As it appears, everybody in Australia loves Caramilk, the new golden caramel chocolate bar by Cadbury. All you need to do is ask an Aussie about it. Which is what VCCP did for the release of Caramilk in the UK.
Tasked with promoting the launch of the new chocolate bar, the challenge for VCCP was quite consistent, as the product was already flying off the shelves over in Australia. They needed something strong, powerful, to make a hit. So they turned the success of the bar into a proper OOH campaign, focused on people, leveraging real customer insights and authentic feedback to create a successful launch.
Today we are getting Behind The Idea following a chat with Chris Birch & Jonny Parker, Executive Creative Directors at VCCP, to learn more about the lovely and genuinely inspired campaign below.
What was the brief?
Launch Cadbury Caramilk, a brand new chocolate bar, in the UK. Expectations were high as it had flown off the shelves in Australia. Now it was our turn to turn Caramilk into a smash hit here too.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
We explored a few different ways to launch Caramilk but the insight that stood out from day one was just how much Caramilk is loved Down Under. Aussies were hoarding Caramilk, flogging it on eBay for hundreds of pounds, and it was even being rationed in shops. With 138,000 Aussies living in the UK, we realised they were the perfect spokespeople to let Brits know what all the fuss was about.
Tell us more about the concept. How did it come to life, and why was it the right choice?
The idea was really simple. Hand the mic over to die-hard Aussie Caramilk fans to tell the UK just how much they love the chocolate bar and encourage Brits to ‘just ask an Aussie’ for themselves.
We wanted a campaign that would really grab Brits’ attention and quickly realised this wouldn’t be hard, with queues of Aussies telling us things like “you’ll love it more than your cat”, “you’ll love it so much your boyfriend will get jealous”, and even “you’d give up your gran for one”. It was so much more powerful and believable to use Aussies’ own words, rather than making a campaign coming from Cadbury.
But we didn’t just want to stop there. We wanted to give those Brits who didn’t have an Aussie mate the chance to ask one for themselves. That’s where the idea came from to stick a real-life Aussie on a billboard. So that anyone walking by could stop and ask an Aussie for themselves what the fuss is all about.
What was the production process like? What was the biggest challenge?
Casting was obviously key when it came to putting a real-life Aussie on a billboard. We needed a charismatic, Caramilk enthusiast from Down Under who was willing to put himself out there - literally - to answer all the Brits’ questions. Fortunately, we found Peter from Adelaide who was willing to do just that and even asked to be partially paid in Caramilk.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during the production of the campaign?
Honestly, we couldn’t believe some of the responses we got back when we asked Aussies to explain how much they love Caramilk. One of our favourites was Jordy from Melbourne who tweeted “When I get a boyfriend, he’s just gonna have to accept i’m always gonna love caramilk more than him”. The campaign worked because we simply couldn’t make this stuff up - these were the real words of real Australians.
What’s the main message of the campaign and why does it matter?
Just ask an Aussie. Whether it’s your mate from Sydney, your uncle from Melbourne, or Peter from Adelaide if you’re walking past one of our billboards, just ask them and they’ll tell you how great Caramilk is. For once, we don’t want people to just take our word for it, we want to let the Aussies do the talking.
What is one unique aspect of the campaign?
We’ve all heard of interactive billboards, but it’s not everyday that you come across a poster with a real life person on it.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
We were briefed at the end of September, 2020.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
We hope that Caramilk is as loved in the UK as it is Down Under.
Credit list for the campaign?
CLIENT: Mondelez
ADVERTISING AGENCY: VCCP
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Chris Birch & Jonny Parker
CREATIVES: Ben Evans & Adam Sears
BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Matt Smith
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Sophie Bowler
ACCOUNT MANAGER: Xanthe Fuller
PLANNING DIRECTOR: Gethin James
PLANNER: Lloyd Scott
SOCIAL CONTENT & INFLUENCE DIRECTOR: Aurel Pakula
AGENCY CREATIVE PRODUCER: Pete Lewendon & Michelle Ho
INTEGRATED PROJECT DIRECTOR: Jon Dewart
HEAD OF INTEGRATED PRODUCTION: Ryan O’Kane
CX PROJECT DIRECTOR: Hazel Coleman
DIGITAL PRODUCERS: Melissa Arthur & Anthony Grace
HEAD OF DESIGN: Jordan Blood
DESIGN DIRECTORS: Phil Tee, Lee Bodell & Adam Edwards
DESIGNERS: Tegan Barnes & Francesca Ciafre
MOTION DESIGNERS: Ondrej Hanel, Ivan Huri, Sam Kim, Gregory Mills
SENIOR CREATIVE ARTWORKERS: Toby Kadir & Liam Leal
MONDELEZ ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR MARKETING CADBURY EQUITY: Colin O’Toole
MONDELEZ MARKETING DIRECTOR CONFECTIONARY UK&I: Benazir Barlet-Batada
MONDELEZ MARKETING MANAGER: Michael Moore
MONDELEZ SENIOR BRAND MANAGER: Beatrice Berutti
MONDELEZ BRAND EXECUTIVE: Ellie Swales
MEDIA: Carat
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Girl&Bear and VCCP CX
PR: Golin
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT: Elvis