A campaign for Dairy Milk featuring a gorilla playing the drum track on Phil Collins’s hit In the Air Tonight has done more than merely raise the profile of the veteran singer among a younger audience.

Cadbury Schweppes, bedevilled by a salmonella scare, under fire from unions over job cuts in the UK and under pressure from the activist investor Nelson Peltz, said yesterday that the advert had given sales at its confectionery business a timely lift.

Cadbury Schweppes raised forecasts for its confectionery business, saying that revenue at the division would increase more than 6 per cent this year, beating its forecast, on higher sales of chocolate in Britain and chewing gum in the United States.

Todd Stitzer, the group’s chief executive, said that an increase in marketing spend had boosted sales, with the gorilla advert at the centre of the growth story.

Although first released as a television commercial, Cadbury’s £6.2 million campaign, centred around the advert directed by Juan Cabral of the advertising agency Fallon London, has become a huge internet hit. It has had seven million viewings on YouTube, and users of the video-sharing website have made about 100 spoofs.

Mr Stitzer told The Times that he planned to increase the group’s marketing budget next year, investing heavily on viral internet campaigns, digital marketing and traditional advertising in an attempt to further invigorate well-known brands and relaunch lesser-known products.

Unlike Crunchie and Flake bars, Dairy Milk has not always attracted a younger consumer and Cadbury wanted to create an advert enjoyable enough to tap into that market.

It is understood that Fallon is working on a follow-up to the gorilla campaign.

“For people over 35, television advertising is often more effective. Digital advertising and viral campaigns are often the best way of reaching younger groups,” Mr Stitzer said.

He added that a successful relaunch of the Wispa chocolate bar through viral advertising has also improved the fortunes of the British business. Cadbury has sold more than 20 million Wispa bars in Britain since they returned to the shelves in the first week of October after a four-year absence.

The recovery of Cadbury’s British chocolate business comes after a salmonella outbreak last year, for which the company was fined £1 million in July.

While Cadbury Schweppes said that sales would rise, it said that the price of materials, such as dairy products, energy and aluminium for packaging, would increase by 5 per cent next year and would lead to higher prices for consumers.

Mr Stitzer refused to comment in detail on the activities of Mr Peltz, who increased his stake yesterday to 4.5 per cent in the confectionery group through Trian, his investment vehicle. Pressure from Mr Peltz prompted Cadbury to put its American soft drinks unit up for sale in March. Cadbury has said since that it would demerge the drinks business by the second of quarter next year. The Qatar Investment Authority, which recently pulled out of a £10.6 billion bid for J Sainsbury, is backing Mr Peltz.

Mr Stitzer said: “We are a vibrant and dynamic company and people looking for investment are interested in our company. It is no surprise that Trian and Qatar are investors.”

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