Cadbury Gems: Ageless appeal

The new campaign talks about the 'little child' in everyone as it expands its target consumer base from kids to grown-ups, and stresses on the idea of living an age-less life through the tagline, 'Raho Umarless'.

There is a child in everybody and there are instances or moments when that child comes out in the open. From the colourful Pandas to a set of new customers, Cadbury Gems' new campaign tries to bring out the little child in everyone as it expands its target consumer base from kids to those who are children at heart.

The campaign showcases various childish attributes of adults, the reasons for their attraction to Gems and further stresses on the idea of living an age-less life through the tagline, 'Raho Umarless'.

Conceptualised by Ogilvy India, the two television commercials show various child-like sides of adults. The first commercial shows a young woman sitting on a bench in a park. On the grass, she finds a yellow coloured Cadbury Gem; she picks it, licks it and eats it. To her surprise, a few more Gems in different colours pop out. The woman hurriedly eats them. More and more Gems keep popping out and the woman tries her best to eat all. In her effort to hide her discovery and keep the growing heap covered with her body, she is blown into the air. The TVC ends with the message 'No umar for laalach'.

The second TVC shows a man visiting a museum, where he comes across an artist's work - a sculpture made of Gems. The sculpture, which has green, red and yellow gems, has a blue Gem, too. Unable to resist the colour, he picks it out and to his surprise, the whole sculpture falls apart. Sheepishly, he eats the sugar-coated chocolate button as the artist glares at him. The TVC ends with the message, 'No umar for favourite colour'.

Both the TVCs promote the brand message, 'Raho Umarless'.

Chandramouli Venkatesan, director, snacking and strategy, Cadbury India, says, "Insights reveal that Cadbury Gems has a strong connect with both kids and adults. The brand deeply resonates with child-like freedom. Our new campaign 'Raho Umarless' appeals to our consumers and encourages adults to be child-like and enjoy being ageless."

Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, Ogilvy, explains, "For years, the overall perception for Gems was that it is a kids' brand but the truth is if I keep a bowl of Gems in front of an adult, he or she would equally love it and eat it. So we wanted to up the age and show that Gems has a potential for a larger section of target consumers, by showing the love for coloured sugar coated chocolate buttons. Therefore we used the concept that even as one grows up, there is a child inside all of us and that child will do anything to eat Gems. We depicted this through various examples like a person who is fascinated with Gems because of its colour, or someone who loves to lick Gems."

Upping the ante

The television campaign draws mixed feelings from advertising professionals - while one side of the table feels that the brand is confused in its message, the other side is of the opinion that once again, it's magic from Cadbury.

Gautam Pandit, partner and senior creative director, R K Swamy BBDO, says, "The idea has well captured the core brand value - 'brings out the child in you' - in an entertaining manner. 'Umarless' is an interesting coinage, which encapsulates what the product stands for - polarity amongst both the children and adults alike. However, out of the two, my personal favourite is the 'Exhibition' TVC for its setting and execution. The idea is simple, yet a gem!"

Vikram Dhaliwal, planning head, Rediffusion-Y&R, remarks, "On the face of it, it seems that Cadbury is trying to broaden its consumption base and make Gems relevant to a slightly older population than it currently addresses. However, this advertising does not reach the heights that Dairy Milk does, simply because it doesn't find a way to speak to the reality of adult life. Dairy Milk offered us a new way to look at daily life and find a celebration, a moment where none previously existed, and in the process made chocolate relevant to us in ways that we had never thought of. Gems, however, merely asks us to be like kids, without really telling us why. It's wishful advertising and not effective advertising."