Gorilla Marketing
<p>Cadbury’s Dairy Milk re-energised its flagging brand in the UK on 31st August, 2007, when its iconic ‘Gorilla’ ad premiered in the Big Brother final on Channel 4.</p><br><p>The 90-second commercial, which featured a gorilla drumming along to Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’, was an instant hit on YouTube (a novelty back in 2007), and turned around sales for the chocolate company after a series of PR misfires and a salmonella scare.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the ad’s concept was reverse-engineered into a Cadbury’s marketing brief; reveal how the gorilla suit was recycled from the costume cupboard of a famous Hollywood thriller; and unpick how the spot’s phenomenal success became something of an albatross for the team behind it…&nbsp;</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p><strong>• ‘</strong>How Cadbury's advertising stepped out of the shadow of Gorilla’ (Contagious, 2020):</p><p><a href="https://www.contagious.com/news-and-views/how-cadbury-brand-advertising-went-from-gorilla-to-generosity" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.contagious.com/news-and-views/how-cadbury-brand-advertising-went-from-gorilla-to-generosity</a></p><p>• ‘Why Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’ ad nearly didn’t get made’ (Marketing Week, 2018): <a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/cadbury-gorilla/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.marketingweek.com/cadbury-gorilla/</a></p><p>• ‘Gorilla’ (Fallon campaign for Cadbury’s, 2007): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo</a></p><br><p>But wait, there’s more! We are the glass-and-a-half podcast of joy and we have an additional SIX MINUTES of chat about Cadbury’s iconic ad available to hear now, exclusively to our supporters. To unlock it - and other bonus bits, every single week - visit <a href="https://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://patreon.com/Retrospectors</a> or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts and support the show. Thanks!</p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Today In History with The Retrospectors
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Show Notes
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk re-energised its flagging brand in the UK on 31st August, 2007, when its iconic ‘Gorilla’ ad premiered in the Big Brother final on Channel 4.
The 90-second commercial, which featured a gorilla drumming along to Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’, was an instant hit on YouTube (a novelty back in 2007), and turned around sales for the chocolate company after a series of PR misfires and a salmonella scare.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the ad’s concept was reverse-engineered into a Cadbury’s marketing brief; reveal how the gorilla suit was recycled from the costume cupboard of a famous Hollywood thriller; and unpick how the spot’s phenomenal success became something of an albatross for the team behind it…
Further Reading:
• ‘How Cadbury's advertising stepped out of the shadow of Gorilla’ (Contagious, 2020):
• ‘Why Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’ ad nearly didn’t get made’ (Marketing Week, 2018): https://www.marketingweek.com/cadbury-gorilla/
• ‘Gorilla’ (Fallon campaign for Cadbury’s, 2007): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo
But wait, there’s more! We are the glass-and-a-half podcast of joy and we have an additional SIX MINUTES of chat about Cadbury’s iconic ad available to hear now, exclusively to our supporters. To unlock it - and other bonus bits, every single week - visit https://patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts and support the show. Thanks!
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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