Cadbury: thousands of local ads
During the pandemic Diwali of 2020, Mondelez India's Cadbury ran “Not Just a Cadbury Ad”: online ads that used the viewer's location to name small local shops near them, giving neighbourhood stores advertising they could never have afforded. The idea came from its agencies Ogilvy India and Wavemaker.
For Diwali 2021 it went further with “Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad”. Local shop owners could create a free ad in which Shah Rukh Khan, Cadbury's brand ambassador, appeared to name their own store. The actor took part, and generative AI from Rephrase.ai recreated his face and voice to say each shop's name, producing a huge number of personalised versions of one ad.
What made it work
- Consent first. The face and voice belonged to the brand's own ambassador, who took part. Personalising a real person without their agreement would have been a very different story.
- A real purpose. It helped small shops at a hard time. The versions served the audience, not just the brand.
- One idea, many versions. The core ad stayed the same; only the local detail changed. That kept quality under control.
- Measured effect. A Creative Effectiveness award is judged on results, not just creativity.
Chapter 6: Many versions, one test
AI makes versions almost free. Instead of arguing about which caption is best, make several, test them fairly, and let your customers' responses decide.
- Choose what to test
- Run a simple fair test
- Read results without fooling yourself
This article is adapted from the book. Examples marked “Example” use invented names and numbers; company stories are based on public sources listed in the book. For general learning; use your own judgement for your situation.
