Dare to be “back”

Driven by the revolutionary development of technology, digital marketing, and particularly social media, has risen drastically over the last decade. The digital age has made such a large and lasting impact that we tend to expect to see all creative marketing for large brands done in this space.
However, last September, a famous European chocolate brand, Milka, launched a campaign in France and Germany which took the brand’s message directly to customers. It was quite a creative campaign and, in my view, worthy of studying.

The campaign,  “Last Square”, involved the production of 13 million chocolate bars with one square intentionally missing.

Why? The campaign echoed the brand slogan, “Dare To Be Tend” - the last square of chocolate is always the sweetest and it should be saved for someone special.

How? Buy one Milka chocolate with the package slogan, “Où est passé le dernier carré?” (Where has the last square gone?). You then get the opportunity to send this “last square” to the person you care about most. By logging on to the website, you have the opportunity to enter the code on the package, along with the name and address of that lucky someone. More importantly, you can add in a personalised greeting. The “last square” is then sent to the person you selected, with your lovely message, free of charge.

You can imagine the touching picture when your most special someone receives the unexpected surprise! “Dare to be tender?”

Does the promotion use any hi-tech digital tool? Not really! Does the execution require extra human resources (such as a sales team or promoters in stores)? No. Does the brand use specific media or digital channels to deliver the message, “dare to be tender”? No.

Nevertheless, the message is clear. The campaign sends the brand message directly to audiences in a straightforward way with low cost. It also enhances its branding among loyal consumers and easily offers new customers a trial of the product

The most glamorous part of the campaign is its innovative big idea - “daring to be back” – everything is going “back” – going back to the very original one – the product itself!  The novel idea lets the product (with one removed square) tell the story: on the shelf, with a distinctive package (or outstanding defect), rising consumers’ curiosity (interest), encouraging their desire to buy the product because the story has reached a soft spot in their hearts. All of the brand resonance elements of awareness, association, attitude and attachment are packed into the product. Smart and effective!

Amy Lei
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at The University of Sydney Business School