Issue #107

Welcome to your weekly dose of TooXToo, this week featuring the best of this year’s Easter brand campaigns to get you ‘egg-cited’ for this long bank holiday weekend. With 1 in 5 intending to spend more on the occasion than last year, we can expect this Easter to be one to look forward to.

Easter is a key occasion for brands to tap into – a time of religious celebration, rest, and indulgence. Year to Year, Brands create playful ads or campaigns to market their Easter-related products or ranges that appeal to the customer full of Easter spirit (and eggs) during April.

Brands had to adapt their Easter message in the context of the pandemic to optimise their reach and engagement – looking to 2022 and the return of normality, how will brands look to align with the consumer returning to brick-and-mortar shopping?

Cadburys: How not to eat yours

You might remember one of Cadbury Crème Egg’s most successful advertising campaigns to date - ‘How do you eat yours’ which was first launched by Cadbury in the 1980s. In the spirit of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” – Cadbury’s have decided to re-use this old campaign idea, adding a new spin to it.

The idea is centred around people resisting the highly desirable chocolate crème egg. The integrated campaign consisted of two short films which showed people in everyday situations where they might enjoy a quick break for a chocolate snack. The first of these two films follow a man casually running a bath who becomes frustrated with the realisation he cannot eat the egg whilst relaxing in the bath because he discovers it is one of the “winning eggs” that star in this year’s easter egg hunt launched by Cadbury’s.

Accompanying the clever ad this year is the as aforementioned infamous Easter Egg hunt. Customers have the chance to win up to £10,000 if they can find a limited edition, half white chocolate, half milk chocolate egg. However, finders will only be presented with their prize if the egg remains un-eaten. There will be one hundred and forty-six limited edition Creme Eggs in circulation- but you must be able to submit proof of the found, and untouched egg to receive your hard earned cash.

Why this works?

This campaign works because it not only builds on the already existing desire of consumers to get hold of these eggs this Easter with an added cash incentive – but it also encourages people to get out of their homes and engage with a physical Easter Egg hunt.

Last year Cadbury’s gave their consumers the option to hunt virtually for eggs in the context of staying at home over Easter – but this year, Cadbury’s are tapping into a return to normality by offering an IRL hunt to get their consumers excited.

IKEA’s flat pack chocolate bunny

Famous for their flat packs and Swedish meatballs IKEA have let their approach to furniture inspire the release of their new flatpack chocolate bunnies…

The rabbit or ‘VÅRKÄNSLA’ is a self-assembly, three-piece milk chocolate bunny that requires minimal effort to build (and then eat). As IKEA have outlined, it is a quirky alternative to the traditional Easter egg, and it’s made using only certified cacao from sustainable sources too.

Why it works?

Well, for one – this addition to this year’s roster of Easter products is very unique. Not only can it be eaten, but it can also be used as a (temporary) decoration if you can resist the temptation to eat it!

The flat pack bunny is also very on brand for this Swedish retailer, and therefore as a product is consistent with their identity and will appeal to the loyal IKEA shoppers of the world.

Being made from sustainably sourced chocolate will also entice those easter shoppers keen to ‘buy better’ this year.

Deliveroo’s ‘For the love of Huns’ campaign

Deliveroo are harnessing consumer trends shaped by popular culture to generate excitement around the drop of their limited-edition Easter eggs this year. To do so they have partnered with Pop culture royalty, Love of Huns to release their hot pink Alison Hammond-themed Easter “Hunny egg,”.

An overwhelming 650,000 followers voted Alison Hammond as this year’s ‘favourite hun’ in response to a poll asked by the Love of Hun’s Instagram account at the start of this year. Deliveroo decided to make the egg not only vegan, but raspberry-flavoured and will be available from April 15th exclusively on Deliveroo for only £6.63.

Deliveroo have also partnered with Acorns Children’s hospice and have announced that 100% of sales generated by each ‘Easter Hunny’ will go straight to this Hospice, a charity that offers a network of care and support to people as well as their families that find themselves in life-limiting situations.

Why this works?

Deliveroo have done their research into what the people want this Easter! And that is… Alison Hammond. Responding to consumer opinion to guide the launch of their Easter egg puts the fast-food heroes a step ahead- knowing members of the public have a love for Hammond makes the launch and sale of these eggs highly anticipated, and desirable.

Given two years of hardship, brands are predicting an increase in philanthropic activity. As outlined by Forbes in their recent Fidelity Charitable study: nearly three-quarters (74%) of Millennials said they consider themselves philanthropists—compared to just 35% of Boomers. Even though the pandemic seems to behind us, looking at these figures implies that charitable giving will remain heightened in 2022, especially as consumers continue to watch the humanitarian crisis unfold in Ukraine, and think of ways in which they can contribute to charities to help those in need.

Lola’s X Tony’s

A collaboration destined to make the sweet-toothed salivate. Cupcake giants: Lola’s, and chocolatier makers: Tony’s have joined resources to produce their postal Easter cupcakes, celebrating this year’s Easter holiday.

Cupcakes are not synonymous with Easter, making Tony’s choice to incorporate them into their Easter campaign less obvious. But hey – we are not complaining because now we do not have to decide whether to reach for the chocolate or cake this Easter, we can have both.

The Easter range will include boxes of cupcakes as well as a very impressive, larger Easter cake. Customers can choose from a vanilla or double chocolate sponge, which can then be paired with dark and milk chocolate ganache made from Tony’s chocolate bars.

The question is, will these cupcakes doubling down on all-things chocolate be tasty enough to give the beloved hot cross bun a run for its money??

Why it works?

Collaborations in any sector are a great way for brands to access new consumers and extend their brand awareness. For Lola’s this collaboration works well because it is giving them a chance to capitalise on the nations love for chocolate eggs at Easter time by incorporating Tony’s delicious chocolate.

This Easter campaign also works well because it appeals to the growing desire amongst today’s consumer for convenience. These postal Easter cupcakes will be popular with the customer who desires a sweet treat on-demand. Being able to order this year’s Easter dessert instead of joining the masses piling into supermarkets, makes Lola and Tony’s offering even more enticing.