Brand
Dairy Milk
Brand owner
Cadbury
Media agency
PHD
Creative agency
Fallon
Britain's most popular chocolate bar, Dairy Milk, is now Fairtrade-certified and the latest campaign for the brand sets out to transform Fairtrade chocolate from a niche preference to a mainstream ethical choice.
The new campaign, which stars Ghanaian hip-hop artist Tinny, first aired on 19 September.
The TV ad features a large crowd singing and dancing in an African township, where they are joined by an animated cocoa bean. The ad also showcases the music single and video released to promote the initiative.
Dairy Milk is the first mainstream chocolate bar to be sold with a commitment to pay cocoa suppliers the "Fairtrade premium" of $150 (£105) a tonne and the move is expected to double the amount of cocoa bought from smallholders in the developing world under the sustainable farming scheme.
Cadbury must have been concerned about whether this responsible initiative would appeal to consumers, since less importance is placed on ethical credentials in times of economic uncertainty.
However, initial results suggest the latest ad is having a positive effect on perceptions of the brand.
Before the launch of the campaign, Dairy Milk's buzz score was +17, but just two weeks later, on 5 October, it had increased by four points to +21.
Similarly, the index score for the brand has peaked at +52, the highest score since BrandIndex started tracking. Cadbury continues to be the highest-scoring confectionery brand tracked on the index.
In this way, Cadbury's decision to concentrate its marketing strategy on ethical trading has paid dividends. The brand's equity has shown steady expansion in recent years, with the new ad helping it achieve the highest quality, corporate reputation and recommend scores since tracking began.
Cadbury's chief executive, Todd Stitzer, plans to convert the group's other chocolate brands to Fairtrade.
Whether the public continues to support Cadbury's noble endeavour remains to be seen, but with recent talks of mergers and acquisitions, Cadbury is a brand to watch.
