Podcast Summary
Maintaining and growing iconic brands: To maintain and grow an iconic brand, preserve its DNA while exploring new territories and perspectives, and focus on expressing its core values effectively.
When taking over an iconic brand with a rich heritage like Cadbury, the challenge lies not only in maintaining its success but also in finding new ways to take it to the next level. Guy Ferreira, the new Global Marketing Director, discussed his experience of joining the team and the unique challenges of working on a successful brand. He emphasized the importance of preserving the brand's DNA while exploring new territories and perspectives. Boscohen, the CMO of BCCP, shared Cadbury's impressive track record of high-performing ads and the key to their success: understanding the brand's positioning and expressing it in a coherent way. In 2017, Cadbury's marketing efforts had lost their connection with consumers, and the team had to work to regain that connection. By focusing on the brand's core values and expressing them effectively, Cadbury has seen consistent success, earning numerous 5-star ads on the system and remaining a beloved British icon.
Cadbury's authentic generosity: Authentic generosity resonates with consumers, as shown by Cadbury's success in highlighting quiet, understated acts of kindness in their advertising, staying true to their brand values.
The Cadbury brand is deeply rooted in a history of generosity and looking after people. From its Quaker philanthropy origins, where the company prioritized the well-being of its workers, to its advocacy for national bank holidays for all, Cadbury has a long-standing tradition of wanting to democratize generosity and be good to all people. When creating a new campaign for Cadbury Dairy Milk, the team focused on highlighting the hidden generosity in everyday life, rather than the loud and self-centered communication common in the category. By focusing on quiet, understated acts of generosity, Cadbury's advertising stood out and resonated with consumers, reinforcing the brand's core values. The success of this approach demonstrates the power of authenticity and staying true to a brand's roots.
Authentic storytelling in advertising: Authentic stories rooted in team's passion and personal experiences create genuine connections with audiences, convey brand identity, and demand high-quality performances.
Authentic storytelling rooted in the craft aspect of advertising is essential for creating genuine connections with audiences. The passion for the craft and understanding of consumer response are key components of successful campaigns. Authentic stories often come from personal experiences within the team and should not be manufactured or contrived to fit a brief. The value of generosity, a genuine expression of a brand's identity, can be effectively conveyed through old-fashioned storytelling. Moments of human connection and emotion are gold dust in advertising, making the characters and their experiences the heart of powerful campaigns. Great acting and authentic storytelling can demand high-class quality performances. Ultimately, the craft of advertising lies in the ability to create authentic stories that resonate with audiences and leave a lasting impact.
Human emotions and experiences in storytelling: Effective storytelling in advertising requires understanding human emotions and experiences. Subtle details and consistency build compelling narratives. Cultural nuances and universal values help reach a wider audience. Perseverance is crucial for successful ad campaigns.
Effective storytelling in advertising requires a deep understanding of human emotions and experiences. Bosco Wong's discussion highlights the power of subtle details and the importance of consistency in building a compelling narrative. The campaign he worked on, which revolves around the value of generosity, resonates with audiences across different age groups, ethnicities, and social backgrounds. The second viewing of an ad can reveal new layers of meaning, making the story even more impactful. The consistency in expressing the same idea in different ways, while keeping an element of freshness, is crucial for the success of an advertising campaign. Additionally, being attuned to cultural nuances and capturing universal values can help reach a wider audience. Wong also mentioned the challenges in selling the idea internally in the beginning but emphasized the importance of the agency's role in helping Mondelez commit to the campaign. Overall, the discussion underscores the significance of thoughtful storytelling and the importance of perseverance in advertising.
Unconventional branding: A strong brand identity and unconventional ideas can lead to success, even with budget constraints. Building strong internal relationships and a clear brand vision can help businesses navigate challenges and engage audiences effectively.
Unconventional ideas and a strong brand identity can lead to success, even in the face of industry norms and budget constraints. The Mona Lisa brand took a leap of faith with a passive advertising campaign, which contrasted the typical loud and colorful category. This approach required building strong internal relationships and a clear brand north star, allowing the team to consistently build upon their ideas. During COVID-19, they used this approach to create the "Worldwide Hide" campaign, which engaged 800,000 people and generated significant brand engagement despite budget cuts. Ultimately, creativity and a strong brand identity can help businesses navigate challenges and maintain growth.
Mutual Benefit in Business Relationships: Mutual benefit is crucial for successful business relationships. Respect for expertise and openness to new ideas are essential elements in building and maintaining strong relationships. Clients who trust in the power of advertising and engage in the creative process can lead to empowering collaborations.
Successful business relationships, whether it's between a brand and its customers or a client and an agency, thrive when there's a mutual benefit. The example given was a promotion for small independent stores where both the customers and the storekeepers won. This concept of a "big win-win" can be applied even to small promotions or collaborations. Furthermore, having respect for each other's expertise and openness to new ideas are crucial elements in building and maintaining strong relationships. The discussion also highlighted the importance of experienced clients who trust in the power of advertising and are willing to engage in a creative process. The success stories shared, from Cadbury's generosity campaign to Mondelez's ongoing collaborations, demonstrate the empowering effect of allowing clients to lead and contribute to the business from their side.
Brand-agency relationship: Trust, authenticity, and collaboration are key to successful brand-agency relationships. Effective briefing, rooted in a deep understanding of consumer, business, and brand needs, is essential and should be seen as a living document.
Successful brand-agency relationships are built on trust, authenticity, and collaboration. The Cadbury example from the UK demonstrates the power of a brand feeling like it belongs to the nation, leading to a campaign that celebrated this relationship through user-generated content. The best work often comes when clients relinquish control and trust their agency, but this can be a challenging balance to strike. Mondelez's approach to working with their agency ecosystem is rooted in a human relationship, not a transactional one. Effective briefing is essential, requiring a deep understanding of consumer, business, and brand needs, and the willingness to adapt and revisit the brief as the creative process unfolds. The brief should be seen as a living document, subject to change and evolution as new insights emerge.
Consumer change needs: Understanding consumer change needs is crucial for successful marketing campaigns. Brands that consistently address these needs while maintaining a long-term vision can transform their fortunes.
A successful marketing campaign is not just about meeting a business need, but also understanding and addressing the consumer's change need. The best creators, who often have the greatest human insight, may not always adhere strictly to the brief, but their work can teach valuable lessons and lead to truly integrated and impactful campaigns. The power of a strong brand and a big idea lies in its ability to respond tactically to current issues while maintaining a long-term strategic vision. Brands that consistently deliver on this vision, like Yorkshire Tea, can dramatically transform their fortunes. Cadbury's success under Bosco's management since 2017 is a testament to this approach, with the brand experiencing significant growth in the UK market. However, it's important to remember that the ultimate goal is not just to create work for the sake of it, but to drive business growth.
Cadbury brand values: The Cadbury brand's success is rooted in its authentic core values of generosity and consumer engagement, leading to consumer love and loyalty, significant growth, and endless opportunities for connection and impact.
The success of the Cadbury brand can be attributed not only to its incredible growth but also to the strong relationship between the brand, consumers, and its core values. This relationship has led to an outpouring of love and loyalty from consumers, resulting in significant growth, particularly from the core consumer base. The brand's focus on authenticity and generosity has been key to its success, and while innovation is important, the brand's north star remains its core values. The brand's ambition moving forward is to explore new ways to express and embody generosity beyond traditional advertising, recognizing that generosity is a value that resonates deeply with consumers and has the potential to transcend touchpoints and touch lives in meaningful ways. The brand's commitment to authenticity and consumer engagement has made it not just a beloved brand, but a consumer-owned one, and its focus on generosity offers endless opportunities for connection and impact.
Effective communication in digital age: In the digital age, clear language, active listening, empathy, adaptability to styles and technologies are essential for effective communication and building authentic relationships
Effective communication is key to building successful relationships, whether it's in person or through technology. We discussed how nonverbal cues play a significant role in face-to-face interactions, but in the digital age, we must also be mindful of the tone and clarity of our messages. By actively listening, being empathetic, and using clear language, we can bridge the gap and connect with others authentically. Additionally, being adaptable to different communication styles and technologies is essential in today's fast-paced world. Overall, the ability to communicate effectively is a valuable skill that can help us build stronger personal and professional relationships.
