Cadbury 'happiness' ad strategy faces overhaul

by Mark Sweney, Marketing 16-Feb-05, 15:16

Cadbury has been forced to rethink its £35m master brand advertising strategy as, according to sources, its 'Your happiness loves Cadbury' TV spots is not working for consumers and has not reversed a sales slump.

The campaign, which was launched last year and was intended to be a multi-year brand strategy, has been running for just six months. However, Publicis has now gone back to the drawing board to find a new campaign direction.

It is not known if the work will be axed, but in other markets, Cadbury is already using a modified line, 'Choose Cadbury, choose happiness'.

In the last quarter of 2004, sales of the flagship Dairy Milk brand, a barometer for the health of the Cadbury confectionery business, were down 7% year on year, according to ACNielsen.

Overall, Cadbury underperformed in the fourth quarter; however, the entire UK chocolate market was also slightly down. Cadbury's position has slipped against its rivals, with Nestle's market share up from 16.3% to 17.5% in the past year.

The launch of the strategy last August marked a significant shift in marketing focus for Cadbury, which has traditionally advertised its lines individually. Rivals Nestle and Mars pursue individual brand support strategies.

With the exception of its ads for Cadbury Roses, the spots, which promote its Flake, Dairy Milk and Snaps brands using a hyena, a sheep and a lioness respectively as symbols for happiness, have not, according to insiders resonated with consumers.

The campaign, which took a year to develop, was the first significant work to come out of Publicis since the agency picked up the global business in 2002. A Cadbury spokesman denied the ad strategy was under threat.