cadbury dairy milk case study

8/12/2019 CADBURY Dairy Milk Case Study

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CADBURY Dairy Milk Case study

On October 2003, just a month before Diwali, the Food and

Drug Administration Commissioner received complaints

about infestation in two bars of Cadbur Dair !il", Cadbur

#ndia$s flagship brand with over %0& mar"et share'

(e ordered an en)uir and went directl to the media with a

statement' Over the following 3*wee" period, resultant

adverse media coverage touched close to +000 clips in print

and +20 on - news channels'

A ver bad controvers blew up at the festival season in

2003 when the chocolates sales are at their pea", when the

compan was just have to shelve plans of becoming a major

sourcing hub for .ritish chocolates and beverages giantCadbur /chweppes'

As part of a global realignment of its suppl chain

management, the compan was giving finishing touches to a

plan that might have seen Cadbur #ndia emerge as a major

supplier of chocolates to the Asia*acific region and the

!iddle 1ast'

#n #ndia, where Cadbur is snonmous with chocolate, the

compan$s reputation and credibilit was under intense

scrutin' /ales volumes came down drasticall in the first +0

wee"s, which was the festival season retailer stoc"ing and


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displa dropped, emploee morale especiall that of the

sales team was sha"en

he challenge was to restore confidence in the key

stakeholders 4consumers, trade and emploees, particularl

the sales team5 and build back credibility for the corporate

brand through the same channels 4the media5 that had

)uestioned it'

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Marketing Challenges and Objectives

he incident came close on the heels of a cola controvers

where a scientific laborator declared colas unsafe due to

high levels of pesticide' he jur was still out on that issue

and so this incident ac)uired political overtones with parties

decring Cadbur as an irresponsible !8C' Andrea

Dawson* /hepherd, 9lobal Corporate Communication

Counsel, Cadbur /chweppes called it :the worst worm

infestation*related crisis anwhere in the world$'

he immediate objective was to get the following "e

messages across;

#nfestation could never occur at the manufacturing stage

he problem was storage lin"ed this without alienating trade

channels

Cadbur Dair !il" continued to be safe for consumption

he challenge was to restore confidence in the "e

sta"eholders 4trade and emploees, particularl


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salespersons5 and build bac" credibilit for the corporate

brand through the same channels 4the media5 that

)uestioned it'

trategy

#t was decided from the start to address the issue head*on

and ta"e whatever steps were necessar to restore

confidence' (aving historicall maintained a low profile with

the media and let its brands and its performance spea" for it,

the compan began to cultivate relationships with the media

and turn it into an all and a credible, independent endorserto rebuild sta"eholder confidence'

!hase "# !resenting Cadbury$s vie% &October'December ())*+

he da the crisis bro"e, the agenc set up a media des" to

ensure that no media )uer went unanswered' From Da +

ever stor carried Cadbur$s point of view'At the first media

briefing organised b the agenc, the Cadbur$s !anagingDirector addressed consumer concerns with the following

"e messages;

#nfestation is a storage lin"ed problem'

#t is safe to eat Cadbur chocolates'

Consumers must e


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A retail monitoring and education program underta"en on a

war footing to address storage problems'

/ignificant pac"aging changes to :reduce dependenc on

storage conditions as much as possible$ to be launched

within two months'

o communicate these significant changes the compan was

ma"ing, Cadbur brought in a brand ambassador to

reinforce the credibilit that the compan had demonstrated

through its actions' Amitabh .achchan, a legendar #ndian

film star, was chosen, as he embodied the values of

Cadbur as a brand and connected with all of #ndia

mothers, teenagers, children, media persons and trader

partners'

A media conference was organi=ed in !umbai to launch the

new pac"aging' And this was followed with press

conferences in cities worst affected b the crisis une and

8agpur in !aharashtra and Cochin in >erala'

#n these conferences, media persons were encouraged to

compare the old and new pac"s with an innovative

comparison "it and e


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had one*on*ones with the 1ditors of the Outreach program

initiated in 8ovember 2003'

Another audio visual with a message from the star was used

in a series of sales conferences to enthuse and reassure

salespersons' And this helped to rebuild confidence in the

salespersons to go and sell the product more convincingl

and confidentl to the trade' he announcement of the new

pac" was done through a testimonial advertisement on -

called :/incerit$' #t consciousl addressed the problem

head*on, with the superstar tal"ing straight into camera

about how before doing the ad he first convinced himselfabout the )ualit of Cadbur chocolates b visiting the

factor' Consumers respected the brand for not s"irting the

issue but ac"nowledging it and giving a solution to the

problem his was ublic 6elations using a - Commercial

to get "e messages across?

Results Media Coverage; he media relationship effort clearl

helped in ma"ing media accept that the infestation was

genuinel caused b storage*lin"ed problems' From the

start, all media reports carried the Cadbur$s point*of*view'

.ad news automaticall gets great coverage' (owever, the

agenc helped Cadbur get a total of 3%@ clips in over ++

languages covering the new pac"aging, and its benefits, in

anuar 200B' he .usiness oda clip is a tpical

representation of the changed media perception and a better

understanding of the problem over a three month period'


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ales; /ales volumes, which declined drasticall between

wee" + and wee" +0 of crisis, climbed bac" almost to the

pre*incident levels b wee"' within @ wee"s of introduction of

new pac"aging and communication' his is a clear reflectionof restoration of consumer and hence trade confidence in the

corporate brand

,mage;here was significant upward movement in ratings

amongst consumers on parameters li"e compan image,

responsiveness of compan and behavioral parameters li"e

intention to bu Cadbur chocolates' hile the new product

introduction and advertising had their role to pla in thechanging consumer perceptions, the media$s positive

coverage and the trade$s positive pre*disposition plaed a

huge part in helping Cadbur regain its reputation in the

mar"et'

he 6 department of Cadbur$s plaed a ver effective

role in managing the reputation and "eeping up the goodwill

of the compan'

cadbury dairy milk case study

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