Ten years ago, Patagonia made waves by taking out a full page ad in the New York Times for Black Friday, asking that we not buy Patagonia products. The brand was asking customers to instead only buy garments when their current clothing had broken down and outlived its usefulness.
Ironically, the ad helped spark a massive 33% increase in sales for Patagonia in 2012. The ad connected with customers because it showed that Patagonia was staying true to the brand’s values and not just looking to make a buck on the biggest shopping day of the year.
It worked for Patagonia in 2011, and it might work for Cadbury in 2021. Cadbury, which started as street shop in the UK almost 200 years ago, is going back to its roots. Cadbury is encouraging customers NOT to buy their chocolate from Cadbury, but to instead purchase their chocolate from local chocolatiers in the UK. Several such businesses have been forced to close already in the UK due to covid restrictions, so Cadbury is hoping to aid the ones that are left.
The brand has partnered with 6 chocolatiers in the UK to give away free chocolate gifts from these retailers. If you are in the UK, go to this site and sign up for your free gift.
Delish has the scoop on the brand’s efforts.
“We are proud to be supporting local chocolatiers across the UK. As a nation, we’ve always been lucky to have a thriving chocolate scene, full of variety and creativity; and at Cadbury, we of course understand what it’s like to start out as a small independent chocolate shop. So, we wanted to take the opportunity to support our fellow chocolatiers and ask the nation to do the same. After all, it’s all for the love of chocolate!”
It will be interesting to see how this impacts sales for both Cadbury, and the 6 chocolatiers the brand is partnering with. I suspect all parties involved will see a boost in sales, at least from the UK.
