Cadbury - Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad
Cadbury approached Ogilvy Mumbai, needing to boost Cadbury Celebrations' market penetration and Diwali gifting revenue. The challenge was overcoming pandemic-induced inflation and decreased income. They wanted to revitalize community spirit and inspire generosity, aligning with Cadbury's core values, to drive sales and support local businesses during a tough economic period.
Creative Idea
Cadbury created AI-generated SRK ads for thousands of local small businesses.
Cadbury created personalized video ads featuring Shah Rukh Khan that promoted and supported local small businesses during the pandemic, turning their entire advertising budget into a platform for community support. By using AI and advanced technology, they generated hyper-localized ads that encouraged people to shop at specific neighborhood stores, ultimately helping small businesses survive during a challenging economic period.
The World's Most Famous Brand Ambassador for the Smallest Shops
Generative AI for Social Good
Long before the mainstream explosion of ChatGPT, this campaign served as a global proof of concept for Generative AI as a tool for social equity. To execute this, Rephrase.ai used machine learning to create digital avatars of Shah Rukh Khan, mapping his facial movements to thousands of different store names. Simultaneously, Respeecher cloned his voice to ensure the AI could "speak" the names of local shops with his signature tone and cadence. To maintain authenticity, Khan was filmed in five distinct avatars representing different retail categories: Fashion, Footwear, Electronics, Grocery (Kirana), and Optics.
Hyper-Localization at Scale
The production relied on DeltaX for Dynamic Creative Optimization, ensuring that viewers saw ads for shops located within their specific pin codes. Because it was impossible to pre-produce every variation, the team launched NotJustACadburyAd.com, a microsite where shopkeepers could input their own business names. This resulted in the creation of over 130,000 unique ads, effectively "gifting" a global superstar's likeness to mom - and - pop retailers who could never afford such an endorsement.
Impact Beyond the Screen
The campaign drove a 35% growth in sales for Cadbury Celebrations and generated 1.3 billion impressions. Much of its success was fueled by "dark social" - specifically WhatsApp - where local business owners shared their personalized SRK videos with customer groups. Sukesh Nayak, CCO of Ogilvy India, noted that the project represented "generosity at scale," while the industry recognized it as the most effective campaign in the world in the 2024 WARC rankings. It remains a landmark case study for how MarTech can humanize a brand during economic recovery.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Cadbury possesses a long-standing brand legacy of 'generosity' and a massive advertising budget featuring India’s biggest superstar, Shah Rukh Khan. They had the infrastructure to deploy AI-driven hyper-personalization at scale across thousands of distinct pin codes.
Category
Traditional festive gifting campaigns typically focus on high-budget, centralized commercials that drive traffic to major retailers or supermarkets. These norms usually prioritize brand-led emotional storytelling over direct, localized support for the small-scale retail ecosystem.
Customer
Post-pandemic consumers felt a deep sense of empathy for local shopkeepers who were devastated by lockdowns and inflation. They desired to support their neighborhood 'kirana' stores but lacked a structured way to turn that empathy into action during their holiday shopping.
Culture
The 'vocal for local' movement and the rapid digital transformation of small businesses created a unique zeitgeist. Technology like AI and WhatsApp became tools for social connection rather than just efficiency, allowing global stardom to feel hyper-local.
Company
Cadbury possesses a long-standing brand legacy of 'generosity' and a massive advertising budget featuring India’s biggest superstar, Shah Rukh Khan. They had the infrastructure to deploy AI-driven hyper-personalization at scale across thousands of distinct pin codes.
Category
Traditional festive gifting campaigns typically focus on high-budget, centralized commercials that drive traffic to major retailers or supermarkets. These norms usually prioritize brand-led emotional storytelling over direct, localized support for the small-scale retail ecosystem.
Strategy:
Gift the brand’s celebrity power to local retailers through AI to transform festive gifting into community-wide generosity.
Customer
Post-pandemic consumers felt a deep sense of empathy for local shopkeepers who were devastated by lockdowns and inflation. They desired to support their neighborhood 'kirana' stores but lacked a structured way to turn that empathy into action during their holiday shopping.
Culture
The 'vocal for local' movement and the rapid digital transformation of small businesses created a unique zeitgeist. Technology like AI and WhatsApp became tools for social connection rather than just efficiency, allowing global stardom to feel hyper-local.
Strategy:
Gift the brand’s celebrity power to local retailers through AI to transform festive gifting into community-wide generosity.
Results
Over 130,000 personalized ads created by local stores. Over 30+ Million ad views. ₹6 Million of free PR generated. 35% growth in business for participating small businesses. News outlets like CNN, Sky News, and Forbes recognized Shah Rukh Khan as 'the world's biggest movie star,' lending credibility and reach to the campaign's innovative approach. Positive social media sentiment with hashtags like #NotJustACadburyAd trending and posts calling the ad "beautiful" and "epic."
130000+
Total Ads Created
30M+
Ad Views
35%
Growth in Business
Strategy Technique
Turn Brand Values Into Action
Cadbury transformed its ad budget into direct support for local small businesses. This action proved its core values of generosity and community spirit, resonating deeply.
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Creative Technique
Customize and personalize
The campaign created hyper-localized, personalized video ads for thousands of small businesses. This leveraged AI to customize content, directly supporting local entrepreneurs.
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Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional for its groundbreaking application of AI and machine learning, actualizing a brilliant strategic idea to provide hyper-personalized celebrity endorsements to support local businesses.
The innovative use of machine learning to recreate Shah Rukh Khan's face and voice for dynamic insertion of specific local store names into the ad is the core technological marvel of the campaign.
The development of a seamless digital platform that allowed small business owners to easily create, customize, and share these AI-generated ads across social media channels demonstrates robust digital craftsmanship.
The campaign's magic truly came from the exceptional synergy between a powerful strategic idea, cutting-edge AI technology, and a well-executed digital platform for mass, hyper-local distribution.
