The run-up to Easter is a critical time for Cadbury.
Their Creme Egg brand is seasonal, so if it doesn’t bring in enough revenue during the spring, they can’t make up for it throughout the year.
In an attempt to increase their sales this Easter season, Cadbury is trying something radical — scrapping TV ads completely in favor of streaming ads.
Cadbury’s bold new advertising strategy
Digiday, a digital marketing magazine, commented on Cadbury’s new strategy:
While it’s not unusual for Cadbury or any other consumer goods company to scrap TV in a small media plan, rarely is it done during a key sales period like the run-up to Easter.
The company plans to run streaming ads on both YouTube and Facebook. The commercials will serve as short trailers for their new streaming service, Eatertainment.
The Eatertainment website will feature twenty videos about how to savor a Cadbury Creme egg. The videos will cover topics like mindfulness and ASMR in a fun, educational way.
Cadbury made the decision to switch over to streaming ads because linear viewing is down. Consumers are increasingly choosing to stream television shows or record them to watch later, which means they see fewer commercials.
Cadbury’s big shift in strategy makes us wonder — should more brands follow their lead and ditch TV ads?
Should brands ditch TV ads?
Cadbury is definitely right about one thing — linear TV viewing is down.
In 2018, streaming services overtook paid TV for the first time in the UK. The three most popular streaming services — Netflix, Amazon, and Sky’s Now TV — had more subscribers than traditional cable plans.
Netflix is also the preferred way to watch TV for the majority of consumers in the US. And the people who do watch cable TV often aren’t doing it live. Half of all drama TV viewers are recording their favorite shows to watch later.
Because of the way television is changing, Cadbury’s decision to switch to streaming ads seems like a smart move that more companies should be making.
Surprisingly, though, many companies aren’t.
Although ad spending on streaming platforms is expected to grow to $5 billion this year — a 31% increase — it’s a relatively small sum compared to TV ad spending. In 2018, companies spent a total of $42.7 billion on TV ads.
The TV landscape is changing, and companies who don’t invest in streaming ads may get left behind.
With that being said, there are some compelling reasons not to ditch TV ads completely.
Advantages of TV ads
Research has shown that TV ads are still the best way to capture people’s attention. TV commands twice the active viewing of YouTube and 15 times the active viewing of Facebook.
And even though Americans prefer to stream or record most of the television shows they watch, there are still certain programs they like to watch live.
Around half of all people in the US would rather watch sporting events live. The Super Bowl, for example, draws around 100 million viewers each year.
People usually prefer to watch programs like the news and weather broadcast live too, so there is still a significant market for live television.
It’s also worth noting that people watching recorded television shows do still see commercials. Viewers only fast-forward around two-thirds of the ads, so brands can still reach them with their commercials.
All of this data suggests that it’s worth it for brands to run both television and streaming ads.
We think that brands are focusing a little too heavily on television ads and should be redirecting some of their marketing budget toward streaming, though.
We applaud Cadbury for taking a risk — one that just might pay off.