Cadbury’s Bournville: ‘earn’est effort

Cadbury India is betting on the Dark Chocolate category. The ‘ingredients’ will be loved by the Creative folk. You are talking to SEC A1 crowd about a super premium foods brand, can think in English and have a big budget backing you. Which means no more of the seemingly mandatory desi stuff even for desi brands. How is the result? Take a look.

My first reaction was ‘good but not great’. The ad seemed to create a nice buildup, setting you up nicely for a final twist. Alas, the twist never came. Random thoughts: if the setting is meant to be about an American TV anchor who is mocking the Bournville tradition, shouldn’t that have been amplified more? I mean, if he were a boorish, rude TV anchor who gets ‘punished’ for mocking a tradition, maybe the message would have been driven home strongly. A giant bird plucking you away for eating Bournville because you didn’t earn it? Hmm…there could have been better ways of saying this story. If they had shown him trying to eat the chocolate without earning it (instead of merely saying it), it’d have perhaps been better. The TVC does a good job of branding though – set in Bournville, eating a Bournville, showing the pack face up etc. Thankfully, the mandatory mouth watering product shots are missing.

Also, the pack and the website seem to give premium, understated cues – a very la-di-dah tone of voice while the TVC has a light hearted approach. Mismatch? Anyway, the website is rich and graphics heavy (there is a HTML version too). The site takes you on a journey of what goes into every bar of the chocolate and some info on the variants. Whoopee, no wallpapers! As one of the PR blurbs said, the name of the game in this category will be sampling and educating consumers about the category. So expect a lot more buzz on the brand. Watch this space for more.