Insight
The Danes had stopped eating chocolate and this was bad news for Marabou. Even though Marabou was the chocolate market leader, the brand was losing share in a declining market thanks to a triple whammy: recession, a sugar tax, and rising prices. Consumers had begun to think of these chocolate tablets as a luxury item they dare not splurge on instead of an everyday treat that was easy to share. Hence price became the dominant parameter when buying chocolate. Marabou wasn’t alone. All milk chocolate brands were having a hard time; sales were down across the crowded category. As other bars looked at short-term price cuts for long term gains, Starcom MediaVest needed to find a way for Marabou to stand out without resorting to discounting its price. The agency wondered if a rebranding was in order … but not the kind you would typically expect.
Strategy
In Denmark, you buy a Marabou chocolate tablet for a special occasion like meeting up with friends and family or a special treat on a bad day. The situation itself is the occasion or excuse to buy the chocolate bar. But with cost so prohibitive, consumers thought they could stand to forgo Marabou and still feel good about themselves and have a good time with loved ones. It wanted to turn this dynamic on its head. What if the chocolate bar itself was the occasion to have a special meeting? To do this, it needed to make the relationship between consumers and Marabou personal. It isn’t just a chocolate bar; it is any number of reasons to have a special moment. So the idea was to rebrand the Marabou bar – thousands of times over for each and every situation anyone could possibly think of to purchase it.
Execution
Marabou needed to show consumers that it not only was for every occasion you could think of, but it was also for every occasion you couldn’t think of as well. To prove it, Marabou changed the name of its chocolate bar 200 times! The name on the front of the Marabou bar was changed with a multitude of pre-printed messages like “The florist was closed” and “We’ll laugh about it in 10 years”. But as people searched through rows of chocolate tablets to find the right pre-printed message, they found even more ways to share it. They set up in-store kiosks to print their own label right there at purchase.
Online, fans suggested new sayings on social media pages and bloggers did the same. In total, over 6,000 new names were given to Marabou chocolate bars. Using witty, engaging label messages – created by the brand and consumers – they changed the way people thought about Marabou. It was no longer a luxury passed out to a select few on special occasions; it became a sweet way to share everyday moments and navigate the foibles of everyday life. In the process, Marabou led the revival of the entire category for 5.5 million well-intentioned Danes.
Results
In the first month, sales immediately rose 24% while press and social media coverage earned 2.3 million media impressions (that’s half the country). An already active Facebook page added 25% more fans who helped generate 6,000 new label options. Well-known bloggers and fashion and lifestyle magazines wrote 20,000+ articles, which were posted on every social media platform throughout Denmark and beyond its borders.