CatDog Confectum Chokko

Agency: Arriba!
Creative Director: Max Burtsev
Strategist: Vladislav Torsky
Designer, Illustrator: Dmytro Alimov
Account Group Head: Olga Burtseva
Photographer, Retoucher: Pavlo Itkin
Producer: Svitlana Svyridenko
Location: Ukraine
Project Type: Produced
Client: Lisova Kazka
Product Launch Location: Ukraine
Packaging Contents: Chocolate Wafer Bar
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Plastic

In December 2020, the manufacturer Lisova Kazka released a new product: glazed wafer bars with different flavors. So it entered the established world of big recognizable brands, where there are almost no rational differences between products. To the world where media budgets are measured by Nestle, Mars, Mondelez, Roshen. The challenge for a new little bar is to gain market share in this world with a minimal advertising budget.

The wafer snack category, to which Confectum Chokko belongs, will grow at an average rate of 6% per year, this is the forecast for 2020-2027 by Shingetsu Research (2020). Another researcher, Euromonitor, cites a 2.6% annual growth in the category of chocolate snacks over the past 5 years and predicts an increase of 2.4% a year in the future. This also applies to Ukraine, where, after the economic downturn of 2014-2016, Euromonitor is seeing an increase in purchasing power and an increase in consumption of sweets.

The main driver of this is the change in lifestyle towards urbanism, fast and convenient, with appropriate food requirements. Secondary is the fashion for healthy eating. In addition to long shelf life and affordability.

Research has shown that even with a lack of brand loyalty, people who buy bars are particularly willing to switch to new things. 95% of respondents 18-30 years old admitted that they often or sometimes take new brands and flavors of chocolate wafer bars, and 56% are constantly looking for something new in the category. All that remained was to attract their attention and give them what they needed.

In-depth interviews showed that if we are talking not about holiday, but about daily consumption, then today people refuse chocolate, pastries, cakes. The reasons are the trend towards healthy food and the desire to save money. They buy sweets with a lower sugar and fat content, in smaller packages and at a lower price.

Chocolate wafer bars are just such and are perceived as a light snack, which is low in calories, “something simpler, not super nutritious”. Guilty pleasure, but easy to forgive yourself for. Something “non-serious” in the good sense.

Even if the promotion budget is 0, we always have packaging. “I look first at the packaging, at its elements, and then at the flavor and price,” one of the buyers described the logic of his switch to other brands of chocolate wafer bars. Packaging is like the last word in a dispute. And if it is clear and convincing enough, the buyer will reach it out.

In addition, if we are talking about sweet snacks, then the main channel of influence is visual, you cannot smell or touch the product. What the customer sees is associated with the taste of the product and the feeling during and after its consumption. All over the world, waffle bars are the choice of the young, so the color in the category is mostly colorful. The orange, red and green colors of first two flavors and the color contrast between the background and the image clearly indicate that there will be a lot of energy.

When psychologists discuss why chocolate is called “a piece of happiness,” they mention its connection with childhood. The packaging looks like a frame from a cartoon, but for adults. So there is also a moment of joyful semantic escapism. When you see me on the shelf, your production of “sweet” endorphins increases. In combination with the taste and intake of glucose, it is what you need to improve your mood.

Max Burtsev, creative director of Arriba!: “It is always interesting for us to work with underdog brands when there are no significant differences in the product and there is no promo budget. Therefore, I like working with medium-sized businesses — they take risks easier and often win.”

In small pleasures, a trigger, an emotional impulse, a user experience at the store plays an important role. In addition to the cheerful packaging, Confectum Chokko works as such a trigger. A brand character allows you to distinguish a product from competitors, attract attention and establish emotional contact with a human. There are almost no mascots in the chocolate wafer category, so you can only meet CatDog’s eyes at the shelf. Max Burtsev: “This is how we create the uniqueness of the product through packaging and make a pitch for future media campaigns.”