Cadbury’s 2019 edition of 'It’s Creme Egg hunting season' will last ten days in the lead up to Easter, and will feature the return of the elusive 'White Cadbury Creme Egg'. Cadbury’s have created the campaign with agencies Elvis and Gollin, and will run the multimedia campaign across all channels. Cadbury’s will ultimately reward eagle-eyed fans of the chocolate brand with prizes of up to £10,000 if they find the elusive white chocolate version of the egg – but they’ll have to keep an eye of for it in other brand’s adverts. "Last year’s debut of the White Cadbury Creme Egg exceeded all expectations in terms of media and social conversation, so this year we wanted to take it to a whole new level," says Aislinn Campbell, a brand manager at sister company, Mondelez.

How Cadbury's Creme Egg hunt rewards its fansCadbury's (2019)

Research shows that as people grow tired of traditional advertising formats, people have become more responsive to interactive media types. "Many ads feel like a chore for the audience and gamification can be a breath of fresh air," says Vasilis Gkogkidis, a gamification designer at GAMIFICATION+. Previous iterations of Cadbury’s 'hunting season' campaigns can pay testament to that, having won several prestigious industry awards, which cited its level of interactivity. Such methods leave a lasting impression on its viewers and, hopefully, increase engagement with that brand. Similarly, the playful 'hijacking' of other brand’s adverts was also used by Tide for its 2018 Super Bowl campaign, in a self-referential attempt to place the brand at the heart of other forms of popular culture.

Sophie Robinson is a research intern and recent social anthropology graduate at Canvas8, which specialises in behavioural insights and consumer research.