Candy manufacturer Cadbury is making mobile an integral part of its colossal Spots and Stripes campaign with an initiative that involves augmented reality, social media and applications.

Spots and Stripes is a two-year campaign that Cadbury is running leading up to the 2012 London Olympics. According to the company, mobile is an aspect that is carefully considered with every campaign and has been an increasing focus in the past few years as it has seen more consumers using mobile devices.

?Our strategy has always been that we try to be at the leading edge of technology with our campaigns,? said Sonia Carter, head of digital at Kraft Foods, London.

?However, we never do something with technology to just do it ? it has to make sense with our brand and the specific campaign,? she said.

Cadbury is a division of Kraft Foods. The company?s line of chocolates is available in more than 30 countries and claims to generate more than $1 billion in sales every year.

Pack on mobile
Cadbury is using the blippar app to bring a new dimension to its product packaging.

Consumers can download the free app from Apple?s App Store or Google?s Android Market.

Blippar uses augmented reality to automatically detect a Cadbury product.

The candy bar then jumps to life with graphics and sounds.

The app springs open to a game where ducks pop out of the candy bar.

Users then have 30 seconds to tap as many ducks as possible to rack up points.

Once the game ends, consumers can share their score on social networks including Facebook and Twitter to automatically be entered to win prizes, including tickets to the London Olympics and prize packs.

The blippar app works on a variety of the company?s products, including the Dairy Milk, Crunchie and Twist chocolate bars.

The app automatically detects the product consumers are holding

?The goal behind the Spots and Stripes campaign is to encourage the nation to play and make up their own games, and this app helped us push that message to our consumers,? Ms. Carter said.

Sweet and simple
Cadbury?s focus is to make mobile simple and easy for consumers who use their products while on the go.

Using an app that taps into augmented reality and rich features is a well-planned move, but what is most interesting about the company?s use of the blippar app is that it does not involve a QR code or bar code reader.

QR codes are an effective way for companies to elevate their brand, but can also be tricky for consumers to use since they involve downloading an app.

Additionally, this Cadbury mobile effort is interesting from an advertising standpoint because the brand is able to scale down a big campaign with a mindless, easy game.

By using augmented reality, companies can hook consumers with an interactive experience that links back to the brand.

?Mobile is playing an increasing role in our campaigns,? Ms. Carter said. ?We also plan to adapt our campaigns to consumer behavior in the future.? 

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York