#BrandSaga: Cadbury Celebrations- Building an everlasting bond of Raksha and Meethas

This Raksha Bandhan, we delve deeper into Celebrations advertising journey with Cadbury Celebrations Raksha Bandhan campaigns that pioneered the festive marketing space; upping the ante, one Rakhi at a time.

There has never been a year when I didn't satisfy my tastebuds with the sweetness of Cadbury Celebrations on Raksha Bandhan, and I am sure whether you consumed the sweet treat or no you eagerly waited for the heartwarming ads. Yes, Cadbury Cadbury Celebrations Raksha Bandhan campaigns have been one of the few legendary ones.

The one brand - Cadbury- has managed to make itself synonymous with every festival while making Raksha Bandhan a bit extra special. It celebrated bonds over the product and kept emotions intact in its communication for all these years, making Cadbury Celebrations – the gifting range, a compulsory palate of taste and sweet on this very day.

This week’s Brand Saga is an ode to the sacred bond that we made with Cadbury Celebrations all this while, one ad a time.

Kuch Mithaas Ho Jayee

‘Ghuli Re Ghuli Re, Shararat Ghuli Re’, while this song rhymed in the background,  a sister and brother duo enjoy their Cadbury Celebrations rich dry fruit chocolates chasing it from one another. This commercial rolled out in 2012 aptly captured the joy that a box full of chocolates brings which seems more precious than a diamond necklace - it also conveyed that the joy for every brother is his sister’s smile.

CADBURY India introduced Celebrations as a range of premium assorted chocolates specially manufactured for gifting, across the metropolitan cities in India which also marked into the all-year-round gifting segment and was later expanded to few more places. After a 15 month long research, Mondelez concluded that the modern consumer was slowly but steadily moving towards more contemporary gift choices. Chocolates being both universally liked and accepted were the ultimate choice to replace traditional sweets in the market and the company leveraged this shift to its core.

According to a Hindu Business Line report, the gift pack is "backed by international packaging and format and available at an affordable price point, so it is available yet exclusive. The company has followed a different retail strategy for this brand. It is being made available at places where a consumer is likely to think of buying a gift, such as shopping arcades and gift shops and was positioned as "all you ever need to gift".

Each year, around  Rakhi, the chocolate company tries to itch a stronger impression not only through the sole act of introducing a new range of chocolates or new packaging designs but also (rather primarily) through the marketing messages it relays. 

‘Tell your sister she is special’- #MySpecialSis

In 2012 itself, Cadbury banked on this very insight and based on the theme ‘Tell your sister she is special’ launched a 360-degree interactive campaign.

The campaign was conceptualized and executed by Contract Advertising at the time and leveraged social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube to make the bond stronger and give it youthful vibes.  The contest on Facebook was called ‘Tell your sister she is special’ and on Twitter, it was backed by the hashtag #MySpecialSis. The company asked brothers and sisters to write messages to each other. It was also supported by the launch of two web videos showcasing different aspects of a sister’s significance in a brother’s life.

The on-ground activation involved picking a winner who gets the chance to take his sister for a movie day out. During the interval, a customized message from the brother was displayed on the cinema screen and a personalized Cadbury Celebrations gift box was handed over to the sister.



The campaign also saw streets being branded ‘Cadbury Celebrations Sisters Street’ for Raksha Bandhan. Banners with personalized messages from brothers to their sisters were put up on every building and hoardings.

‘Made with Love’ and ‘Song for Sisters’

In 2013, after launching its all-new Cadbury Celebrations Rich Dry Fruit Collection in the market, Cadbury also rolled out a TVC to promote the product titled ‘Made with  Love’ - setting the proposition for a perfect gift.

In line with the above communication, for the year’s Rakhi campaign, Cadbury Celebrations went a step further to curate messages from brothers for their sisters only to compose special songs dedicated to their favorite sibling.

The tone was set by releasing a teaser cum short film to remind the consumers of all the things the sisters have done for them. This Rakhi, shouldn't you be doing something special for her? The film was flavored with various reasons for the existence of sisters in this world and how they have been a string holding in every brother’s life.

Adding a twist to its earlier communication, the campaign was executed by Chimp&Z inc. This time Cadbury Celebrations gave brothers an opportunity to make the messages they send to their sisters unforgettable by turning them into songs crooned by India’s leading bands like Spud in the box, Something Relevant and The Siddharth Basrur Project.  

The company had also created a separate twitter handle @IndiaCelebrates supported by a hashtag #SongsForSisters along with a couple of promotional videos. It also brought on board a set of influencers to pull off communication across social media.

Pyaar ka Shagun

Be it with constant innovation in its packaging

or the campaign thought, Cadbury Celebrations kept pace with changing times and

captured emotions on point.

In the later year, it introduced us to the adorable Nikhil Jain who is busy writing wishes for his Seema didi when the postman arrives at his hostel. In much excitement, he runs off to get the rakhi like every year in that brown envelope stamped by his sister’s love. Only to his disappointment, he finds no letter addressing him.

Enter the background score - ‘Socha Na Tha Bhul Jayegi Tu’ – those few seconds of this song’s lyrics in the commercial owns the show. Soon after Nikhil’s Seema Didi surprises him by dropping in at his hostel for celebrating Raksha Bandhan with her brother in person.  

Also Read: #BrandSaga: Cadbury Dairy Milk: Giving us reasons to buy chocolates one ad at a time….

#MeethiMemories

After a successful run with #SongsForSisters, the chocolate brand was back with a memorable campaign on the same lines in 2014 albeit a twist. The brand went extra miles to create personalized illustrations for the winning contenders who shared the best of “Meethi Memories’ with their sister as a Rakhi gift.

The brand conducted the activity on Facebook and Twitter, amplified with the hashtag #MeethiMemories and an app with the same name on Cadbury Celebrations Facebook page.

Iss Rakhi, Khushiyan Le Chalo

In 2015, the cute and fun banter between siblings hit our screens yet again where the conversation was shifted from ‘Raksha’ to ‘Bandhan’. It was about care, sacrifice, protection and cherishing the ever-lasting bond.

The film by Contract Advertising worked on the insight that brothers and sisters express their love and hatred for each other through constant yet goodwill squabbles and that they only make it grow stronger with every Rakhi and Cadbury Celebrations by its side.

Kuch Achha Ho Jaaye, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye

In line with Cadbury Dairy Milk’s new positioning of ‘Kuch Achha Ho Jaaye, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye’ keeping generosity at the center, in 2018 new packs of Cadbury Celebrations and Cadbury Gifting Portfolio made the festive season even sweeter along with a heart-warming TVC highlighting the brother-sister bond.

The commercial featured a younger brother sacrificing the money he saved for his cricket bat, to buy his sister a ‘rakhi’ gift – a box of Cadbury Celebrations. Of a simple sacrifice, that enhances the love between them.

Cadbury Celebrations is continuing with the similar communication this year too and is also keeping its social media buzzing with some videos featuring digital stars Sumeet Vyas and Radhika Madan doing the Rakhi Day out.

From showcasing siblings protecting and supporting each other to fighting with each other to making sacrifices, Cadbury Celebrations Raksha Bandhan campaigns celebrate relationships and encapsulate the festive vibes like no other.