grey photo shot, brightened
only by the young girl who is wearing a very distinctive purple dress.
The scene depicts her and her brother being measured up for the
dullest family photo ever. The phone rings and the man measuring
the two children up is called away. The children look at each other,
the boy reaches for his watch and then a computerised version of
‘Don’t Stop The Rock’ by Freestyle Express plays from his watch.
The children then start to perform what can only be described as an
unnerving jig with their eyebrows. This continues for roughly 45
seconds. During this time a pink balloon is added for effect. At the
end of the advert the screen once again turns purple and the
Cadbury bar is shown with the slogan “A glass and a half full of joy” beneath.
Representations
In all advertisements, the one element that is consistent is the ending, the screen fades to famous Cadbury
shade of purple and the chocolate bar comes up with the slogan “A glass and a half full of joy” underneath.
This says that the underlining message that is being delivered is of the joy that Cadburys can give you, much
like the joy these adverts seem to give the people who watch them.
Gorilla Playing the Drums
This advert immediately grabs your attention because there is a gorilla on the screen. A gorilla is a masculine
animal, one which many people are interested in. The fact that the gorilla is so real looking really helps to
sell this advert to the public. The gorilla also has no gender or this means that both sexes are interested in
what is going to happen, with a human there can be preconceptions that may put people off straight away.
The purple background creates a juxtaposition with the masculine appeal of the gorilla as purple is a regal
colour normally associated with females (we later find out that is because the advert is for Cadbury).
The way in which the advert is shot using close ups of the gorillas face gives the advert an intense power and
a feeling of dominance. As the camera pulls away from the gorilla we notice that he is sat behind a set of
drums in a very human way. This is not a normal situation, it gives a surreal feeling which is very easy to
remember. The use of Phil Collins, Something in the Air Tonight attracts an older audience who remember
this song first time round. This is much like children today recognising Gary Linekar as the presenter of
Match of the Day (BBC1) and not the world class international footballer which initially created his fame.
Now children will say to their parents “that’s the song from the Cadbury advert” not “this is the guy from
Genesis”.
Airport Vehicles
This advertisement starts with an aeroplane taking off at night from an airport. An airport is a place that
most of the population will have preconceptions about for example queuing, waiting around and customer
issues. The next part of the advert shows different airport vehicles in dark hangers being lit up and coming
to life. The vehicles are very colourful (orange, lime green, blue, white and yellow) these colours are
associated with fun. They look dressed up as if
they were ready for a night of fun. The lyrics of the
song start with “tonight I’m going to have myself
a real good time” the film and the music fit
perfectly. The race starts and the smallest vehicle
zooms through the pack of larger vehicles who are
floundering, this satisfies the British fascination
and love for the underdog.
Eyebrows
This advert portrays a very mixed message,
looking at a still of the advert shows what seems
to be a very middle class white family in a normal situation (having a family photo taken). The music that is
used is an 80’s electro pop tune, which is completely out of sync with the rest of the advert. This is then
followed by the strange eyebrow dance. The message that this advert is sending is one of expecting the
unexpected flipping a normal, sedate situation on its head and creating an entertaining advertisement that
people will want to talk about.
Audience
These advertisements are obviously aimed at a youth market; aged from 15 to 25, their target audience is
media literate and technology savvy. This age group has grown up with technology: computer games have
been an important element of their life. They will be interested in new music, with a curious nature.
The adverts thrive on people’s curiosity with people trying to analyse why the advert has been made and
what the meaning behind the advert is. Another sign of why these adverts are aimed at this market is the
fact that the ‘gorilla playing the drums’ advert was first released during an episode of Big Brother – a
program that has a massive youth following.
There are many reasons why Cadbury are aiming at this group. This group are young; they have many years
of purchasing left in them. If Cadbury can develop a brand loyal customer then they will have this customer
for the next 40-50 years if not more. Another reason for aiming this marketing campaign at this group is
the fact that they are so prominent in the great social networking revolution on the internet.
With young people talking over the internet they are posting links about things that they have seen,
promoting funning stories and discussing their feeling towards these things. These adverts have been spread
all over the walls of Facebook. This has meant that the word has spread quickly, thus the buzz has started
and the viral word is spreading.
A typical discussion that could be seen on Facebook would go along these lines:
Person A “have you seen that Cadbury advert with the gorilla playing the drums? It’s the best advert I have
ever seen”
Person B “Yeah saw it the other night loved it, did not realise Phil Collins was actually that good”
Person A “Yeah have you heard the version on line with Total eclipse of the heart by Bonnie Tyler, its works
really well”
Person C “What has that advert actually got to do with chocolate? I don’t get it”
Person A “It’s about the feeling we get from the chocolate, the bar is irrelevant”
Person C “I don’t like it call me old fashioned but when I want to see what they are actually advertising”
This is the kind of conversation that helps promote the advertisement, the fact that people don’t get it or
that they don’t like it is not an issue. The point is that the advert is being discussed.
Prank culture has contributed towards people recreating these viral adverts. Television programs such as
Dirty Sanchez, Punked and Jackass (all MTV productions) have encouraged young people to participate in
filming themselves partaking in funny scenarios. The fact that this technological hardware is also so simple
to use these days helps people to film themselves then upload their videos to the internet. ‘The eyebrows’
advert has been the best example of this. With little effort many different adaptations of this advert can be
found on Youtube (including the recreation featured on Channel 4’s Sunday Night Project).
The adverts show a great representation of the current youth market. ‘The eyebrows’ advert has created
significant interest and many individuals have recreated this advert and posted it on their Facebook sites
even comedian Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins with singer Lilly Allen (Sunday Night Project, Channel 4) has
made a his own version of the famous advertisement, this all contributes to keeping the message in the
public domain.
The youth markets are technology literate which means that they have the capability to film themselves
recreating this advert. There are many adaptations of this advert too with people adding different music
over the top to create a new buzz about the same message and keeping the message prominent. This has
also occurred with the ‘gorilla playing the drums’ where Phil Collins has been replaced by Nirvana and then
sped up.
Conclusion
The gorilla advert was pitched at the correct market: the first viewing was during the finale of Big Brother
2007. This show has a cult following, the target market for this show is generally 18-25 year olds. However
people from other cross sections of the general public do watch this show and would be interested in the
advert and Cadburys. The advertisement itself is so well made that is demands your attention, you think to
yourself “what’s this gorilla going to do” and when you see that the gorilla is in a recording studio sat
behind a set of drums you become really curios about what this advert is selling. At the end of the advert
the Cadburys bar comes into shot with the slogan underneath and then the viral message starts to spread.
People will ring their friends and ask “did you see the gorilla ad last night”, People will start to search the
internet for another glimpse of the advert. Some people may even change their Facebook status to “just
seen the best advert I have ever seen on TV tonight” to which a friend may say “what was that then?” this
is when the ball starts rolling for Cadbury and the buzz starts to spread about this advert. Brand Republic
state, using Sky Broadcastings figures that “58,000 households watched the extended version of the advert
on the red button during the space of a fortnight”. The hard task for Cadbury was to build on this and keep
the interest in their marketing in customers minds.
Technology has had a major part to play in the advances in viral marketing, with the use of mobile phones
that can surf the net with excellent speed and quality people are always contactable by others. If the others
have a message they really want to share (in this case the brilliant new weird, funny advert they have
seen) then they can do straight away. Many young people may have saved a copy of this short
advertisement onto their mp4 players, mobile phones or even laptops to show friends and family.
Cadbury as a brand have reached a stage in their product life cycle where they don’t need to promote what
they make nor do they just need to remind the public. This is why the viral marketing campaign that does
not have anything to do with chocolate is so successful for them. They have a strong identity with their
shade of purple and this now reminds people that Cadbury still has products for us to buy. As with the little
girls dress in the eyebrows advert the public will be eagerly anticipating the next instalment in this line of
advertisements looking for any hint of that shade of purple.