Cadbury ad makes Diwali homecoming easier with confirmed tickets

As the festive season approaches, the heart yearns for one direction—home. Diwali, the festival of lights, feels incomplete without the warmth of family. However, the frustration of travel tickets—either costing an arm and a leg or perpetually stuck on the waiting list—often blocks the way to these joyous reunions.

Recognising this, brands have long sought to bridge the distance for those who can't make it home by creating campaigns that make people feel at home no matter where they are.

For this Diwali, Cadbury Celebrations has come up with its #CadburyCelebrationsConfirmedTicket campaign. It has partnered with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to ensure that the journey home is as delightful as the festival itself.

Conceptualised by Ogilvy, Cadbury Celebrations helps people secure their tickets, ensuring that families can come together no matter the distance.

Sukesh Nayak, chief creative officer at Ogilvy Mumbai, reveals that the brief for this campaign emerged from a collaborative effort. This campaign was driven by the insights of individuals encountering obstacles in booking tickets.

He believes that Diwali is not only about a message but is a time when people meet face-to-face. The team worked closely with IRCTC to create a human-centred idea that tackles a genuine challenge faced by individuals during the festive season.

“Our team, led by Krishna, who leads activations for Ogilvy, was instrumental in bringing this idea to life. They worked with IRCTC, presenting the concept, and IRCTC was open to it. The meetings in Mumbai and Delhi were key, and IRCTC was incredibly supportive. This campaign allows hundreds of people to go home for Diwali, and it’s been a fulfilling experience,” he adds.

As the festive season approaches, many people start booking their tickets home a month in advance to secure their seats, and as a result, trains fill up quickly. On the other hand, some people remain uncertain about their travel plans due to work commitments, so they wait until their schedules are clear. However, this often creates a problem for them, as they end up on the waiting list on the IRCTC platform.

Some people also wait to book a Tatkal ticket through their agents. A Tatkal ticket becomes available 24 hours before the journey date, enabling passengers to secure a seat in case of last-minute cancellations.

When asked why the campaign wasn’t launched earlier to allow more time for travelers, Nayak explained that the agency timed it to focus on the peak travel days around Diwali, typically about a week or 4–5 days before the festival.

“While many may have planned their journey ahead, there are always those who struggle with last-minute tickets. Our focus was to help those people during this crucial time,” he states.

The advertisement later reveals that the Cadbury Celebrations box has a QR code at the bottom, which individuals can scan, enter their journey details and the date, and then specify their reason for returning home.

Nayak says that for this campaign, the QR codes are specific to Cadbury Celebrations. “The idea is to make the gifting experience more meaningful, where people can not only gift chocolates but also the opportunity for loved ones to travel home,” he adds.

Nayak also explains that choosing the winners is totally dependent on luck since it follows a lottery-based system. Once all the details are posted, the random selection process begins to determine who will be taken home. He stresses that even though only lucky winners will get a chance to go home, the idea is to help as many people as possible.

Talking about which routes the brand and ticketing platform will cover, he says that there are no limitations to specific routes. The team is working mostly across high-demand routes to ensure that more people can make it home.

When asked if a better approach might have been to redesign the IRCTC website itself for Cadbury, Nayak responds with enthusiasm, stating that he would have absolutely loved the idea.

“IRCTC has been incredibly supportive in allowing us to execute this idea, and I am very thankful to them for relying on us for this concept. Perhaps in the future, if they see outstanding results from this campaign, we might collaborate on something even bigger. It’s all about building on success,” he says.

Touching on the role of technology in Cadbury’s festival campaigns, Nayak clarified that the #CadburyCelebrationsConfirmedTicket campaign is less about technology and more about creating a personal connection.

“We do not consider this campaign a tech-driven ad. This is more of a humanised ad. Most of the processes, such as entering details and making announcements, took place in the backend. Technology helps us manage the entire process, from entries to selecting and announcing winners,” he emphasises.

Digital platforms will primarily showcase the campaign. Nayak says the agency hopes to release some visuals, possibly a train wrapped in Cadbury's branding like in the ad, which would be amazing.

Looking to the future, and with this collaboration with IRCTC, Nayak expresses optimism about similar partnerships between brands and these government service platforms.

He shares that It always comes down to the strength of the idea. If the concept excites both the brand and the partner, there’s immense potential for innovation and collaboration.

“We’ve seen enormous success with this partnership, and I believe we’ll continue to see more creative ideas executed in this space,” he conveys.

The timing of the #CadburyCelebrationsConfirmedTicket campaign couldn't be more fitting. Launched just ahead of Diwali, it taps into the heightened emotional and logistical challenges of travelling during the festive season.

The campaign not only adds a layer of convenience for travelers but also showcases the power of creative collaborations to transform everyday challenges into heartwarming solutions during the festive season.