The Evolution of Marketing Campaigns – Cadbury vs Netflix

How has marketing campaign development has changed from early 2000s to 2020s ? The journey from Cadbury’s ‘Pappu Pass Ho Gaya’ to Netflix ’Suna Kya’

Neeraj Bassi takes us down the memory lane as he looks at the evolution of Marketing Campaign Development from early 2000 to today. He says that the marketing campaigns have evolved from ‘integrated 360 degree campaign’ spearheaded by TVC to a ‘conversation provoking campaign’ where the TVC doesn’t play the central role.

He takes the example of Cadbury Dairy Milk Campaign of ‘Pappu Pass Ho Goya’. The core essence of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk has always been happiness. 

The Pappu Pass Ho Gaya campaign started in early 2000s, as Cadbury began addressing the small-town and lower SEC consumers, focused on increasing chocolate consumption amongst them. 

The campaign was well-researched and was based on the insight that people who emerge as winners, especially after a lot of struggles, are automatically endearing to the Indian audience. After the launch of the TVC, it was followed by an integrated 360 degree campaign with a burst on radio and a string of outdoor and below-the-line activities to apply the idea of ‘Pappu pass ho gaya’ in the respective contexts. 

Contrast this with #HappyNewPrice campaign of Netflix India in late 2021. In December 2021, Netflix had rolled out new pricing by deeply discounting its original subscription plans.

The #HappyNewPrice campaign, Netflix India particularly chose short-form videos like Instagram Reels and celebrity influencers as the main mode of creating conversations. Neeraj talks about how the campaign started off with influencers like Twinkle Khanna, Hrithik Roshan etc with a ‘Suna Kya’ trend. The influencer marketing created a lot of conversations amongst the followers and was also picked up by mainstream media. 

Eventually the announcement TVC featuring Alia Bhatt was released. The TVC also generated a lot of conversations and buzz, as it borrowed from Alia Bhatt’s personal life. 

Neeraj talks of this as a ‘sprinkling mode’ of campaign with lot of on-the-fly development. Unlike the pre-planned and well researched style of CDM campaign, this campaign grew organically, with a lot or media-creative Interaction. Neeraj points out that unlike CDM, here TVC is one of the medium & not the main medium. Also this campaign cannot be characterized by any one closing line like the ‘pappu pass ho gaya’ .

Listen to full conversation between Neeraj & Jasravee Kaur Chandra on our Youtube Channel