The challenge

Brands were first allowed to sponsor TV shows in 1989. One of the longest-lasting, and most successful, tie-ups has been the relationship between Cadbury and Coronation Street.

As a strong British brand, Cadbury was an ideal sponsor of ITV’s flagship soap Coronation Street – now enjoying its 45th year on-air.

Cadbury also had a portfolio of products that could take advantage of the large audiences and high frequency viewing that the programme attracts.

The TV solution

Cadbury has used the sponsorship to serve a complex set of communication objectives. It has raised awareness of the Cadbury brand, and it has also been used tactically, rotating the products and promotions featured on the credits. In 2005, 10 different products were featured.

The sponsorship has been used to launch brand extensions such as Cadbury Dairy Milk with Turkish, Flake Moments and Cadbury Snaps. The relationship started in September 1996 and the original credits revealed the Street and some of its inhabitants as they would look if they were made out chocolate. The current creative work from Publicis shows “real” Coronation Streets around the country.

As well as appearing on ITV 1, the credits also appear on ITV 2.

The show has a strong audience delivery, regularly attracts more than 14 million and is seen by 42% of the population each week.

Results

The tie up has delivered concrete results for Cadbury. Awareness of the sponsorship has been consistently high throughout the nine years it has run.

It can take credit for significant improvements in brand affinity both for the Cadbury brand and for the individual brands in the portfolio. The latest tracking studies by Ipsos-RSL for ITV between October 2003 and March 2004 found that the Cadbury sponsorship attracted the highest spontaneous recall of all TV sponsorships on all channels. It scored 35% with a further 20% of interviewees naming specific Cadbury brands.

“Our sponsorship credits first appeared in September 1996 and have been universally recognised as one of the best loved and most successful in TV history.”
Kevin Banfield, Portfolio Manager, Cadbury Trebor Bassett