The Last Square: Here's how a chocolate brand encouraged consumers to “dare to be tender” in 2013!
Guerrilla Marketing. According to Jay Conrad Levinson, the “Father of Guerrilla Marketing,” this strategy works because it’s engaging, easy to execute, and sometimes, inexpensive. Campaigns of this type not only make a huge impact but also stick to consumers’ minds. Today, let’s talk about a fun and touching guerrilla marketing campaign. Read the article below to find out how a chocolate company effectively communicated its brand message and connected with its target market in November 2013.
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The Last Square: Here's how a chocolate brand encouraged consumers to “dare to be tender” in 2013! Cadbury. Hershey’s. Kit Kat. These are some of the famous chocolate brands in the world. They are known not only for satisfying the cravings of those with a sweet tooth but also for their “sweet” and engaging marketing campaigns to capture consumers’ attention. Another brand that’s well-loved by lots of chocolate lovers from all over the world? Milka!
Milka is a brand of chocolate confectionery originally manufactured in Switzerland in 1901. Its products include toffees, cocoa spread, and chocolate-covered cookies and biscuits. The chocolates are usually sold in bars and several novelty shapes during holidays. The brand’s name is a portmanteau of the confectionery’s two main ingredients: “Milch” (milk) and “Kakao” (cocoa). These ingredients give Milka products their iconic tender chocolate melt. Saving The Last Milka Square. Milka believes that the sweetest part of a chocolate bar is the last piece. It’s the one you almost wouldn’t want to give away. It’s when those who are eating the confectionery together observe each other’s body language to see who’s getting the last bite. Using this insight, Milka decided to conduct a guerrilla marketing experiment about this concept in France and Germany in November 2013. With the help of French marketing agency Buzzman, the brand kept the last pieces of its chocolate bars to itself. The name of the campaign? “The Last Square!”.
The goal of the campaign was to reinforce Milka’s slogan, “Dare To Be Tender,” and put Europeans’ generosity to the test. These were the things Milka did during the brand activation: The brand changed the entire production line—from molding to packaging—to remove one square from over 13 million chocolate bars.
Then, to test the French and German markets’ tenderness and generosity, Milka gave consumers a tough choice… The campaign team created a microsite where participants could get their last square by registering the code on a Milka chocolate bar’s packaging. Once they successfully accessed the site, they were given the option to keep the remaining piece for themselves or send it to a family or friend. Those who chose the latter were allowed to send a personalized message together with their small, sweet, and tender gift.
The recipients of the last squares appreciated the thoughtful and generous act. Seeing the senders’ names below the personalized messages instantly put smiles on their faces. Such a tender and heartwarming gift! The campaign lasted until the end of December 2013. Milka’s marketing team also created a 2-minute video about the guerrilla marketing experiment to expand its reach beyond the borders of France and Germany. Was Milka’s “The Last Square” campaign effective? Through the guerrilla marketing stunt, Milka enabled its customers to feel, express, and receive the brand’s message and values into their hearts and minds. … and it worked! The campaign’s theme of tenderness resonated with different types of consumers—from chocolate lovers to those who wanted to express their tender side with their beloved peers. Below are the results of Milka’s “The Last Square” campaign:
Clearly, these results show that the chocolate brand’s guerrilla marketing stunt was successful in reinforcing its message and interacting with its target audience! *Clap clap clap* — You might be wondering if such campaigns could turn out to be popular and successful. Think about this: The campaign seemed like it was short-changing customers by asking them to pay the original price of the chocolate bars despite taking away one square from each. Well, in the case of Milka, it did. In fact, the marketing strategy even helped the brand earn millions of loyal customers and drastically increase its sales! By conducting something like a find-the-missing-piece game, “The Last Square” captured French and German customers’ attention and compelled them to participate in the experiment. What’s more? Through incorporating its “Dare To Be Tender” slogan in its guerrilla marketing tactic, Milka made a positive influence on its target market’s lives. After the duration of the campaign, many of the participants said that while it’s great to keep the last square to themselves, they realized that nothing compared to the wonderful feeling of letting go of that piece and sharing it with someone they care about. Let’s give a round of applause to Milka and Buzzman! Their “The Last Square” campaign showed the importance and positive impacts of creatively and imaginatively communicating a brand’s value/s, and actually letting consumers experience a brand’s message in real life. Would you dare to share your “last square?” Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing! Do you want to learn how a medical institution and non-profit organization in India teamed up to create a powerful and revolutionary campaign for paralytic patients? See it in next week’s article! |
