Branded online entertainment is gaining enormous momentum in Ireland as the newest form of integrated promotion, allowing brands to reach and engage audiences and build relationships with these consumers through sticky, imaginative experiences. As brands shape their promotions around Irish consumers’ increasing attraction to online entertainment content, Cadbury wanted to explore how online content could be deployed to provide a fresh, compelling creative platform for its 'Cadbury Gold' promotion going into its second year.

Could original unbranded online content break through to whet appetites for the promotion ahead which offered 18-carat gold bars to consumers who found one of 10 coded gold wrapped Cadbury bars in stores? We knew if the idea was highly creative and engaging, the results would be rich and rewarding for Cadbury sales.

Cadbury understood that the Irish – known for their love of a good tale and sense of humor – were primed for a fun, uplifting story about striking it rich. Ireland, after all, was slowly coming out of one of the worst recessions in memory, and a tell-tale sign of continuing struggle were the thousands of Gold for Cash establishments dotting the country. A promotion focused on gold lent itself to tapping into the country’s hope for better things, so we created a five-day gold hoax to lift spirits, deliver hope and get the nation dreaming of good fortune!

Consumer response to the hoax was immediate.

In a five-day period, 1m clicked on YouTube and Journal content, underlining the rich vein Cadbury tapped into through the campaign. Even after the reveal, the overwhelming sentiment was positive.

The You Tube video had more than 465,000 views at nearly one minute per view, 75 percent retention and more than 8,000 spirited comments and exchanges, demonstrating a real connection with the quest. (“Meet you in Wicklow, lad!”) The activity sparked debates around gold discovery. (“It’s illegal to keep gold you’ve panned in Ireland … classed as property of the state.”) Exchanges also focused on figuring out the mystery of the video. Was it a cloaked commercial? Some even surmised Cadbury was behind it. It was all good fun.

Over 500,000 people watched the mock news item.

The campaign led to a combined value sales increase of 38% for Crunchie, DD, Wispa, Twirl brands in singles, winning +3.6pp of value share of singles versus the same period the previous year.