Purdys Chocolatier is combating seasonal loneliness with a new game.
In its latest campaign running until Christmas, the sweets retailer is introducing Reconnect Roulette, a scannable microsite that rewards people with a complimentary Purdys chocolate Hedgehogs three-pack when they send a text to someone they miss.
In the 90-second longform YouTube hero video, as well as in a 30-second TV spot, everyday Canadians wistfully recount people with whom they’ve lost contact. There are cutdowns on YouTube, TikTok and Meta, as well as influencer content.
“At Purdys Chocolatier, we believe our chocolate brings people together,” says Julia Cho, the company’s director of marketing. “This holiday season, we wanted to take this one step further by encouraging reconnection and heartfelt reunions.”
Cho tells strategy that a holiday campaign built around loneliness instead of a more positive feeling like camaraderie, cuts through the clutter of the holiday season.
“The risk of not taking a risk is that you’ve faded into the background and your content is not relevant,” Cho says.
The risks that Purdys likes to take with its holiday campaigns is something she attributes to the company’s agency partner, Rethink. Cho says the brand welcomes taking on new ideas in its campaigns like gamification or the brand’s first foray into a Cineplex media buy.
“It’s a sign we’re onto something interesting, new and fresh,” she says.
Cho says the retailer is honing in on who it is as a brand and what sets it apart, which she says is being a premium chocolatier and being one of the few companies of its size that makes chocolate in Vancouver.
The brand is going after 35 to 45 “memory maker” women who have gifts ready for multiple occasions, but Cho says she hopes its holiday campaign work resonates more broadly.
In order to connect with different segments, the company has done Diwali chocolate, as well as vegan offerings. Meanwhile, the hero spot also features a broad cross section of multicultural Canada.
The campaign follows a series of three November pop-ups in Western Canada that Purdys Chocolatier launched to further set the company apart.
