Brand and Butter
Always straight-talking (occasionally in-your-face), Brand and Butter is the no-BS branding podcast for modern marketers and business owners. Packed with clear-cut advice on the influence and power of branding - and how pairing associations, consumer behaviour, and design thinking can impact how we see, think, feel, and even taste.
Brand and Butter serves up refreshingly honest and never-dull conversations with some of today’s boldest brand strategists and architects. Sometimes funny, sometimes vulnerable (and often unapologetically blunt), this is the podcast that you wish you’d listened to before launch.
Tara Ladd is the Founder and Brand Strategist at Your One and Only, a brand and design studio here for brands who refuse to settle. Evolving brand identities to stay relevant fusing psychology, strategy, and design.
Brand and Butter
Cadbury UK's 'Share a Bar' Campaign: Why Connection is The New Marketing Currency
Take a look around, most marketing campaigns are BORING. The same rinse-and-repeat strategies are leaving most of us feeling "meh." But now and then, a brand comes along with a cracker idea and reminds us that marketing can be fun, engaging, and well, meaningful. In this episode, we're breaking down the recent Cadbury UK "Share a Bar" campaign, and it shows how a simple idea can break the monotony and deliver a campaign that people actually want to engage with.
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you're listening to Brandon butter a straight-talking occasionally in your face. No BS branding podcast for modern marketers and business owners. Here for those who want to understand the influence and power of branding and how pairing associations, consumer behavior and design thinking can impact what people say, think and feel. I'm your host, tara Ladd, the sometimes funny, sometimes vulnerable and often unapologetically blunt founder and creative director of brand and design agency. Your one and only hey, hey, welcome to this week's episode of Brand and Butter.
Speaker 1:What I want to talk about today is a recent campaign. It's pretty cool, something that I think a lot of people need to be paying attention to, something that isn't new. It's definitely been recycled, but it's something that has sparked a bit of conversation. Now, if you don't know what I'm talking about, or if you are on our email list, you would have got this last campaign last week. So in the know if you want to join that, the links in the show notes. However, what we spoke about was the share a bar campaign by Cadbury. Now, this isn't something new what they've done, but essentially they've created a really cool campaign that is something that's different to the norm of what they would normally do, and it's something that brings people together. So, essentially, what we're seeing out there is marketing that is boring as batshit Sorry had to be said. We've seen these huge, big, creative campaigns in the past, and I'm not talking about just advertising. I mean, with the upcoming Super Bowl this weekend, there'll be plenty of that rolling on out but what I'm specifically talking about is the everyday marketing.
Speaker 1:So one of the core reasons that I started your One and Only and the purpose that I put as the foundational message was don't put shit to market, and I think that that stands by. I didn't want to contribute to just saying things for the sake of saying things. Now, I know it's important to be consistent, but what is also important is to make sure that the information that you're putting out there is quality stuff, so that people have a really high standard of the type of thing that you would put out. And it isn't something that has to be groundbreakingly budget-breaking, creative. It just needs to be something that's human, something that people can relate to and something that makes people either laugh or cry or feel some sort of emotion that makes you stay memorable.
Speaker 1:So, coming back to the share a bar campaign, we know marketing fatigue is real. We're slammed with marketing campaigns every day, and, essentially, what happens to people is that they just tune the heck out. If you're giving them information that they've already seen countless times before, they desensitize. You see this all the time. If you walk down the street, people will not look at things if they just expect it to be there in their faces. It's just common.
Speaker 1:What is important, though, is the repetitious messaging, or the repetition of a message that's been placed in a specific spot. So, for instance, I always associate Kia with the Australian Open, because it's just been there for years and years and years and years and years, and it just makes me think about it, and that's an association that they now have, and it's similar to why people brand arenas, and it's interesting pending on how long you've been around or you know where you are in your age group, but I always consider it All Phones Arena or Acer Arena, and you know they have the naming rights for that or Telstra Stadium, whatever it may be. It's been changed many times due to whoever decides to own that, but it is that consistent messaging that's placed there that people can remember. However, what I'm talking about is the everyday stuff. Just because you need to sell something doesn't mean it has to be boring. And that's when I think that people are just fatigued by what they're seeing on social media, that they're just going I need to post something, and then they just really have no thought about it. I'm just going to create something that looks nice and, yeah, buy my shit.
Speaker 1:And everyone's like, oh, like, everyone's so overwhelmed and so fatigued. So it's like how can you create something that is memorable? Like, how can you create something that is memorable? And so when you're bombarded with things that like showcase picture perfect lives or they're curated with images, we just tune out because it makes us feel inadequate, it makes us feel overwhelmed and also makes us feel disengaged. So the pandemic did not help with this either, by the way, so it forced us into a physical isolation and it just really amplified our feelings of loneliness, which, you know, we're still kind of stuck in that, I think. So it's no wonder we're tuning out. And now, when you look at humans in general, we're social, and so we scream for that connection and so we crave for things that will keep us together.
Speaker 1:And this is why the Cadbury's campaign Share a Bar is actually really effective, because it's not just about being out of this world creative. It's creating something that creates a need or a want to connect. So what they've essentially done is they've created a bar and or their standard chocolate bar, and they've divvied it up into three portions there's half, and then there's like two thirds and a third, and in it they've created some really funny messages that you know, everyday people can connect with. So some that I've got as an example is who cooked is the bigger portion, who cleaned is the two thirds and who ate was one third, and so it's just basically divvying it up based on equity. I think that that's quite funny, and there are plenty of other messages that they've got going. It's like who presented the slides, who took notes, you know, and then who just rocked up on the day, and things like that. So it's created this like laughable, humorous, relatable everyday life scenarios that people can relate to. And this is what makes it funny, because one they're all different, there's a range of different messages. So it creates this what are they going to do next? It creates curiosity. It also gets you to buy things as a joke for other people or it's a conversation starter around the table, and these are the things that are really important.
Speaker 1:This idea is quite simple in how it's been executed, but very effective in the way that it can connect people. So you know, it's essentially a chocolate bar that's meant to be broken like that and shared. So the campaign does exactly that. It is their iconic chocolate bar turned into a symbol of connection and generosity. And it's a limited edition packaging. So it creates a bit of scarcity, it's a bit of FOMO there, you know, if you miss out, but it does create those clever break-offs and it creates those talkable moments. So it's important to know that this isn't just about the chocolate, but it's about tapping into a deeper emotional need. It's about the acts of sharing and generosity and the sense of belonging, and it makes the world just that little bit sweeter, because everything feels very divisive at the moment, very disconnected, and if there is just one thing that can bring people closer, then that's like tick, tick. So it's the fun fact of creating a campaign that isn't just about the product but what the product can do, and it's not even about the chocolate. It's about the connection of what it feels like to share that chocolate together, and that's why it's so important.
Speaker 1:Now, another thing is that the idea kind of stems from the share a Coke campaign which was created in Australia back in. I don't even remember. I remember when it first came out everybody it's almost like the first case of personalization from a mass company and everyone had their names on it. It was like share a Coke with blah and if your name names were just you know, constantly coming out and everyone wanted to grab their grab the bottle of Coke with their name on it or grab the bottle of Coke with their friend's name on it and it was blasted up on you know, big screens. You know share a Coke with and you could text the name in and it would come up on the you know on a big screen wherever you were, and like it was that moment of oh, you know, it's, it's. It's that connection piece, it's feeling like they belong.
Speaker 1:It's so much more than just selling a product and I think that people need to understand that this is the deeper emotional need of a product or a service that you offer. A product is obviously a lot easier to do. There are plenty of ways that you can do this with a service and that actually comes down to more of the customer experience and how they experience your service and how you make them feel and cater and tailor, that I think that it's easier, in a sense, to promote a product because you're aligning something that they can, you know, take away. A service is actually more about like showcasing the culture and the relationship, and so that's kind of where they differ and and we can dive into that a whole lot more on a you know, a whole, nother level. But I think the most important part here is diving into the psychology of this right.
Speaker 1:So why does sharing make us happy? More importantly, why does sharing make us loyal? So there's a science behind why sharing makes us feel good, and we can start off with these three core points Reciprocity so when you give, usually someone wants to give back. It's the good old. Give the neighbor a bag of sugar and they'll come back the next door with double. Or you buy someone something or you buy your friend dinner. The next time they want to pay it back. It's just that need to give back. If you drive through a drive-thru and someone before you has paid for your coffee, chances are you probably paid to pay the car behind you because you were going to do it anyway, and that's kind of like this series of events and it's this really nice. You know this series of events and it's this really nice. You know act of kindness and it's also contagious. This is why people share those moments of going and doing something nice and everyone's like, oh, it's fake. But you know, what's really important about that is that people will then go and mimic that activity. It also works in negative too, by the way, as we're seeing in society, and which is why we have trigger warnings on things, as we're seeing in society, and which is why we have trigger warnings on things.
Speaker 1:However, reciprocity in itself is a core bias that we all have as people. It's something that we want to do. It creates positive feedback loop and it's all about generosity and connection. Number two is social bonding. So sharing triggers that release oxytocin. You know the copy written on the bar and what that means to someone. They're obviously going to choose something that's relatable. It creates a talking moment. It opens up a connection piece. It's actually something that generates conversation. So I think it's really great what they've done.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, as I just said before, you look at emotional contagion. So when we see someone being kind or generous, it inspires us to be kind and generous. So Cadbury's campaign actually taps into all of these things by showing us active sharing and encouraging other people to follow suit. It also differentiates, like the disparity and the equity, which I think is an underlying tone, but something I kind of picked up. But when we look at it from a wider scope of things, it's like why does this matter? It matters because of creative disruption. So the campaign is a prime example of creative disruption at play. They've created a traditional product, given it new meaning and new purpose. Then they've created an experience that's interactive and it's engaging and it's emotionally, emotionally, emotionally resonant, emotionally resonant. So this is what actually grabs the consumer's attention and it actually creates this feeling that they're not just selling chocolate, they're selling the connection and that's what people really want.
Speaker 1:But the biggest thing was like, when you look at it from a wider point of view, it's like why am I going to engage in this stuff? And it's so interesting that we always just do. They're simple things. Humans are simple creatures and it doesn't take much. You don't need these big glorious ideas. It's helpful, but sometimes it's just those really simple, effective things that build connection and in this case it's sharing something together, it's having conversations, it's bringing back the connection when the world is so disconnected, and I think that that's what's so important about this. It's also timely.
Speaker 1:We look at things and when things go viral or when things trend, and a lot of it has a timing element. We saw this with Taylor Swift and you know the Ears tour that went around it was very much coinciding with where we were at, with societal conversations, and I think she became like this cultural symbol of what the wider conversation was for some people in that moment. In that moment. So, um, it's very interesting and business is exactly the same. So businesses that went really well over the past five years and capitalized off that time, amazing good work. Um, we'll have to try and now think of the next thing to kind of stay in front of. So it's always really good to have that foundational plan, because you don't want to be just chasing trends each time, because you'll get really tired really quickly. And so when you look at campaigns like this and you're like, yeah, but they're cabri and they've got like millions and millions of budget, you know, millions of dollars of budget that didn't even come out right, millions of dollars for their budget. There you go, we got there in the end.
Speaker 1:It's really just about creating a simple idea and then making it your own. Of course, you're not going to be able to go print multiple you know packaging, especially if you've got a product but you can do these simple things through connection or through conversations that you have and building a conversation starter. So how would I do this? Okay? So I would start by looking that ideas aren't bank breaking. A good idea is a good idea and it's also how you execute that idea.
Speaker 1:There are so many people that have great ideas and they fail to execute, which is why your messaging and your visual identity and the way that you show up all coincide with what the business stands for, because they each play a role in how people shape perception. Went a bit deeper there, but you know it's important. But so when we're talking about looking around and asking ourselves what our brand can do to solve a problem, it's about getting creative with it. And people are like I'm not creative. Yes, you are, everyone's creative. What you tell yourself is actually how you will respond. So when people say that they're not creative, it's simply because they haven't practiced the art of creativity. I bet you any money. Any person can come up with a great idea. They just need to be primed with the idea so you could be sitting around a table. What about this? What about that? That's, all it takes is one person to give an idea and then it goes out. That's when the execution kicks in.
Speaker 1:The idea itself in its raw, raw, raw, I was going to say it's rarity Is that a word no, in its raw state is still an idea. It's how it evolves and how you grow that like a seed. So how would I start? Okay, so I would start by building a culture of sharing. How do you do that? So you encourage people to share their experience. You have ideas and feedback, and you do that through creating a community where they feel connected to each other for being part of the brand. And then I would to give back to your community. So support causes that your audience gives a shit about.
Speaker 1:Essentially, you know, it's all great to go and support something because you think that it should be. How does this align? How is the alignment work for the brand that is so important? When I talk about people, it's all great to go and support something because you think that it should be. How does this align? How is the alignment work for the brand that is so important. When I talk about people, it's like, okay, you get in your own time, but a hundred percent you can go and support whatever you want. But from a brand perspective, what are you aligning with? That is going to strengthen the brand message and recognition and the brand reputation, essentially, so it should be genuine, but it also needs to tie into the overarching narrative of who your brand is, what it stands for.
Speaker 1:And then it's all about obviously doing things like I don't know donations and volunteering and simply raising awareness by the conversations that you have on your platform, and simply raising awareness by the conversations that you have on your platform. And I think that a lot of people get really intimidated by becoming activists. It's not about that either. It's just about doing things that you care about. So you know, for instance, if you run stationery, it might be that you talk about paper and how it's recycled or sustainability. Or you know, if you sell shoes, it might be about the products that you use. And if you're a service in, uh, that does things respectfully, you're you're talking about doing things authentically and how the relationship is. That's where a lot of that all all stems from.
Speaker 1:And number three is seriously all about collaboration. Like who can you collaborate with? Who can you team with? When you're working by yourself, it is so much harder when you're sharing that experience and working in front or working together with other people. That is when you get yourself out in front of other people. That is how it extends out and it's so important because when you partner with other organizations and other businesses that are like you, you will find other people that are within their networks that will also like you too. Now, just buyers, beware these are like-minded networks, but the opposite can also happen, so if you end up pairing or working with someone that has a very negative image, that will reflect badly on you. I've said this before a million times your one and only has a vetting process, and it's very much about knowing how someone works, getting that trust system involved and making sure that when we're referring to that person or that supplier or that business, that we know that they're going to uphold a standard that is very similar to our own. And I think that that's something that a lot of people miss when they use influencers or people that have big audiences for the sake of using a big audience, and there's a misalignment and it can backfire, and it's happened in the past. We've seen this and I mentioned this not long ago. Is you know? Kanye West and Adidas Talk about millions down the plug up.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so if you look at I guess in summary of the share, a bar campaign, it basically shows us that connection is the new currency. This is people are screaming for it. After COVID, everyone was forced online because they couldn't go out and they were using that the internet. And now it's almost like people have read the go out and they were using that the internet and now people, it's almost like people have read the whole internet and they're like I'm so done here. It's like you get stuck in a silo and they're really looking for those in-person experiences and you know, say what you will.
Speaker 1:But COVID really did change the way that we see things and we're seeing systems break and I talk about a lot more of this on my personal page because, yep, but yeah, it's very much, it's very much about that structure and the structure is breaking. So people want wanting things to stay normal because they don't want change, but change is coming. But the biggest thing is that people want to belong, they want to feel part of something, and I think that that's really where it comes down to is, if you can build a sense of connection, your brand is going to win, because when you understand the need for generosity and belonging, then you know that you can do something just a little bit better than someone else, and that is exactly what Cabri have done here. So that's today's episode. If you aren't on our email list, I highly recommend getting on there, because we talk about this stuff in depth and each week or each fortnight, we go into a case study where we dive into the psychology behind brands, and I think we're seeing more and more and more the rise of brand identity and brand identity just to clarify for everyone that's maybe listening for the first time a brand identity is the whole being. It's the whole brand and everything that it stands for. It's not the visual identity, which is just a part of the brand identity. So that's for today.
Speaker 1:If you have any questions or if there's something that you would love me to talk about, please email through or jump onto Instagram and find us at your one and only underscore, au, because we're always up to having the conversations that people are, you know, really stuck on and what we're going to see. Yes, culture is very much in alignment with how brands grow and businesses grow, and we're seeing some big shifts in cultural change at the moment. So we're always really happy to talk about how we think and where we think things will go. So if you have a topic that you would love to talk about, please message in. We would love to analyze it for you. That is this week and we will chat to you soon. Did you like that episode? I hope so, because if you did, why don't you head over to whatever platform you listen on and rate and review? It's much appreciated and helps others know what we're about. If you want to follow us, you can find us at youwantanonly underscore au on Instagram.
