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Introduction
Businesses need to spread the word about the services or goods offered so they attract potential customers. This process entails the use of marketing and advertising. Marketing is the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large (Burrows Lecture 2, slide 2). All these efforts to attract the attention of people relate to how the product or service is advertised.
Advertising is said to play the role of creating (or changing) consumers perception of a brand so, in effect, the consumer decides to buy that brand. It needs to have a strong impact so that the consumer easily remembers it when he or she is about to shop, so such impression influences purchase decisions. The impact should trigger an emotional response from the consumer because such emotion can help the individual retain the brand in his or her thoughts.
For example, hearing a catchy jingle of a product can make a viewer amused and if the lyrics are repetitive, it can be easily learned and the viewer can sing along. The amusement of the song is what can grab the attention of the viewer (Burrows Lecture 2, slide 38). However, advertisers should not stop at capturing the attention of viewers. It should have enough power to influence them into buying what is being advertised (Burrows Lecture 2, slide 43).
This entails much creativity to truly engage potential customers and influence their purchase decisions. As learned from the lectures, emotional, aesthetic and sensory aspects, beyond functional aspects, are an important point of departure for the supreme sensory experience in contemporary marketing practice (Burrows Lecture 1, slide 17). This shows the relationship between creativity in marketing and advertising with the emotional component of the consumer, as well as how he or she appreciates the advertisements aesthetics with his or her senses. Thus, it implies that engagement of the sensory faculties of the consumer needs to be encouraged. This is also known as sensory marketing.
What is Creativity and How Does it Figure in Marketing?
With the current globalization trends, creativity is fast becoming in demand, and people who manifest creative skills and traits usually advance further than their non-creative peers. Creativity is a well-studied concept and several definitions have been developed for it. One is about creative people who have abilities such as seeing things in fresh ways; learning from past experience and relating this to new situations; thinking along unorthodox lines and breaking barriers; using non-traditional approaches to solving problems; going further than the information given; and creating something unique and original (May 2007, pp. 101-102).
Such abilities are necessary for the field of marketing and advertising. As previously discussed, creative strategies are significant in triggering emotional responses in consumers so they pay attention to the advertisement, allowing them to engage their senses and eventually to remember what the advertisement and the message it conveyed. Finally, it should behave the capability to influence their purchase decisions.
Sensory Marketing and Cadbury Chocolates
Almost everyone enjoys sweets, especially rich, brown, creamy chocolates. Cadbury is a premiere chocolate brand that has enamored millions through the decades it has produced well-loved chocolate bars with a variety of mixes. Marketing this brand has entailed much effort and creativity, and one effective strategy used was sensory marketing.
Multi-sensory brand experience supports the marketing efforts of companies when consumers purchase and consume their products through the involvement of the five senses to generate value, experiences, and image (Hulten 2010). When Cadbury customers get hold of a bar of chocolate, they engage their sense of sight, attracted to the shiny purple foil wrapping and a picture of the sumptuous-looking confection inside.
Upon opening the wrapper, they get a whiff of the chocolate and its accompanying ingredients. The texture is smooth and creamy, and at times, mixed with other textures of nuts, fruits, jellies, etc. Once they take a bite, the taste of the chocolate can satisfy them, hence the tagline Obey your mouth , a campaign launched by Cadbury to market their products (Foodbev Media 2016) (See Appendix 1). In this multi-sensory experience of consuming a Cadbury chocolate bar, only the sense of hearing was not included. However, jingles that provide catchy tunes to market the product can actually be effective in influencing one to purchase a bar.
Sensory marketing involves arousing the senses and engages them in order to evoke an emotion associated with some experiences (Groeppel-Klein 2005). Presenting a stimulus that provides a multi-sensory brand experience is likely to generate a spectrum of feelings, memories, thoughts, opinions, etc. associated with the product or service being advertised. Marketers should utilize this opportunity to steer consumers into a purchase decision favoring their products.
Danzinger (2004) explains that consumers derive sensorial stimulation from the design of products, packaging, and advertising, and logos should resonate on an emotional level. Colour sends strong emotional clues, so marketers need to use color effectively in packaging, as well as in the color palette of the product (p. 286). As for Cadbury, the color purple has been ascribed for its signature wrapping, which is associated with royalty, mysticism, and mystery (Smith 2012).
Aside from the use of colors and graphics to attract shoppers, various materials, textures, and styles to arouse multiple senses can be incorporated to heighten the experience of enjoying the product. The sense of smell is a fast track to the human brain is a part that controls ones emotion and memory, which are crucial factors in deciding which brand to choose over another (Khan 2016). Scents can bring back individuals to a time in the past, such as the smells they remember from childhood or some seasons enjoyed in their youth. Cadbury chocolates have a faint but pleasant smell, mostly from the exciting ingredients in the chocolate such as fruits and nuts.
Incorporating Creativity in the Sensory Marketing of Cadbury Chocolates
Cadbury chocolates cater mostly to children who derive much satisfaction from not only eating it but also in engaging their various senses in the experience. Marketing products to children can be challenging, however, targeting these influential consumers can offer several opportunities (Götze et al. 2009). These customers, upon deriving pleasant multi-sensory experiences in the consumption of chocolates, can continue to patronize the products way up to their adulthood (Moore 2004). Hence, in beginning them early in life in the consumption of products, it is more likely that they become loyal to the brand for sentimental reasons.
Because young children are impressionable, it can be very easy to attract their attention to certain advertisements especially if it has captured their interest. Advertisers usually exploit this naivete of children and target them as the main spokespersons to their parents to purchase the products advertised. Although children have no purchasing power, they play a significant role in influencing their parents, who have the power to buy whatever is deemed necessary. As wise consumers, parents need to consider a variety of factors before giving in to their childrens wishes. Advertisers may wittingly or unwittingly insert multiple messages within their advertisements that may affect children in unexpected ways.
As an added marketing value, attracting the attention of children with interesting packaging can boost sales. To further pique their interest, packaging that can be turned into a toy or a game can make consumers focus on the package aside from the goodness of Cadbury Chocolate. One example is printing a board game inside the cardboard box and having some paper-folding activity to craft the dice and tokens to play with. A popular board game that can be printed inside is Snakes and Ladders (See Appendix 2).
The addition of the game as a tactile experience will further enhance the sensorial experience of enjoying a Cadbury bar.
Marketing Survey
The researcher wanted to find out if the ideas incorporating creativity and multi-sensory experiences in marketing Cadbury chocolates would click with its target consumers. A survey was conducted with 100 participants aged 8-35 years using a questionnaire drafted by the researcher (see Appendix 3). The results revealed that all of the participants wanted to get a free item with the chocolates and the majority thought that a game board of Snakes and Ladders would be a good idea. The majority of the participants also preferred more than one variant of chocolate within a package. Most looked forward to more creative concepts and packaging in Cadbury chocolates. They were also asked which 4 variants they wanted in the package. The majority wanted the following combination:
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Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Block.
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Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut Block.
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Cadbury Dairy Milk Crunchie Block.
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Cadbury Dairy Milk Pretzel and Peanut Block.
Hence it is proposed that these variants be included in the new packaging of Cadbury chocolates, with the box having a game of Snakes and Ladders printed inside. Once the chocolates are consumed, the box can be turned into a game board, with the dice and chips assembled from the flaps of the box. This way, the consumers enjoy a multi-sensory experience engaging all their senses in eating the chocolates and playing with the game. Adults can reminisce about their favorite childhood play activities, and it can include playing Snakes and Ladders. All these aim to make consumers have a more pleasant and memorable experience in their consumption of Cadbury chocolates.
References
Burrows, SA. 2016, Creativity in Marketing, Lectures 1 & 2, Fall Term, University of Bradford.
Danzinger P. 2004, Why people buy things they dont need, Chicago, Dearborn.
Foodbev Media. 2016, Obey your mouth. Web.
Götze E, Prange C & Uhrovska, I 2009, Childrens impact on innovative decision making: A diary study, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 43, no. 1(2), pp. 264295.
Groeppel-Klein, A 2005, Arousal and consumer in-store behavior. Web.
Hulten, B 2010, Sensory marketing: the multi-sensory brand-experience concept, European Business Review, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 256-273.
Khan, H 2016, Visual Merchandising 101: How to Create Store Designs With High-Converting Displays.
May, P 2007, Play and creativity in Nurse, Angela D, The new early years professional: dilemmas and debates, pp. 95-110.
Moore, Elizabeth S 2004, Children and the Changing World of Advertising, Journal of Business Ethics vol. 52, pp. 161167.
Smith, K 2012, A glimpse into the meaning, symbolism and psychology of colour. Web.
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