Cadbury axes 'joy' brand platform early, pivots global positioning

Rosie Baker
By Rosie Baker | 15 January 2018
 

Cadbury has jettisoned its ‘Joy’ positioning, six years into a planned 10-year strategy, replacing it with a focus on human kindness.

The brand introduced Joyville with great aplomb in 2012, but the shift ahead of time suggests it didn’t have the success the band had envisaged. 

Former Melbourne-based GM of marketing for Mondelez Australia, Ben Wicks, is the global brand director and led the campaign development.

A new global ad campaign, developed in the UK by VCCP, sees the brand’s positioning pivot towards everyday kindness.

The ad shows a child trying to buy her mum a chocolate bar, but she doesn’t have any money. All she has is a pocketful of buttons and a few of her favourite trinkets. In an unexpected turn of events, the retailer chooses kindness and accepts the trinkets as payment - but returns a tiny toy unicorn as her change.

The brand is also going back to its roots with prominent use of the ‘Glass and a Half’ message and using it to promote human kindness.

A post on the VCCP website says: "The new positioning shines a light on the kindness and generosity that we see in society every day and facilitates moments of real human connection. The first creative under the new global brand platform is centred on the nation’s favourite chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk, and sees the brand embrace an authentic and caring approach, capturing the spirit of the nation in a way that individual consumers can relate to.”

The positive tone appears to be an antidote to the negativity and strained political relations in the world.

VCCP London was appointed in July as the lead global agency replacing London shop Fallon, which had held the account for a decade and created the iconic, award-winning Gorilla work.

At the same time, Ogilvy Melbourne was appointed to handle the account in Australia. It was previously held by Saatchi & Saatchi. 

AdNews has contacted Ogilvy about plans for the brand in Australia under the new global vision.

Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop me a line at rosiebaker@yaffa.com.au

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