Win Cadbury India · 2021
One Diwali film, thousands of local shops
What happened
Cadbury ran a Diwali campaign in which a synthetic version of Shah Rukh Khan's voice and likeness named individual neighbourhood stores, generating thousands of geo-targeted variants that small retailers could claim for free.
Why it worked
The festive season is when Indian consumers buy from local shops, and the campaign put the brand's biggest asset — a film star — at the service of those shops rather than of itself.
The rule
In a festive market, distribution beats storytelling. Anything that makes the local retailer's month makes your quarter.
Takeaway
The technology was interesting; the reason it worked was that someone else got the benefit.