Cadbury takes gender swipe! Ogilvy rings in nostalgia with a modern twist

What’s interesting is that the film is based on the ‘Asli Swaad Zindagi Ka’ campaign rolled out by the brand back in 1994

At a time when brands have been drawing the ire of netizens for furthering gender stereotypes in advertising, Cadbury’s new film #GoodLuckGirls has come under the limelight for all good reasons. The new campaign intends to cheer girls who are creating success stories and emerging as powerful role models for the youth. “From acing in the corporate world to winning Olympic medals, women are at the forefront of creating new milestones, every single day and our film is an ode to each one of them,” Anil Viswanathan, senior director – marketing, Mondelez India, said. The campaign has yet again been conceptualised by Ogilvy India.

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What’s interesting is that the film is based on the ‘Asli Swaad Zindagi Ka’ campaign rolled out by the brand back in 1994, where a girl runs to the cricket pitch and breaks into a dance post a century by her boyfriend. In the 2021 version, a girl is seen hitting a century and her boyfriend jumps onto the field to dance and celebrate her performance. With this campaign, the aim is to create brand love, Piyush Pandey, chairman, global creative and executive chairman India, Ogilvy, said. “Times have changed. With iconic ads, the need is to pick up things or subjects that people can relate to in the current context. The idea is to not replicate it but refresh it with a new idea and take advantage of the popularity of what is iconic,” he told BrandWagon Online. In this case, the original song from the 1994 campaign has been retained.

According to brand experts, the contemporary context makes the film not only more likeable but also impactful in driving a powerful social message. For those who grew up with the original ad in the 90s, the new ad is sheer nostalgia recreated with brilliance and brings the brand closer to those consumers’ hearts, Ronita Mitra, founder, Brand Eagle Consulting, said. “For the current generation of consumers, however, the ad will probably limit itself to being a very enjoyable communication woven into a powerful and relevant social context. It might strengthen the emotional connect of the master brand Cadbury. Perhaps, this communication should be followed up by a series of ads that continue to drive the emotional social messaging while making the category and product more relevant and meaningful,” she added.

For Sridhar Ramanujam, founder and CEO, Brand-comm, Cadbury has done a good job by trying to make it topical ahead of the One Day International (ODI) series to be held between the Indian women’s cricket team versus Australia beginning September 21, 2021. “The new campaign is a reflection of the changing times. It has got a touch of nostalgia for everyone who has seen the advertisement. For those who have not seen the previous version, there is a general interest because it speaks of the current times,” he added.

While the original 90’s advertisement was part of a larger campaign working towards a shift in the positioning of Cadbury and bringing the brand into the consideration set of adults, the new campaign aims to strengthen the connection with consumers. The campaign, which was released on Friday, has garnered over 8.9 million views on YouTube.

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