Chocolate for that special man in your life. Photo / Supplied
Want a sweet way to show someone close how much you care by sharing a specially dedicated block of chocolate?
Or give a mate a lasting taste of your gratitude for their good deeds with a unique message stamped on a gift pack of beer?
A new wave of personalised advertising sweeping New Zealand caters to a desire for product connection, experts say.
And also an expectation by a "selfie generation" of consumers to feel unique.
Cadbury has launched a nationwide six-week, 28-stop "Share the Taste" tour, giving out stickers with printed messages – such as mum, dad, BFF – and blocks of Dairy Milk chocolate for them to go on.
People were loving the personalised treats, said Mikaela Street, account manager for public relations agency Acumen Republic, on behalf of Cadbury.
"They're putting a sticker on their chocolate. Going away, immediately taking a picture of it, opening it, taking a bite."
By Tuesday, after stops in Tauranga and Whakatane, some 16,352 samples had been given out, she said.
Speight's Cheers Beers campaign, opened on May 28, lets customers personalise the labels of a dozen Speight's beers and add a thank you message. The beers are packed in a gift box and sent around the country.
Geoff Kidd, senior brand manager Speight's, said the response had been awesome.
Every day but one, daily orders sold out. They were limited to 250 cases to extend the campaign till June 26.
"It's just been such a snowball," Kidd said. "As soon as people have got them and other people see them, they're just straight online ordering more."
Some weren't even going to drink them. "They just want to hold on to all 12."
Requested messages included:
• Thanks for everything, Dad, you're a legend
• Thanks for helping us shift ... again
• For being the best bro ever
• Cheers for the firewood
Speight's had seen a significant uplift in sales since the launch of the campaign, Kidd said.
Auckland University senior marketing lecturer Dr Mike Lee said personalised ad campaigns appealed to a need "to feel unique, to be able to define your identity through brands".
"The more personalised you can make it, the more exclusive you feel."
Having your name or a message on a product doesn't change the product, Lee said. "But it's enough to differentiate the brand from another brand that isn't offering that customised experience."
It also spoke to the idea of people taking selfies. "The whole point of a selfie is not to take a photo for yourself, it's to take a photo of yourself for others.
"Nobody takes a selfie unless they're going to post it. So it all falls into the same psychology of wanting to stand out, wanting to be special, feel a bit exclusive."
Regan Grafton, executive creative director at international advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather, said personalising a product with a name was very effective.
"They say the most important word to somebody is their own name. Hearing your own name or seeing your name really jumps out at you."
And connecting a customer to a product was powerful.
"Anything that involves the consumer participating with the brand means that they'll be more connected to it."
Coca Cola's global campaign several years ago, in which cans and bottles had names printed on them, had been well received by the public, he said.
In 2014, it was reported Instagram had been swamped with people posting more than 500,000 photos with the hashtag #share coke. One man was said to have arranged a collection of the bottles to propose to his girlfriend.
Grafton said the personalised ad campaigns in New Zealand would appeal to a wide age range, including the selfie generation. "That sort of generation almost expects a bit more of brands to be able to be more involved with them."
The Cadbury Share the Taste road trip will be in Blenheim and Kaikoura on June 25. It will end in Christchurch on World Chocolate Day on July 7.
sharethetaste.co.nz/
Goods to be shipped from China and Malaysia mainly, but also other parts of the world.