Cadbury campaign to topple 'Gorilla'

By By Paul McIntyre | 5 April 2012
 
Cadbury 'Gorilla' campaign by Fallon London.

EXCLUSIVE: Cadbury is about to use Australia as a global launchpad for a sequel to the international runaway success of its 2007 'Gorilla' campaign.

Kraft Foods’ Australian managing director of Snacking, Amanda Banfield, told AdNews she had been heavily involved in developing the next big international communications project for the Cadbury brand, created by Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon London.

She said it was the “next really big iconic campaign” for Cadbury Dairy Milk and predicted it would be bigger than ‘Gorilla’. The new campaign is expected to launch in Australia on 20 April.

The original ‘Gorilla’ spot - which featured a lifelike beast drumming to Phil Collins - picked up a swag of awards in 2008, including the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Film.

However, an attempt in 2009 by Cadbury Australia to use John Farnham’s track ‘You’re the Voice’ to the ‘Gorilla’ footage instead of Phil Collins was roundly trashed. There were suggestions at the time that the use of Farnham was to reduce the music rights fees for Cadbury in Australia. Banfield was not present during that time.

“We have been working on it for some time with my global colleagues and we are one of the first markets to be bringing it - I was going to say to air, but it is much more of a full through-the-line campaign,” Banfield said. “You can say it’s weeks away, absolutely. It will be the next really big iconic campaign for the brand.”

Banfield said the new project, which she would not discuss in any detail, would be coupled with some “phenomenal innovation” for Cadbury Dairy Milk on shelf.

Although there has been much worldwide debate about whether the acclaimed ‘Gorilla’ campaign helped lift sales for the Cadbury brand in markets where it ran, Banfield was in no doubt of its impact.

“It was very successful both in building the brand and driving sales,” she said. “We are now moving to the next exciting campaign and I think you will see in that something that will absolutely drive sales even harder.”

This article first appeared in the 5 April 2012 edition of AdNews. Click here to subscribe for more news, features and opinion.

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