Cadbury’s ‘Made to Share’ campaign connected people. It also boosted sales

Concept

A bar of Dairy Milk is made up of 36 chunks. It is literally ‘Made to Share’. But how do you decide who gets what?

Cadbury redesigned the packaging of its most iconic bar to solve the problem. Limited Edition Bars that come pre-divided, proportionately for different situations and group dynamics. Rewarding the generous ones amongst us with the largest share.

Insightful, relatable and most importantly - indisputable. No more squabbles, no more unfair allocation, no more chocolate monopolisation. Made to share, and now, made to share fair.

Execution

The Cadbury Dairy Milk ‘Glass and a half’ logo acted as our device, dividing up the chocolate to be shared in different ways, based on the real chunk segments of the bar.

Each pack was inspired by the relatable behaviours of our nearest and dearest, whether it be friends, family or colleagues.

The campaign featured insightful, witty instructions on the packaging to ensure sharing between friends, families and colleagues. With bars that echoed the relatable behaviours of our nearest and dearest, whether it be friends, family or colleagues - universal truths that resonated with the public and made them smile.

Each of the ads showed a pack design using a different proportion size to add to the comedy of the copy. People enjoyed the different jokes, finding the ones that best reflected their situation. The writing was very ‘memeable’, and it did not take long before people were writing their own jokes and sharing them on social media.

The twelve Limited Edition packs used the sharing scenarios to inform the typography. Using typefaces that felt connected to the occasions, whilst adding a playfulness to the design. Pillowed bubble type for the duvet snatcher, a classic bold script for the person who remembered to buy the birthday card.

Results

16.5 million ‘Made to Share’ bars have been sold, driving total Cadbury Dairy Milk Value Sales up +11.5% (vs the pre-pack activation period), smashing our key short-term sales objective.

The minute ‘Made to Share’ bars hit shelves, weeks before the campaign actually launched, the packs took off, and:

• Began trending in the UK
• Picked up by major UK meme accounts, including @TheArchbishopOfBanterbury and @imjustbait
• Spread to national news and radio, including The Mirror, The Sun, Metro and MSN and Heart Radio

What’s more, despite being made solely for the UK, ‘Made to Share’ began trending globally, inspiring discussion and new user-generated versions in places such as India, USA, Turkey, South Africa, Australia, UAE, Egypt, Singapore and more.

Consequently, the UK campaign has now been picked up by other Cadbury markets around the world - with more bars to come. 

Sustainability

All Made to Share bars use 80% recycled plastic in the packaging and were one of the first Cadbury SKUs to launch the initiative. The package is made of flexible polypropylene film using post-consumer recycled plastic in our packaging. The bars are wrapped in recycled plastic based on a mass balance approach, which is certified by the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC). Consumers can access a new platform via an on-pack QR code to find out more about the sustainable packaging journey the Cadbury brand is taking, and a consumer-friendly explanation about mass balance. This is part of a wider initiative that will allocate an equivalent amount of around 600 tonnes of post-consumer recycled plastic across ~300 million bars per year. Numbers based on forecasted 2026 sales volumes, excluding non-certified wrappers and considering the use of mass balance material.

Ready to get your work recognized on a global stage? Enter The Drum Awards today. Need more inspiration? Read our Award Winning Case Studies.