The ads form part of the overall Christmas strategy for the brand and support a 40-second spot showing how blissed-out women become after they have received a box of Thorntons. The strapline from last year, "Perfection in confection", is retained.
The ten-second ads were planned and written to build frequency to the campaign, and create a call to action around the crucial Christmas selling period, according to the Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy board account director, Michael Pring. They break on 17 December and run from "eight days to go" until "three days to go". Three radio ads will also run to support the television work.
Media was planned by MCBD and bought by Starcom Motive, which won the account in August from PHD. MCBD's media director, Hal Pearson, commented: "Using TV alongside radio gives the campaign a multiplier effect and allows us to reach a wider target audience. The £2 million campaign has also been upweighted in areas where high sales are expected."
Pring added: "The countdown ads add to the build-up before Christmas. There's been a trend in the past few years for consumers to do their Christmas shopping later and this campaign taps into this, focusing attention on the product during the last crucial days of purchasing."
The ad was written and art directed by Jeremy Carr at MCBD and directed by Peter Thwaites at Gorgeous.
