Cadbury shares how it reworked ‘timeless’ ad to celebrate 200th year

Knowing that such a big milestone was on the horizon, the team at the chocolate maker started conversations with its agency of record, VCCP London, last year in order to devise a plan of action.

“We were asking ourselves a lot of questions, including why would people care about the birthday of a brand,” says Elise Burditt, the senior director of confectionery for the UK at Cadbury owner Mondalez.

One answer they quickly agreed on was that just shouting to the masses about how amazing Cadbury was never going to work, with both the client and agency recognizing they had to build on the relationship the brand has built with people in the UK and beyond.

With the second-largest share of the global chocolate market, trailing only Mars, Cadbury understands that many people have an affinity for the brand and that from selection boxes at Christmas to Creme Eggs at Easter, its products have played a central role in many of our core memories.

And so the brief was simple, says Burditt; it would acknowledge the role Cadbury has played in the public’s lives, big or small. Once that settled, says the marketer, creating a campaign was smooth sailing.

The team at VCCP began to write lots of different scripts, but no matter what they tried, they couldn’t keep from returning to an ad from 2018, ‘Mum’s Birthday.’

The spot centered on a young girl buying a chocolate bar as a gift for her mother and, says VCCP’s creative director Angus Vine, was the ad that “kicked off the ‘generous’ strategy.” He adds: “Even though so much has changed over 200 years, these little, lovely, generous acts could have played out in any year. They’re timeless.”

So, the ad would get a refresh to mark this milestone anniversary.

‘Birthday’ revives and retells the story of the much-loved ad and transports viewers through time as it does so, beginning with the young girl in the pre-war period and then, over 60 seconds, showing her surroundings subtly change as the years advance, while the warmth of the corner shop and the feeling of kindness remain consistent.

For continuity, Frederic Planchon from Academy Films was brought back on as the director, which gave a sense of comfort, says Vine, while much of the original cast was used once more. The technicalities of that were immense as years had passed and people had got older, but through a mix of stunt doubles and post-production techniques, they were able to seemlessly link to the original clips.

“Using body doubles was tricky as we needed to match the original shots exactly to allow for the post work,” says Vine. “We tried to match our original girl as much as possible, from her style of walking to her mannerisms so that it all appeared seamless.”

The shoot took place in Scotland, in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, and battling the notorious whims of Scottish weather was tricky. The original ad had been filmed during the harsh, dark, winter months, but this new version was shot in late summertime. “We had to make everything look greyer and we wetted down the roads,” explains Vine. “Loads of work went into blocking out the sun, especially within the corner shop, so that the lighting on our lead girl would perfectly match the original so that the post-production head replacement would be possible.”

Getting the lighting perfect wasn’t the only hurdle. Throughout the 60-second spot, viewers see the world progress and change as the decades fly by. One of the retro cars that appears in the early part of the ad just wouldn’t start on the shoot day. “We tried everything to get it going,” recalls Vine. “But in the end, it had to be pushed down the road to get the shot and then we had to paint out the modern running shoes in post.”

While on set, Burditt says they had the post-production team there with them at every stage – a first for the marketer, but it gave them even more confidence that the final video would look seamless.

There’s immense pressure working on such a well-known and beloved brand like Cadbury, says Burditt. “My job is guardian and caretaker of this brand, to make sure it’s here in the future and continues to thrive. It’s exciting, but a lot of responsibility.”

Beyond the film, an integral aspect of the campaign is formed by the incredibly personal photos people generously submitted from their family photo albums that feature Cadbury chocolate products.

As well as adding the nostalgia of the campaign, Burditt says this element also feeds into the “​shared ownership“ people feel they have of the brand and she shares how, whenever she tells people she works on the Cadbury account, she is often met with: “Have you ever thought about doing this? I’ve got an idea for you.”

The film activation is the core element of the birthday celebrations and while there are no plans to remake any other old ads, there will be re-runs of old posters, says Burditt, with an out-of-home campaign inspired by old Dairy Milk packaging. She is adamant, though, that Cadbury doesn’t want to do too much looking back.

“We are a brand in today’s world and we want to make sure we are still relevant to today’s consumers. We think about that a lot. In this case, nostalgia is all about people seeing themselves and the relevance that Cadbury has in their own lives.”

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