W+K Amsterdam Brings Idyllic Alpine Tales to Life for New Milka Campaign

Milka, the world’s most tender melting chocolate, has revealed its new global brand platform – Tenderness is inside, which launches today with a pan-European campaign. 

In March 2015 Mondelez International appointed Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam as global creative lead for Milka’s advertising. Milka continues to be an iconic brand, and W+K were brought in to raise that bar even higher.

Following a decision from Milka to refocus on their fundamental brand essence, a new global brand platform unites Milka’s communication efforts in Europe, EEMEA & LATAM.  In what can be seen as a bold move from the brand, for the first time ever, Milka’s two key product categories for Milka Biscuits and Chocolate will now share positioning on a single platform of communication.

The platform, Tenderness is inside, focuses on bringing the brand essence of Milka to life in the form of the idealistic, idyllic hometown, Lilaberg.

Lilaberg is the breathtakingly beautiful backdrop to all Tenderness is inside Alpine fables. It’s a world where everyone is as kind as kind can be, air is a little cleaner, the sky a little bluer and where the extraordinary is never unexpected when the magic of Milka is there to bring people together.

This new brand platform launches with two spots - The Strong Man and The Biscuit Jar. Each film is full of Milka Tenderness and speaks from the core of the brand.

For chocolate the 90-second TVC, The Strongman, follows the charming story of a small boy who receives a much needed confidence boost through the tender act of his personal hero — proving there really is tenderness inside us all. 

While 60-second, The Biscuit Jar, for the biscuits category tells the story of Georgie, a young girl, who discovers a magical biscuit jar, who just happens to look exactly like her Grandpa.  This spot introduces new loveable Milka animated biscuit jar characters, who of course, love Milka Biscuits — after all who knows biscuits better than a biscuit jar? 

Karine Chik, Global Milka Equity Director, says: "We are delighted about the new global platform; in an iconic way it refreshes our brand by leveraging what has made us famous for 115 years - the purity and authenticity of Milka's Alpine world and tenderness, our brand purpose. The new 'Tenderness is inside' positioning is a wonderful canvas for engaging our consumers all over the globe with stories of genuine human emotion. And melting Milka chocolate is at the heart of each one.

Our challenge was to launch Milka's first global campaign across all product categories, and we're very proud of the result, one which we believe will give us more consistency in the use of our assets and maximize the brand's ROI."

Daniel Schaefer and Szymon Rose, W+K Amsterdam Creative Directors, say: “We are incredibly excited to bring this new brand world to life. Having grown up in Germany Milka has always been very close to our hearts. Our aim is to fill this fictional world with characters that feel absolutely natural and authentic. We want to tell stories that everyone can relate to and that capture a very specific, nostalgic feeling that still lives within all of us.”

The campaign is out now in Central and Eastern Europe and will roll out in all global markets later in the year.

The TVCs will be further supported by a digital and in-store activation rolling out later this month, which will help consumers experience and engage with Milka biscuits across all channels: from in-store POB, to YouTube pre-rolls.