For the second year running Cadbury’s and the National Trust have joined forces to hatch an Easter campaign which we believes truly works well for both brands. Yesterday, I got to experience first-hand how it works for families too.
On a foggy Bank Holiday Monday in Sheringham, Norfolk, with two small-ish sugar-fuelled boys in tow and the much-anticipated beach trip cancelled, we headed off to Sheringham Park to burn off a bit of energy.
Unbeknownst to us the park was host to one of the Cadbury’s and National Trust’s Easter egg trails, and we knew something was afoot as soon as we drove through the gates.
Regular visitors to the Park since childhood (many years ago!), it’s usually a fairly quiet place, but yesterday we queued to get into the car park and struggled to find a space.
Once we realised that there was an Easter egg trail (it was nicely subtle – not too in your face), we decided to join in – not that the kids were in any way in need of more chocolate.
For me, it’s a campaign that works on a variety of levels:
Both brands get the benefit of associating with the other – most adults I know in their 30s feel a fondness for the National Trust which is a great asset for a brand. Most kids I know feel love for chocolate, although they may not know it is Cadbury’s … bringing the two brands together could bring some osmosis of those positive feelings – the kids will remember a fab day they had at The National Trust and the parents might subconsciously be drawn to Cadbury’s next time they’re on the chocolate aisle of the supermarket.
On a practical level at £1.50 a head, even in the credit crunch, you don’t have to think too much as to whether it’s worth taking part, especially with free face painting thrown in. And let’s not forget that the brands will undoubtedly be making profit off that price.
If Sheringham Park is anything to go by, National Trust properties nationwide will have been bursting at the seams, and we for one stayed much longer in the park than we would have done normally.
For Cadbury’s they will be leaving a mass of their target audience – the purchasing parent – with a little warm glow (one dad was overheard saying “Isn’t it generous of Cadbury’s to donate all those eggs.”).
The Egghead colouring competition handed out at the end will provide the ever-important data capture.
Most importantly, all of the kids we saw at that park were having an amazing time, and the nature of the trail meant that they were learning too. That works for everyone involved; for Cadbury’s, perhaps more importantly for the National Trust, but most of all, for the kids and the grown-ups!
For me, one of the cleverest things about the campaign was the simplicity, the seeming lack of commercialism, which made it feel really authentic and definitely in keeping with the National Trust customer.
The hand-written board advertising the event at the car park, the very small gazebo where you signed up and the clues hand-tied around the trees all felt right – very low-key, very British, very National Trust. Any slicker and I think I would have felt like I was being ‘marketed to’ and somehow, even though I knew that was the case, it just felt like good old family fun.
Read more thoughts about Cadbury’s TV advertising.
