The bright purple wrappers of Cadbury Dairy Milk just got some power packed into them. And 5-Star is all set for a new look. Mondelez India, makers of the Cadbury chocolates, is pairing the Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) and 5-Star with two iconic comic characters – Batman and Superman, ahead of the release of the Warner Bros movie, Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice later this month.
While Mondelez has done similar tieups in the past, Prashant Peres, Director, Marketing (Chocolates), Mondelez India says that it is for the first time that the company is carrying out such a comprehensive digital campaign. Not only is the company using the usual social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube, but also going big on putting up ads on platforms like BookMyShow and gaming portals. Merchandise like bag tags and superhero cut-outs will also add to the campaign.
“We will be present largely on gaming websites, on social networks like FB and Twitter and there will also be a lot of video promotions, not only on YouTube but on the Hotstar platform and other relevant sites like BookMyShow and MensXP. com where we believe the target audience between the ages of 13 and 35 goes very regularly,” says Peres.
The campaign involves a lot of other firsts too. It is for the first time that the company is working on modifying two brands at the same time – CDM and 5-Star. It is also for the first time that the company has modified the packaging of 5-Star. The easily recognizable chocolate bars will be available in red and black packages for Superman and Batman respectively for a limited period of time. “We are hoping that these packs will become collector’s items because they are limited edition and will be available for a very short time. We are hoping consumers will rush to pick them up,” adds Peres.
On the brand’s investments on the digital platform, Peres says, “We are going big on digital because it is a space that allows you to profile people. You can figure out who are likely to be fans of Batman and Superman and target them simply based on their usage of other digital sites and agegroup targeting. It is all very specific. People who will be buying the limited edition Batman and Superman chocolates will be people who really love the characters. The wonderful thing about this franchise is that it has no age limit and is loved by people of all age groups.”
With the Indian chocolate market is currently valued at Rs 7300 crore and Mondelez’s market-share in the chocolate category is at 65% (Source: Nielsen), Peres is hopeful that the category will see considerable growth in the next few years. “The Indian chocolate market is no longer a very small market anymore. However, when you compare our per capita consumption of chocolates to that in the West, there is still a lot of opportunity. We see the chocolate market in India growing at a fairly good rate in the next few years. If we talk about absolute numbers, India will definitely provide some of the highest absolute growth figures in the world because we are a market that has been growing in double digits for the longest time,” he says.
Talking about the marketing strategy for the next year, Peres says, “For brands like CDM, the strategy doesn’t really change widely from year to year. While 2015 was a difficult year for FMCG, it was a year in which we did quite well. We did quite a few big launches last year like Bubbly. We will continue to support those big franchises within Silk and Bubbly. CDM and 5-Star will always have new news. We broke the ‘Badhti Dosti’ campaign for CDM last year that is doing quite well. So we will continue with it and we are taking it to the digital media as well. And when it comes to 5-star, Ramesh and Suresh are always up to their tricks. We did a lot of tie-ups in the comedy genre on digital which worked really well and we plan to do a lot of that this year too.”
BY SAMARPITA BANERJEE
