In this post we will show you how Cadbury’s relaunched their Wispa chocolate bar and got amazing results on Twitter with 25% increase in engagement. You will also learn how you can apply what they did to your social media campaigns and get great results too.
Global confectioner Cadbury boasts a number of popular chocolate sweets. But it is the infamous Wispa that is one of the brand’s most popular products. Cadbury’s Wispa candy bar was first launched on a trial basis in 1981 in North East England.
After resounding success in the trial launch, Cadbury went on to launch Wispa nationally in 1983. Over the course of the next 20 years, the Wispa went on to become a beloved favorite among British chocolate lovers.
In 2003, however, Cadbury rebranded as Cadbury Dairy Milk. The Wispa was subsequently discontinued and relaunched as Dairy Milk Bubbly, reshaped as a standard molded bar similar to other Dairy Milk products as opposed to the traditional whole-bar count-line.
The move did not sit well with Britain’s many chocolate lovers. Fans wanted the Wispa back. Internet campaigns championing the return of the candy bar went viral, an online petition garnered thousands of signatures, and at one point Wispa fans even stormed the stage at Iggy and the Stooges’ 2007 Glastonbury Festival performance, armed with signs that read “Bring Back the Wispa.”
Bring Back the Wispa! How Did Cadbury Respond?
In response to overwhelming demand, Cadbury announced its decision to relaunch the Wispa on a trial basis in October 2007. The results were staggering: Cadbury sold an impressive 20 million bars in the first seven weeks of the trial, prompting the brand to make the trial a permanent relaunch in 2008.
Although the standard Wispa bar was back, the Wispa Gold, a fan favorite, still hadn’t been put back on shelves. Having successfully lobbied Cadbury for the return of the Wispa, fans set their sights on the Wispa Gold.
Cadbury was astounded by the tremendous amount of public support for the chocolate caramel version of the Wispa bar. “The outcry for Wispa Gold was tremendous,” Cadbury’s social media manager, Jerry Daykin, explained. “There was a huge demand from the public to bring it back on the market.”
Cadbury decided to capitalize on this public outcry and make use of the consumer demand. It not only decided to relaunch Wispa Gold in a show of support for the London 2012 Olympics, it also turned to social media to amp up consumer demand and build an enthusiastic following in preparation for the Wispa Gold relaunch.
“Since the impassioned voices that helped bring Wispa Gold back were so effective, we decided to use similar voices to help spread awareness of its relaunch,” Daykin said.
The Cadbury Wispa Social Media Campaign
The results of the campaign were impressive, to say the least. Cadbury saw a 25% increase in engagement rate, a 116% increase in product mentions, and a 1,800% increase in positive product mentions. So what lessons can be learned from the Cadbury Wispa case? Be sure to consider the following:
Tap into preexisting conversations on social media. When it came to promoting the Wispa Gold on social media, Cadbury didn’t just create conversations, it also tapped into preexisting conversations occurring about Wispa Gold. “Twitter is ideal for this because of its real-time conversational platform and actively engaged user base,” Daykin said.
Tap into preexisting conversations on social media. When it came to promoting the Wispa Gold on social media, Cadbury didn’t just create conversations, it also tapped into preexisting conversations occurring about Wispa Gold. “Twitter is ideal for this because of its real-time conversational platform and actively engaged user base,” Daykin said.- Make use of incentives. One of the biggest strengths of the Cadbury Wispa Gold relaunch campaign? Cadbury’s excellent use of incentives. The chocolatiers not only launched a mass awareness campaign with a Promoted Trend, they also created the clever “Retweet for Sweets” challenge. Twitter users could win a box of Wispa Gold if @wispa retweeted their completed tweet: “I love #WispaGold because _____.” The bottom line? Users are much more likely to engage with social media content when there is a clear and relevant incentive, as the Cadbury Wispa case demonstrates.
- Make use of media-rich content. As part of the Wispa Gold campaign, Cadbury leveraged relevant media and linked to this media in its tweets. “The new version of ‘Gold’ – inspired by #WispaGold – is remixed by none other than the legendary @pauloakenfold!” one tweet read. The success of the tactic is clear: Paul Oakenfold’s remix of “Gold” became the most watched in Cadbury’s “Keep Singing, Keep TeamGB Pumped” video series.
Don’t forget about the power of mobile. It is estimated that roughly 3 out of 4 Twitter users access the site via mobile, so it is crucial to leverage the power of mobile in any Twitter campaign. Cadbury’s Wispa Gold campaign did just that. Because mobile is especially powerful for driving impulse purchases and location-based marketing efforts, it is likely that users saw their friends’ Wispa Gold tweets while they were out and about throughout the day, tweets that encouraged them to pick up a Wispa Gold bar on their way home from work or while grocery shopping.
Don’t forget about the power of mobile. It is estimated that roughly 3 out of 4 Twitter users access the site via mobile, so it is crucial to leverage the power of mobile in any Twitter campaign. Cadbury’s Wispa Gold campaign did just that. Because mobile is especially powerful for driving impulse purchases and location-based marketing efforts, it is likely that users saw their friends’ Wispa Gold tweets while they were out and about throughout the day, tweets that encouraged them to pick up a Wispa Gold bar on their way home from work or while grocery shopping.All in all, the engagement rates the Wispa Gold Twitter campaign facilitated were a surprise even to Daykin. “For the most part, chocolate bar consumption is an impulse buy, and it is difficult to gauge purchase intent.
However, we saw numerous tweets with an intent to purchase Wispa Gold — this is because Twitter satisfies the immediacy of disseminating temporal thoughts and information. Friends reading these tweets could be influenced to also make an impulse buy, especially since many users are already out and about checking their tweets on their mobile,” he said.
And really, when it comes to talking about Wispa Gold success, the numbers speak for themselves.
A staggering 41 million Wispa Gold bars sold out in a mere 18 weeks.
That translates into four Wispa Gold sales every single second.
The return of the Cadbury Wispa was a success and the social media campaign surrounding it can only be an example to us all!
From MavSocial | Complete Visual Content Management & Social Publishing Software
