The chocolate firm launched Dairy Milk Bubbly Mint live on Google+ on September 25. The Hangout On Air launch linked up nine fans that sampled the new mint flavored product live.
Jerry Daykin, social media manager at Kraft Foods, said that this particular social media tool provokes a strong connection between consumers and a brand.
“Hangouts On Air are an incredible way of directly engaging a small group of consumers while also broadcasting to a much larger group,” Daykin told ConfectioneryNews.com.
“We’ve had great success with them around our Olympic sponsorship and they’re one of the most unique features of the [Google+] platform,” he said.
Increased activity on the Google+ page also boosts website visits and search rankings, he said.
The new mint product will be unveiled on the Cadbury Facebook and Twitter pages shortly, he added.
Social media power
Kraft is keen on exploring the strengths of different social networks to work alongside other marketing efforts, Daykin said.
Kraft recently launched Toffee Popcorn and Biscuit Crunch Dairy Milk varieties on Twitter using the Promoted Trend tool. The firm revealed its original Dairy Milk Bubbly bar on Google+ back in January 2012.
“It’s definitely just one piece of a puzzle and traditional media remains a key focus of our marketing mix but social media tools do allow us to really engage and reward our biggest advocates,” he said.
Bubbling with success
Launched in January 2012, Kraft’s Cadbury Dairy Milk Bubbly brand was worth more than $16.3m (€12.6m) in retail sales by August. In this same month a mini version of the 90g bar format was launched to plug ‘self-eat occasions’ and target female consumers.
The new mint flavor will join a regular chocolate, white chocolate centered and mini version of the bubbly bar.
Mondelez (soon to head up Cadbury after the split from Kraft on October 1) is set to drive Dairy Milk forward as one of its four power brands alongside Milka, Toblerone and Lacta. Innovation investment will also take place across its ‘bubbly platform’.
