Green and Black's: Velvet Edition

So who’s a fan or chocolate?

Silly question, but who likes dark chocolate?

Me neither! Well not usually and probably for the same reason as everyone else, dark chocolate just isn’t sweet enough. It’s too bitter. This is probably the dilemma that high-end chocolate brand Green and Black’s, renowned for their rich dark chocolate, faced.

To expand their consumer demographic Green and Black’s released their new Velvet Edition range. Keeping to the same 70% cocoa content the new range is intended to taste much lighter than first perceived losing that stereotypical bitter taste of a dark chocolate bar.

For anyone following me on Instagram you would have seen that I took one for the team and did a little research of my own.

Ok, so we understand the brief and the product but how did they promote it you ask?

‘Not everything is as dark as it seems’, brilliant!

Let’s not lie, we were hooked into this menacing take on Little Red Riding Hood. Drawing us in with this beautiful take on the Delfonic’s Ready or Not Here I come by Hazel Tratt Mcgarrybowen really knew what they were doing. The song assists the whole story adding to the real-life Red Riding Hood being chased down by wolves then adding to the playfulness of this innocent game of hide and seek.

Triggered by that snap of chocolate the sound design is impeccable all the way through. Pushing the audience to feel a sense of anxiety at the beginning with the focus on breathing and running. Then when we see the girl in the video surrounded the song becomes more prominent while focusing in on the wolves growl. The tone is soon changed with a sigh and grin of the girl as she starts counting. The sound design by this point has led the audience to feel anxious and with that power, it ends by including the audience in this playful feeling.

Changing our perceptions of this tale we know so well changes our perceptions of dark chocolate. That’s the point anyway. It may not really change our perceptions but it will at least spark that curiosity compelling us to buy from the Velvet Edition range and see for ourselves, as it clearly did for me. Are you tempted to give it a try?

How does this TVC work so well?

First of all, when did you first know this was a Green and Black’s advert? We are shown a bar of the Green and Black’s 2 seconds into the TVC. Our attention is soon taken away from this and with a snap or a distant twig, we are sucked into the story. The TVC soon turns into one of those adverts you have no idea what it is trying to sell you till at the end.

This might be seen as a bad thing to most brands. Not coming across as shoving your product down your consumer’s throat will stop you from seeming too ‘salesy’ and keep them watching.

As I’ve mentioned in my previous posts story goes a long way for various reasons. We’ve had stories we can relate to, stories we sympathise with and stories that make a cause human rather than just another cause. In this case, the story entertains us, gripping us and then makes you laugh at yourself in the end. Stories are always remembered more than just the product, especially those with a touch of nostalgia bringing the inner child out. Green and Black’s aren’t the only ones to bring a twist of Red Riding Hood to our screens, remember Kevin?

I doubt it’s not just me when I say another reason this TVC works so well is due to the brilliant sound design and this catchy song that can stay in our heads all day too.

I hope you have enjoyed my brief look into Green and Black’s Velvet Edition TVC. As always, I would love to see your comments below and I’m always up for a discussion on any of my blog topics if you want to drop me a message via LinkedIn or Instagram. Were you tempted to give dark chocolate another chance?