The latest three-ad campaign for Cadbury’s Perk makes light of the cricket scam even as it announces the relaunch of Perk. But it’s the script and the dubbing that take the cake.
N. Shatrujeet
agencyfaqs!
NEW DELHI, Sept 12
"South Africa-wallon ne khaaya. Lanka-wallon ne khaaya. Pakistan-wallon ne khaaya. Kanpur mein khaaya… Aur to aur, Karachi mein bhi khaaya."
The script is loaded. Layer upon layer of tongue-in-cheek innuendoes. And, of course, the unmistakable rustic rasp of Kapil Dev's voice. The stumbling-for-words mumbling of Azhar. The honed-in-the-commentary-box monotone of Ravi Shastri.
It could have ended up being trite. Fortunately, the script and the dubbing are so true to their job, what has emerged is nothing short of brilliance. In fact, the script and the dubbing are the heroes of the recent three-ad campaign for Cadbury's Perk.
Borrowing from the recent match-fixing scam, the ads - using the ‘camera in the briefcase' ploy of whistleblower Prabhakar - show cricketers ‘coming clean'. In the process, extolling the qualities of the new, improved Cadbury's Perk.
The objective of the campaign is simple; announce the relaunch of Perk and communicate what's new about the brand. "Things like how Perk is now lighter, crispier, available at a price point of Rs 5, is in slim format and is coated in real chocolate," says Govind Pandey, vice-president, O&M. "The TVCs are targeted at the youth and are meant to create excitement and freshness around the brand."
For quite some time now, Cadbury India has been working hard at creating freshness around Perk. In fact, a while ago, Perk was launched in three flavour extensions - Mango, Strawberry and Mint - in an attempt to enhance the brand's experience and consolidate its youthful image.
The chocolate bar market in India is valued at Rs 450-500 crore and is growing at 10 per cent. Cadbury India claims to have a 70-per cent share of this market. The company also claims that Perk has commanded a market share of around 8-9 per cent (in volumes) since its launch in 1995.
In value terms, Perk has a share of 9-10 per cent. Cadbury India is of the opinion that Perk is "perhaps the only brand in this category to boast of such a performance since its launch". Perk's contribution to Cadbury India's turnover is approximately 12 per cent.
Perk's positioning is that of a ‘light snack food' as opposed to a chocolate.
"The product construct and pricing for Perk has been designed to meet the needs of our largest target segment - the youth. We feel the product format and price is ideal for casual snacking and provides value to our consumers," rationalizes Bharat Puri, director, sales & marketing, Cadbury India.
By virtue of the product's positioning, Perk is pitted against KitKat, from the Nestle stable. Currently, Perk is 0.6 points behind KitKat, but Cadbury India expects to Perk to grow faster - even outpace the market growth rate - in the post-relaunch phase.
"We expect to take a lead of at least 3-4 points and become the only coated wafer brand in the confectionery world with a higher volume share than KitKat," says Puri. He also informs that post-relaunch, the top three chocolate brands in India will be from the Cadbury stable.
The relaunch of Perk has injected a dose of action in an otherwise dormant segment. Nestle has been forced to slash the price of KitKat. However, unlike in the past, Nestle has failed to whip up perceptible excitement through its advertising. Which is where Perk scores, this time round.
As in most of Perk's advertising, lighthearted irreverence is the mainstay in the current campaign too. "Perk is the lead youth brand in Cadbury portfolio. It is a lighthearted ‘anytime, anywhere' snack for the youth. The charming, perky irreverence goes down well with our target," explains Pandey.
O&M hit upon the idea of using the match-fixing scandal as the theme as cricket has a sizeable following among Indian youth. "The scam has aroused a great deal of concern among the Indian youth. We have portrayed the controversy surrounding the game in a humorous light," explains Pandey.
The brand's anytime-anywhere appeal ties in well with sordid, hush-hush dealings that have come to light. ‘Khule aam khaaiye - kabhi bhi, kahin bhi.' goes the punch line.
The humour in the campaign is obvious. But the sheer gravity of the situation - and its implications to Indian cricket - could put off consumers. Puri doesn't quite agree. "Cadbury's is not in any way trying to pass any judgments through the TVCs. We have always been associated with India's most favourite sport - cricket. The TVCs merely portray the current controversy surrounding the game in a humorous light. Good marketing is all about connecting with your consumers on platforms that are integral to their lifespace."
The Team:
Scriptwriters : Piyush Pandey, Prasoon Joshi
Dubbing : Chetan Shashital
Servicing : Govind Pandey, Mohit Gopaldas, Kamna Sharma, Rohan Mascarenhas
Filmmaker : Prasoon Pandey
Production House : Highlight Productions
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