Cadbury's partnership with The Prince’s Trust encourages Brits to get vulnerable

Cadbury and VCCP London launch campaign called "Give A Doubt"

By Creative Salon

16 May 2022

Cadbury, a brand founded on generosity, unveils a new campaign championing the power of talking honestly to make people realise they aren’t alone in struggling with daily doubts.

‘Give A Doubt’ comes after new research by Cadbury revealed that over 74% of the nation’s 18–30 year olds are facing daily concerns around their future, with 34% having no confidence that they will be able to meet their personal and professional goals. Following the success of ‘Donate Your Words’ which sought to raise awareness of loneliness amongst older people, ‘Give A Doubt’ seeks to tackle the record number of young people in the U.K. who are struggling with self-doubt every day, by asking the nation to ‘Give A Doubt’, open up, be more vulnerable and share their personal experiences of doubt.

Cadbury believes that there is generosity in everyone and ‘Give A Doubt’ taps into this spirit. At the heart of the campaign are two hero 30” films produced by ITN Advertising and directed by award winning director Chris Faith. From Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren to BAFTA winner Big Zuu, and from five-time gold Paralympic medalist Ellie Simmonds, to national football icon Ian Wright, the celebrities stretch across a range of varying industries and across different age groups to share their most powerful doubts. To give authenticity and gravitas, locations were chosen to reflect moments when the stars are at their most confident, such as backstage before a performance and outside the Emirates Stadium. The film heroes unexpected, personal and honest doubts from a host of stars to truly demonstrate that it’s normal to have them - no matter how successful or confident they may appear.

The partnership sees the launch of special limited-edition packs of the much-loved Cadbury bars, which display the doubts of footballing legends Ian Wright, Steph Houghton and Gary Neville, to inspire fans to share their own. The limited-edition chocolate bars will also feature QR codes which will take chocolate lovers through to the ‘Give A Doubt’ central campaign hub, created by Bernadette, VCCP’s recently launched product and service innovation company. The hub offers a wealth of support, advice, and guidance from Cadbury and The Prince’s Trust, to give young people a host of useful tools needed to overcome their self-doubt and thrive in their personal and professional lives. Most importantly users can choose whether they are there to give a doubt and help others or whether they’re feeling doubtful and need help. Coming later in the campaign, the hub will also host a competition where the nation can win a chance to hear directly from a celebrity and discuss self-doubt with them.

Michael Moore, Marketing Manager Cadbury, comments; “We’re so proud to announce this partnership and to be supporting the fantastic work that The Prince’s Trust does for young people in the UK. Through the ‘Give A Doubt’ campaign, we want to get everyone sharing their own doubts, starting a conversation to show that day-to-day uncertainties are normal, and that we all experience them. Sharing a doubt of your own is an act of generosity that will help young people nationwide to feel more confident about their futures.”

Jonny Parker and Chris Birch, Executive Creative Directors at VCCP London said; “Self-doubt is no stranger to us all, especially in this game, but the number of young people struggling with doubt day to day was eye opening. ‘Give a Doubt’ very simply attempts to reassure young people that we all have doubts and if we share them we can help each other out. Massive thanks to the actors, sports-stars and musicians that have given their doubts. Hopefully millions more will follow from the public.”

Cadbury is going one step further by utilising its football partnerships with Manchester City, Arsenal FC, Manchester United to bring an extra element to the campaign. Three 20-50” films will roll out across club owned social channels with appearances from Arsenal FC players Emile Smith-Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale. Cadbury worked with Manchester City to create a film set in the First Team’s changing room which saw player’s own doubts displayed on their shirts. Supporting the football partnerships, a media campaign will also see Cadbury partner with Sky and Buzzfeed, who will roll out bespoke content with a host of British stars and The Prince’s Trust Young Ambassadors in a series of powerful conversations discussing self-doubt.

Speaking on his involvement in the campaign, Ian Wright MBE, comments; “We all have doubts. I didn’t think I’d ever make anything of myself. I doubted whether I could become a footballer, doubted whether I could work in TV. Then when I started working in TV, doubted whether I’d be there for long - I wasn’t TV trained, didn’t finish school, but there I was hosting a prime-time gameshow for millions of people. Everyone has doubts, but over time I have gotten better at managing them and trying to make sure they don't stop me from doing the things I want.”

Jonathan Townsend, UK Chief Executive of The Prince’s Trust adds; “Self-doubt and lack of opportunity should not hold young people back from having thriving, positive futures. At The Prince’s Trust we help young people into jobs and training, and we know that with the right opportunities and self-belief, every young person, no matter what adversity they face, can succeed and achieve their goals in life.”

‘Give A Doubt’ by Cadbury will run in the UK from today for two months across multiple formats including TV, OLV, cinema, social, as well as media partnerships with Buzzfeed and Sky. All media has been planned and executed by Carat. The consumer PR campaign has been led by Ogilvy PR. Football partnerships have been managed by MKTG.

Campaign Credits

Client: Cadbury

Agency: VCCP

Senior Marketing Director: Benazir Barlet-Batada

Marketing Director: Colin O’Toole

Associate Marketing Director: Gemma Flanigan

Marketing Manager: Michael Moore

Brand Manager: Pippa Rodgers

Junior Brand Manager: Chrissi Bland

Executive creative directors: Jonny Parker and Chris Birch

Creative teams: Harry Osborne and Sam Sword, Simon Connor and Steve Cross

Junior creative team: James Ginn and Jake Wiseman