That Cadbury gorilla commercial

The Gorilla commercial, which first saw the light of day in the UK in 2007, scored by generating high noticeability ratings wherever it was screened on television and this generated huge downloads on the web.

I am not aware of what effect it had on sales in other countries, but in the UK it apparently generated about a 10% increase in volume so its gets a tick for increasing revenue.

The intriguing part of this commercial is that it contains no hard sell. The visual element is just a Gorilla playing a Phil Collins song on the drums. So what gave the brand a lift in sales?

Some background: During the industrial revolution, the Cadbury Brothers took over their father's business, laying the foundation for its growth into one of the largest confectionery giants in the world. The brothers also made their mark on UK society through their philanthropic attitude towards their workers and the community in general. In modern speak, this approach in a society which generally treated workers as lowly paid serfs, generated huge positive word-of-mouth publicity among the masses.

Chocolate is an impulse purchase. There are, of course, chocoholics but they are few in number. Prior to the release of the Gorilla movie, according to UK trade media, Cadbury was having a poor season. Sales were down because of screw ups that affected the quality of the product, which resulted in the brand dropping in top-of-mind awareness and sales.

Television advertising is basically a formulaic 30/60 second form of entertainment based on cameos involving the brand. When properly scripted, it creates a positive impression and hopefully a sale.

However, in recent years, generally speaking, the content of the TV advertising cameos has been rather bland. Bored, the public is increasingly ignoring commercials. The bottom line: Attention has been on the decline. Once in a while an interesting cameo comes along and grabs the viewer's attention.

I believe the reason the Gorilla commercial attracted so much attention was because it was totally out the norm. It amused, which enabled it to break through the boredom barrier. Coming in from outfield, it generated word-of-mouth. As a result the brand regained a place on the public's radar screen, and sales followed.

This is probably what marketers need to do with impulse products. Rattle the cage and break with convention. If the consumer gets emotional value in return, the payoff comes the next time they are standing in the check-out queue. This is where the chocolates are displayed and the chances of a bar landing the trolley are high.

According to Cadbury South Africa, the Gorilla commercial was screened locally and was hugely popular. The company, however, gave no indication of what effect it had on sales. It all probability, the humorous skit resonated more with the upper-income consumer.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that good cameo content is rare. Prior to the arrival of the  Gorilla TV commercial in South Africa Cadbury screened an ad for its slab chocolate. The script was product-dominated and the content concentrated on liquid chocolate cascading into a container. At the same time, Lindt chocolate also flighted a commercial with a similar script, but it included chocolatiers working their magic.

The voice-over, against a magnificent visual cascade of liquid chocolate, stressed that the Swiss company had been making award winning chocolate since the 1800s. In my opinion, in terms of involvement ranking, Lindt won the day.

To stimulate consumption, Cadbury has launched a R650 000 multi-media, and retail campaign. The promotion punts a range of slabs, and a new interpretation of its slogan "A glass and a half of milk". This is depicted visually on the pack. The implication has always been that the product contained the goodness of milk. The new slogan is "A glass and a half of joy".

Strange how marketers think. They feel they have to put their own oar into the water, so they mess with success. Cadbury is the number one selling slab chocolate in this country. It achieved this ranking with a simple promise of milk. Chocolate has a guilt association, as it supposedly makes you fat. The focus on milk, which is nutritionally wholesome, softened that.

Considering that there are 43-million Africans and less than 5 million whites (the ones who really worry about weight), the association with milk should have a greater emotional appeal to the majority in the population, rather that the promise of joy, given their social status.

The media campaign for winter is linked to the Gorilla commercial. Consumers are required to SMS a number on the wrapper and if this matches the beat of the Gorilla's drum tempo, they win.

Cadbury are masters at increasing the visual display of their products at retailer level so the in-your-face dumps bins etc at vantage points should do the trick and lift sales.