The challenge

With the launch of The Velvetiser in 2021, Hotel Chocolat created a new market category, but they were quickly swamped by cheaper dupes. For 2023, they needed a campaign that would continue to drive an increase in sales of the Velvetiser while establishing a stronger, more distinct brand identity.

Our challenge was to harmonize a focus on the Velvetiser’s narrative with a strengthened emphasis on the Hotel Chocolat brand, creating a cohesive narrative that seamlessly integrates product storytelling and brand prominence.

Our creative approach

Our strategy was to encapsulate the emotional promise of ‘happiness’ linked to the Hotel Chocolat brand through an artful abstraction of the Velvetiser product and its velvetising process. The creative concept emphasizes the anticipation and delight, narrating the “pourable chocolate happiness” story by leveraging the Velvetiser’s attributes.

Intelligent use of progressive Gen AI tools drove this concept, forming Hotel Chocolat’s brand strategy and delivering genuine magic for the audience.The fusion of Gen AI and CGI crafted an immersive experience, guiding viewers along a whimsical chocolate slide through enchanting landscapes. Models were trained on diverse brand visuals, from bespoke photography to the real-world Cacao plantation – the Rabot Estate – on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

For the first time, we rapidly developed high-definition visual styles reflecting creative routes, offering Hotel Chocolat insight into the early stages of the creative process.

Media partnership

A pivotal element of the campaign’s success was the exclusive long-term partnership with ITV. Launched on September 20th, the campaign secured prominent placement across ITV’s network and ITVx platform, featuring prominently in Rugby World Cup coverage and key entertainment programming.

Additionally, the campaign leveraged in-store marketing and digital channels for widespread visibility and engagement. Fame x performance-driven partnership; From one to many to one to one … this campaign included incremental geo experiments, 1st party data prospecting, System1 creative testing, and comprehensive online and in-store attribution analysis.

Results

Campaign yielded remarkable outcomes, demonstrating a notable shift in Hotel Chocolat’s marketing efforts.

Eliciting a powerful System1 emotional response, it achieved a maximum effectiveness score of 5.9. This is the most effective TVC ever created within the domestic appliance category. Only 0.3% of TV advertising scores an exceptional rating and our TVC is the best of the best.

This heightened emotional engagement translated into a substantial 67% increase in the likelihood of viewers purchasing the product.