Brands
Cadbury 5 Star flips Valentine’s Day script with ‘one million dates’ stunt
MUMBAI: Cadbury 5 Star has ended its long-running campaign against Valentine’s Day with a playful reversal, announcing it would sponsor one million dates, before revealing the promise as a deliberate bluff rooted in its signature “Do nothing” philosophy.
The chocolate brand, known for poking fun at Valentine’s Day hype, unveiled the campaign through teaser and reveal films released on its YouTube channel. Conceived by Ogilvy India, the campaign initially claimed the brand would restore the occasion by funding research-backed Valentine’s Day itineraries inspired by the festival’s origins.
The reveal, however, delivered a twist: the so-called historical research suggested the purest way to honour the day of love was to spend it doing absolutely nothing, bringing the narrative back to Cadbury 5 Star’s irreverent brand positioning.
Mondelez India vice president – marketing Nitin Saini, said the campaign was designed to surprise audiences while reinforcing the brand’s relaxed, anti-hype stance on Valentine’s Day.
Ogilvy India chief creative officer Sukesh Kumar Nayak, said the idea took the brand in an unexpected direction by pretending to embrace romance before subverting it with humour.
The campaign is supported by a digital platform developed by Ogilvy’s creative tech team, where couples can sign up for the fictional sponsored dates.
Wavemaker, which handled media strategy, introduced Esther Howland, often associated with the early commercialisation of Valentine’s cards, as a tongue-in-cheek cultural disruptor, aimed at encouraging Gen Z consumers to opt out of performative romance.
Cadbury 5 Star is part of Mondelez India Foods, which has operated in the country for over 75 years and owns brands including Cadbury Dairy Milk, Silk, Perk, Fuse, Gems, Bournvita, Oreo and Tang
Brands
Himanshu Khanna joins CKA Birla Group as group chief marketing officer: report
Former Raymond lifestyle CMO to lead group-wide brand and marketing strategy
MUMBAI: According to a media report citing industry sources, senior marketing leader Himanshu Khanna has joined CKA Birla Group as group chief marketing officer.
Khanna moves from Raymond Limited, where he served as chief marketing officer for the lifestyle division since August 2021, overseeing the marketing transformation of the company’s nearly $1 billion lifestyle business. His tenure featured a sharper consumer focus, a digital-first operating model and large-scale retail and brand modernisation.
At Raymond, Khanna led brand strategy and growth across a broad portfolio including Raymond suiting and shirting, Park Avenue, ColorPlus, Parx, Ethnix by Raymond, ready-to-wear, Raymond Home and Raymond made-to-measure. His remit also covered retail marketing, digital marketing, consumer insights, visual merchandising and brand protection.
Before joining Raymond, Khanna was business head for the FMCG division at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, with full P&L responsibility. During this period, he scaled the snack brand Too Yumm!, drove rapid revenue growth, led the integration of Apricot Foods following its acquisition and executed a business turnaround.
Khanna’s career spans over three decades across global consumer companies, with senior leadership roles at Beam Suntory, Wrigley, PepsiCo, Cadbury and Nestlé.
Widely regarded as a seasoned marketing operator, Khanna is a familiar presence at leading industry forums and is considered among the most in-demand marketing leaders in the country.
