Mondelēz rolls-out luxury marketing campaign for latest Toblerone treats
A bold new campaign from Mondelēz International for its iconic Toblerone brand has seen the business reach out to a younger generation with its latest marketing initiative promoting its latest truffles, miniatures, and gifting options, reports Neill Barston.
Under the banner of ‘Never Square,’ the company is releasing its latest series of products, targeting both general stores and travel retail segments, with a strong emphasis on targeting the luxury and premium product sector for the 115-year old firm.
The company’s latest campaign comes in the wake of a key story over the Toblerone’s classic Matterhorn mountain branding having to be altered under recently introduced Swiss legislation that resulted in Mondelez having to change the featured landscape on its famed triangular-shaped chocolate bars, which were not considered to have had a high enough percentage of the product actually made locally to be considered as being entirely from Switzerland.
Moreover, as the company has previously confirmed, it is continuing to ramp-up its confectionery manufacturing, aiming to generate 90 percent of revenue through its core categories of chocolate, biscuits and baked snacks. Because premium chocolate is fast growing, the company is significantly accelerating its focus in this space with additional Toblerone offerings, including pralines similar to the U.K. truffles and personalised gifting options, rolling out in numerous markets.
“We’re excited and inspired by the new brand platform, ‘Never Square,’ which pays homage to the values embodied by founder Theodor Tobler,” said Mie-Leng Wong, Senior Vice President of Global Brands at Mondelēz International. “He embraced originality and created a triangular chocolate in a world of squares, and this platform is our way of inspiring people to do just that.”
As the company explained, its latest truffles feature velvet centres with familiar bites of crunchy honey and almond nougat, wrapped in its distinctive diamond shape. They recently made their debut in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Australia, as well as airport duty-free stores in key markets.
Meanwhile, its Tiny Toblerone packs are now expanding in the US, making the premium chocolate brand, once available predominantly in airports, accessible to a wider range of U.S. consumers. These packages are offered in two varieties: classic milk chocolate with honey and almond nougat, and a variety pack of milk, white and dark chocolates with honey and almond nougat.
Furthermore, the company also highlighted the fact that its gifting options have become more personalised with Toblerone’s new online gifting platform, offering another way to embrace individuality. Launched last year, www.toblerone.co.uk allows customers to choose from a curated assortment of formats, flavours, and sleeve designs, as well as adding their own personal message on packaging. As part of the marketing drive in the UK, there are new adverts for Toblerone truffles, featuring gemstone-shaped chocolates as luxury jewellery, with further creative marketing ads expected in the coming months.
Along with updating the brand’s positioning, offering Toblerone in these smaller sizes supports the company’s goal of continuing to provide a wide variety of portion sizes and shareable options to help people enjoy chocolate as part of a balanced lifestyle and mindful diet. In Mondelēz’s 2022 State of Snacking Report, 78% of survey respondents across 12 countries said they take time to savour indulgent snacks, and 61% said they take time to portion out snacks before eating them.
“Savouring an appropriate portion of a treat like chocolate and focusing on truly experiencing it with all your senses can help make it easier to fully enjoy snacking as part of a balanced lifestyle,” said Michelle Pickering, Senior Vice President, Research & Development for Global Chocolate and Cocoa at Mondelēz International.
