Cadbury and a Glass and a Half Full Productions
Cadbury and ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’
Introduction
Cadbury is a confectionery company owned by Kraft Foods and is the industry’s second largest globally after Mars Incorporated. 1 The U.K. is Cadbury’s biggest confectionery market. The total value of the UK chocolate market was estimated at £3.6bn in 2010. 2 Cadbury leads the UK chocolate market and holds a share of around 32% of this market, ahead of privately owned Mars and Nestle.3 Cadbury Dairy Milk has been around for over a century and is nothing short of a national treasure, enjoyed by young and old alike. Kate Harding, Trade Communications Manager at Cadbury comments “Cadbury Dairy Milk has over 100 years of heritage and continues to be the number one chocolate brand in the UK”. The brand’s UK sales have grown by 11.7% from £374m in 2010 to £418m in 2011.1 However, no brand, no matter how popular, comfortable or comforting can afford to stand still. Keen to reinvigorate the brand, Cadbury approached Fallon London, an advertising agency, in March 2007 with a clear, concise brief “Get the love back”.4 According to a Fallon spokesperson, “The client wanted the brand to be loved. I mean, people knew what Cadbury was about and all that but it needed to win people’s hearts”. Cadbury wanted Fallon to create advertisements that would make people smile and offer enjoyment, the same enjoyment that people get from eating a bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk. 5
2007 saw the birth of ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ which is described as Cadbury’s in-house production company in the U.K. ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ is actually an entire production company-style department within Fallon advertising agency, devoted to this campaign. Since its establishment in 2007, this production company has created five entertaining commercials for the Cadbury Dairy Milk brand – “Gorilla” (launched in 2007), “Airport Trucks” (aired in 2008), “Eyebrows” (launched in 2009), “Chocolate Charmer” (aired in 2010) and “Dancing Clothes” (launched in 2011). These pieces of entertainment, like Cadbury Dairy Milk, attempt to bring moments of joy and happiness into people’s lives. According to Fallon, ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ strive to create entertainment that is joyful, optimistic, magical, universal (in terms of age and sex), unexpected and deep (i.e. bear repeated viewing). This is delivered by producing extraordinary entertainment as well as extraordinary chocolate.5
“Gorilla”
In 2007, Cadburys launched its first advertising campaign from the newly established ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions. The 90 second advertisement entitled “Gorilla” was premiered during the season finale of Big Brother 2007. With the Phil Collins song “In the Air Tonight” playing in the background, the advertisement opened with the title “A Glass and a Half Full Productions presents” and then showed a gorilla’s face, before panning out to reveal him sitting at a drum kit. As the music in the advertisement slowly built, the gorilla started to drum in perfect time to the song. As the 1980’s song reached a climax, the scene faded out to be replaced by a picture of a Dairy Milk bar – the only reference to chocolate in the whole production (see figure 1).
Figure 1: “Gorilla” TV Advertisement
This advertisement was different from previous Dairy Milk advertisements as there was no chocolate in the ad and there were no people demonstrating their experience of the product 6 The advertisement related the joy of playing drums to that of eating a Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar. The advertisement represented a real gear shift for the brand, not only in the levels of expenditure, but also in the level of creativity.5 “Gorilla” had crossed over from advertising to entertainment. Laurence Green, planning director at Fallon, the ad agency behind the ad said “Chocolate is about joy and pleasure. For years Cadbury had told us that it was generous, through the glass and a half strap line. We thought, don’t tell us how generous you are; show us. Don’t tell us about joy; show us”.6
With total spend of about £6.2 million from Cadbury U.K., the campaign included the TV advertisement, outdoor and print advertising, a digital campaign, PR and sponsorship. The ad was posted on YouTube on the same night as it first appeared on our TV screens.5 The campaign lit up YouTube, with nearly 500,000 views in the week after its release, and over 10 million views in total. The campaign also put the Phil Collins hit “In the Air Tonight” back in the U.K. charts.7 The “Gorilla” campaign helped Cadbury’s chocolate sales grow by 7% in 2007– 30% above the industry average of 5.2%, and Cadbury’s highest level of underlying sales growth for well over a decade.5 “Gorilla” has won numerous awards, including the Epica d’Or for Film 2007, Gold at the British TV Advertising Awards 2008 and Gold at the Advertising Creative Circle Awards in 2008.
“Airport Trucks”
Keen to build on the success of the “Gorilla” advertisement, ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ released their second production on 29th March 2008. This advertisement tells the story of the first ever airport truck race in history, seeing vehicles of all shapes and sizes take to an empty runway for the race of their lives (see figure 2). Each one of the trucks was ‘pimped’ to show its unique character. With everything from go-faster stripes to customised wheel trims, the trucks lined up on the starting line under a purple sky at dusk and raced to the music of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”.8 Like the “Gorilla” ad, it soon became a favourite on YouTube as viewers wanted to view the latest ad from ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’.9
Figure 2: “Airport Trucks” TV Advertisement
This Dairy Milk advert shared the esoteric, wacky feel of it’s predecessor, and also boasted a cult soundtrack. Unfortunately for Cadbury, the “Airport Trucks” ad did not achieve the same viral popularity as the award-winning “Gorilla” ad. 8 On September 5th 2008, the “Gorilla” advert was re-launched with a new soundtrack – Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. Similarly, a version of the “Airport Trucks” ad reappeared, using the Bon Jovi song “Livin’ on a Prayer”. Both remakes premiered once again during the finale of Big Brother, 2008.7
“Eyebrows”
In January 2009, Cadbury introduced a new ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ TV advertisement, entitled “Eyebrows”, which became the 3rd video produced by the production company. The 60 second advertisement brought to life the story of a brother’s and sister’s moment of madness when backs are turned and they are left to their own devices. The advert opens with two siblings sitting in a traditional photographer’s studio, waiting to have their portrait taken. When the photographer was called away by a ringing phone, the children launched into a choreographed eyebrow dance. The children produced a range of eyebrow dance moves to the sound of “Don’t Stop the Rock” by electro-funk superstar, Freestyle (see figure 3). 10
Figure 3: The “Eyebrows” TV Advertisement
According to Phil Rumbol, Marketing Director for Cadbury, “Over at a Glass and a Half Full Productions, we noticed the wriggly potential of eyebrows and thought we would have a bit of fun with them. Like the other productions, “Eyebrows” is all about losing yourself and embracing the moment of joy”.11 The “Eyebrows” campaign was supported by a £3.7m spend on TV advertising and a further £1m on cinema advertising. In addition, the “Eyebrows” campaign was also fully supported by a large digital, PR and point-of-sale campaign. The TV ad was very popular and was quickly posted on YouTube and became a firm favourite. 10
Cadbury used the power of the web to support their TV advertising campaign. ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ hosted some mischievous online events which Cadburys fans could take part in. As the TV ad was perfect for users to mimic the “Eyebrows” dance themselves, an online campaign appeared to be the ideal environment for that to take place. On the 27th February 2009, Cadbury launched an online campaign called ‘JiveBrow ’09’ to support its Dairy Milk “Eyebrows” activity, allowing people to record and share their own versions of the ad. For one day, JiveBrow (which was hosted by MSN and gave the British public a chance to take part in their own “Eyebrows” production via webcam and have their high-brow facial moves displayed to millions online. JiveBrow ’09 was a great success, with over 5,500 people taking part in this online campaign. The “Eyebrows” campaign also included a new digital feature in the campaign called B-Brow, which acted like any other browser – allowing users to visit a website of their choice – but instead of just letting users view the webpage, it allowed users to draw dancing eyebrows all over it too!11
The “Eyebrows” campaign was a huge success. It resulted in an increase in sales of the brand, it proved very popular with the general public and the campaign benefited from huge amounts of free publicity.10 If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Cadbury should be pleased. Various people have re-enacted the Cadbury “Eyebrows” ad, while others have remixed it. For example, Lily Allen and the comedian Alan Carr took part in a spoof of the ad for the TV programme ‘The Sunday Night Project’.13 14
“Chocolate Charmer”
In April 2010, the fourth ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ advertisement aired, entitled “Chocolate Charmer”. Now under the ownership of Kraft, Cadburys was hoping to woo back British punters with a more traditional advertising campaign. The 60 second TV spot took viewers into the ‘magical’ world of Cadbury Dairy Milk production where the Chocolate Charmer creates bars of milk chocolate to the tune of ‘The Only One I Know’ by the Charlatans. As the ad unfolds, the Chocolate Charmer conducts towers of chocolate and milk spinning out of glass bowls, orchestrated by levers and pulleys and his magical posers with chocolate (see figure 4) 15
This advertisement was subtly different from the previous ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’, as it shifted the focus back to the chocolate! “Chocolate Charmer has the ‘talkability’ factor of our previous campaigns, but in showing consumers how we bring Dairy Milk to life, is closer to what traditional chocolate advertising is all about”, admitted Lucy Evans, Head of Marketing for Dairy Milk. “It’s all quite different this time around as the ad reminds consumers of the 82 year old brand’s USP, that it contains a glass and a half of fresh milk”.16
Figure 4: “Chocolate Charmer” TV Advertisement
This £4m campaign used TV, cinema, video-on-demand and online media. The TV plan was aimed at the wider Cadbury Dairy Milk audience whose heartland is older, and the online media were used to complement this and target the next generation of Cadbury Dairy Milk fans. Like the previous advertisements, the Chocolate Charmer advert generated huge exposure for the Dairy Milk brand, both on and off-line. Cadburys also suggest that the campaign directly contributed to 3.5% of total sales of the brand that year. 17
“Dancing Clothes”
In the follow up to ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ previous advertising campaigns, the Cadburys ‘Dancing Clothes’ advertisement was aired in May 2011. This saw a return to the more abstract approach used in the “Gorilla”, “Airport Trucks” and “Eyebrows” ads. There was no chocolate in sight! (see figure 5). The “Dancing Clothes” ad was part of a £6.2m campaign and featured clothes at a charity shop dancing to the tune of ‘We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off’ by Jermaine Stewart. Individual clothes fall from the rails, rise from the floor and burst into a dancing extravaganza. According to Julie Reynolds, Marketing Manager for Cadbury Dairy Milk, “For us, Cadbury Dairy Milk is about creating moments of joy that make people smile. We believe that this ad is another great way of doing just that”. The campaign ran on TV and digital media and was supported by events and PR. Cadburys also released a Danceoff app for the iPhone which delivered a take on the innovative advert. The Dance Off app enabled the user to make clothes dance to their iTunes music library. Users could also choose their favourite clothes character from the ad and watch it dance in five differing styles which included salsa and hip-hop. Users could even sing to the clothes and they would dance to the user’s voice!18
Figure 5: “Dancing Clothes” TV Advertisement
Conclusion
Since 2007 Cadbury have adopted a new advertising approach which many view as critical to both the Cadbury Dairy Milk brand and the company. Cadbury decided not to focus on the chocolate in their advertisements, but instead to focus on entertaining the public. This led to the creation of the five memorable advertisements outlined above – “Gorilla”, “Airport Trucks”, “Eyebrows”, “Chocolate Charmer” and “Dancing Clothes”. All these advertisements incorporated the Cadbury trademark colour purple into the ads and displayed the Cadbury Dairy Milk logo and slogan ‘A Glass and a Half Full of Joy’. In addition, all five advertisements were supported by the award-winning ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ interactive website ( where fans could view videos, download ringtones, download wallpapers, play games, win prizes and create their own chocolate! All the ads embraced the popularity of viral advertising and used this very much to their advantage and were a huge hit on YouTube and on social networking sites. They became a firm favourite among the online community. However, all advertisements (with the exception of “Chocolate Charmer”) also had another common thread. They told the public nothing about Dairy Milk. Rather than using the chocolate as the main focal point, Cadbury decided to use emotional appeals to attract the public’s attention. Many in the industry viewed this as a huge risk, but it is one that seems to have worked for Cadbury. ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ was the umbrella concept for all five advertisements. But where to from here? How can Cadbury now top the success of these very successful advertisements? The public anxiously awaits more from ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’!
Questions
Q1.View all five Cadbury Dairy Milk advertisements on YouTube. Describe and evaluate the advertising platform and the advertising objectives of these five Cadbury advertisements. How are all five advertisements related?
Q2.Cadbury have relied very heavily on TV advertising for their ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ advertisements. Comment on the advantages and disadvantages of TV advertising.
Q3.What role did viral advertising play in these advertising campaigns?
Q4.Most of the ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’ advertisements have nothing to do with chocolate, yet people remember what the advertisements are for. Why is there no actual reference to chocolate in these advertisements? What makes the advertisements so memorable as Cadbury Dairy Milk advertisements?
This case was written by Marie O’ Dwyer, Lecturer in Marketing, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland
Special thanks to Aideen Murphy, Cadbury Ireland and Sandie Dilger, Cadbury UK.
References
1 ‘Factbox: British Confectioner Cadbury’, Reuters, 14 January 2010.
2 Marketing Week (2011) ‘Appetite for Indulgence Will Sweeten Bitter Pill’, 21 April.
3 Euromonitor (2011) ‘Chocolate Confectionery in the United Kingdom’, October.
4 Talking Retail (2008), ‘Cadbury Reveals a Glass and a Half Full Productions Gorilla Adverts Will Make a Return’, 6th September.
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7 Mailonline (2007) ‘Revealed: The Man Behind the Drum-Playing Gorilla Suit in the Cadbury Advertisement’, 11th September.
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9 Cadbury (2008) ‘Cadbury Dairy Milk Unveils It’s Latest Glass and a Half Full Production’, 28th March.
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11 Talking Retail (2009) ‘Cadbury Launches New Dairy Milk Glass and a Half Full’, 26th January.
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13 Benady, Alex (2007) ‘Advertising: Spot the Link Between a Gorilla and Chocolate’, The Independent, 14th May.
14 Bold, Ben (2009) ‘Cadbury Eyebrows Ad Goes Viral to the Tune of 4m Views’, Brand Republic, 16th February.
15 Reynolds, John (2010) ‘Chocolate Charmer Stars in Latest Cadbury Dairy Milk Ad’, Campaign, April
16 UTalkMarketing.com (2011) Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Charmer Advert
17 Greaves, David (2011) ‘Social Media Case Study: Cadbury Dairy Milk’, FurlongPR.com, January
18 Reynolds, John (2011) ‘New Dairy Milk Ad Sets Charity Shop Clothes Dancing’, Campaign, May
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