cadbury ad case study

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'I was basically told: you are never showing this' – how we made Cadbury's Gorilla ad

The ad, named by Marketing magazine as the nation’s all-time favourite, was initially shot down by execs but drummed up a significant return on investment

A brand needs to go to the heart and not to the brain. Gorilla is – in those 90 seconds – trying to take you somewhere. Juan Cabral, ad director

The idea of a gorilla sitting in an empty rehearsal studio, playing the drums to Phil Collins’s 1981 hit In the Air Tonight came to Argentinian director Juan Cabral fully-formed. However, he wasn’t thinking about chocolate at the time; he was on the set of another advert, shooting the breeze with members of the crew while they waited for the rain to clear so they could get their shot. The discussion turned to the greatest drum solos of all time and … bingo.

“We finished the shoot and I got back to the hotel and wrote down a paragraph. The next day I wrote it fully, all the camera moves and everything,” Cabral recalls. He talked to colleagues about turning the idea into a short film. But before that could happen, Cadbury approached Fallon London , where Cabral was creative director, with an unusual brief.

“The whole business had become quite earnest and serious, when in fact it’s chocolate and should be more about things such as Willy Wonka,” remembers Phil Rumbol, director of marketing at the company at the time. “The brief I gave the agency was: Eating Cadbury’s chocolate makes you feel good.”

Fallon pitched “Gorilla” a week later, in March 2007, and Rumbol loved it.

The trouble was, hardly anyone else did.

Rekindling the love

“When I saw it with my team, there was an instinctive and immediate reaction that it hit the brief in terms of making people feel something. When I then shared it with my superiors, it’s fair to say they thought I was mad. They said: ‘Let’s get this right. You want to make an ad that’s three times longer than a normal ad, has got no Cadbury’s chocolate in it and there’s no message?’”

What Cabral describes as the “randomness” of the ad is something that consumers are very used to today. But 2007 was a different time and in the wake of a costly salmonella scare the previous year that led Cadbury to recall more than a million chocolate bars, the company was understandably nervous about doing anything that might further endanger the brand.

Rumbol, confident the ad could “rekindle the love” among consumers, commissioned it and set about persuading his colleagues, while Cabral got to work.

On the hunt for gorillas

The director went on the hunt for an animatronic gorilla costume that would be realistic enough to give the “documentary” feel for which he was looking. The advert was written very seriously, he says: “Watching it, you know it’s a joke, but there’s 60 seconds where nothing happens – just a gorilla and Phil Collins.”

A lot of the gorillas they saw were terrible and with computer-generated imagery (CGI) still in its relative infancy, there wasn’t much margin for error when it came to the costume itself. The director finally found what he was looking for at Stan Winston Studio in Hollywood, a company with success on films including Predator, Jurassic Park and Aliens.

There was a very promising gorilla costume knocking around that had appeared in the 1995 film Congo . It was female, but they beefed up the chest to get the look they wanted and added distinctive details such as the gold tooth you see when the gorilla grimaces at the camera for getting too close.

The next question was: who goes inside it? “You don’t see anything with those suits, so you have to just learn the scene,” says Cabral. They hired Garon Michael, an actor with experience in costume work, but not drumming. He practised the Phil Collins solo endlessly to get the right sense of a creature that – as Cabral describes – “has been waiting for this moment all its life”.

Filming took one day, editing another two. The final ad was presented to the client just over a month after it was commissioned. “I was basically told: ‘You are never showing this ad’,” says Rumbol. But he persevered and after four months got his way – Gorilla was aired during the finale of the eighth series of Big Brother , on 31 August 2007.

Sweet success

The response from the public was overwhelmingly positive. The ad went viral, watched by millions on YouTube and inspiring parodies from the likes of Wonderbra, The Mighty Boosh and Children in Need. It won a clutch of awards, including the top prize at Cannes Lions , the advertising industry’s biggest celebration, in 2008.

It was successful in commercial terms too, prompting a sales bump of 10%. It’s a point that Rumbol is keen to stress: “Everyone celebrated it creatively. What gets talked about less is how effective it was from a business point of view. Having persuaded the people at Cadbury to do the ad, the return on investment was three times the normal level.”

Neither Cabral nor Rumbol will be drawn on the legacy of Gorilla; the advert’s surreal feel has been the subject of much imitation over the years. What is clear though is that Cabral couldn’t have made the ad any other way.

“You have to go out and flirt and seduce. You need to feel like there’s humanity there. If you feel there’s a corporation, the outcome is terrible,” he says. “The stuff that makes you send it to your friends, usually it’s because there’s somebody that looks like they were having fun.”

Director: Juan Cabral, Fallon London Companies involved: Cadbury (brand), Fallon (agency) and Blink Productions (production company) Length of the project: two months Permissions: Phil Collins: In the Air Tonight, Effectsound/Hit & Run Music (publishers)

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ADVERTISING

Cadbury • Mondeléz

Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad (case study)

Agencies: Ogilvy • Ogilvy Mumbai

Description

Gifting was the fastest-growing segment until the pandemic, and Diwali gifting alone contributes nearly 50% of Cadbury Celebrations' annual revenue. However, the second wave brought challenges in the form of inflation, reduced opportunities, and lower pay. Challenge How can we increase the brand’s penetration against socio-economic headwinds? Solution Go back to our intrinsic purpose of generosity, rooted in Cadbury’s founding values to rescue it from the grip of a self-centeredness pandemic. Insight Our research showed us that when people helped each other, they felt more connected and together. We saw this at the height of the Covid outbreak when people helped each other find hospitals, oxygen cylinders, and care for the children and elderly. The shared adversity created an outpouring of empathy and generosity and unlocked an incredible sense of community. Strategy Renew the sense of community by evoking empathy. Turn Celebrations marketing into an act of unexpected generosity to rescue the business and brand from the grip of a self-centeredness pandemic. Idea To nudge kindness and inspire generosity, we set an example by gifting our entire advertising budget and our Celebrity brand ambassador to promote small businesses; lending them a helping hand, in their hour of need. Execution Imagine how millions of Indians felt when Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) - the world’s biggest movie star asked them to shop at the store around the corner by its name. Imagine how small local store owners felt to have SRK be their brand ambassador. By leveraging data, AI, machine learning, and geo-targeting, we made this possible. We created hyper-personalized SRK-My-Ads for every store - not a dozen, not hundreds but tens and thousands with SRK encouraging purchases from specific local stores close to the user. The campaign covered 500+ pin codes and was launched on YouTube and amplified on Meta platforms simultaneously. Since we couldn’t cover all stores, we created a website NotJustACadburyAd.com – empowering users to create their own versions of the ad, for their business, or for a neighborhood store and share it on their WhatsApp groups and social media feeds.

This professional campaign titled 'Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad (case study) ' was published in India in June, 2023. It was created for the brands: Cadbury and Mondeléz, by ad agencies: Ogilvy and Ogilvy Mumbai. This Content, Digital, and Direct media campaign is related to the Confectionery, Snacks industry and contains 1 media asset. It was submitted 10 months ago by LLLLITL.

Brand: Cadbury (Mondelez). Advertising Agency: Ogilvy Mumbai (India). PR: Ogilvy Mumbai (India). Production: Pack Films Mumbai ; Deltax Bangalore ; Rephrase.AI Bangalore. Media: Wavemaker. Ogilvy Mumbai Chief Creative Officer, India: Sukesh Nayak. Chief Creative Officer, India: Kainaz Karmakar. Chief Creative Officer, India: Harshad Rajadhyaksha. Chief Creative Officer, India, Copywriter: Sukesh Nayak. Senior Executive Creative Director, Copywriter: Neville Shah. Group Creative Director, Copywriter: Hemant Sharma. Senior Creative Director, Art Director: Sagar Jadhav. Head Of Strategic Planning, Ogilvy Mumbai: Ganapathy Balagopalan. Senior Vice President – Planning: Bhakti Malik. Planning Director: Prasidh Dalvi. Senior Planner: Anushka Mukherjee. President & Head of Office, Ogilvy Gurugram: Prakash Nair. President and Head of Office, Mumbai and Kolkata: Hirol Gandhi. Senior Vice President: Antara Mitra. Client Services Director: Parshuram Mendekar. Group Account Manager: Smita Sodhia. Managing Director: Anil Viswanathan. Vice President, Marketing, India: Nitin Saini. Cadbury (Mondelez) Category Manager: Varun Peety. Consumer Experience Lead – India & Bangladesh: Anjali Krishnan. Consumer Experience Manager: Yash Desai. Wavemaker Chief Client Officer & Office Head, West: Shekhar Banerjee. General Manager: Naina Shewakramani. Client Partner: Harsha Vardhan Desireddy. General Manager: Brajesh Dwivedi. Client Leader - Digital Client Leadership: Adhir Anand. Delivery Leader: Apeksha Dhuri. Associate Business Director - Digital Planning: Monika Solanki. Business Director: Pratik Dawda. Consumer Journey Activation Lead: Rupesh Shah. Director of Innovation - IMC: Chintan Thakker.

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Cadbury: from Gorilla to Generosity  /

In an excerpt from a Contagious Magazine article, Elliot Leavy investigates how Cadbury moved from its joy positioning to ads rooted in generosity

Contagious Team

Cadbury finished 2019 strong, regaining its crown as the UK’s biggest food/drink brand.

According to Nielsen data published in The Grocer this week, Mondelēz-owned Cadbury was the largest grocery brand in the UK in the period ending 31 December 2019.

It was also the UK’s fastest-growing brand, doubling the increase that second-place Pepsi managed.

Speaking to the trade publication, Mondelēz marketing activation director Claire Low attributed the strong performance to core growth, new products, and ‘communications and marketing initiatives’.

In the latest issue of Contagious Magazine , writer Elliot Leavy investigates in-depth how Cadbury, with the help of its agency VCCP, moved out of the shadow of its famous Gorilla ad by revisiting its roots as a brand based on generosity. Read an excerpt below.

Raising the Bar: an excerpt from Contagious Magazine issue 62  /

The success of Gorilla (created by Fallon in 2007), which depicted an ape rocking out to the tune of Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’ had got Cadbury hooked on campaigns that failed to reflect the brand. Gorilla, entrusted with restoring faith in the brand following a salmonella scare, led to a 10% increase in sales and propelled Collins’ track back into the music charts. In 2018, Marketing Week reported how, a decade after it was released, 76% of people remembered that it was an ad for Cadbury despite not featuring any chocolate at all. As a result, Gorilla had a paradoxical effect on the brand’s future marketing. As Ben Wicks, Cadbury’s global brand director, explains, Cadbury became ‘fixated’ on finding the next Gorilla rather than conveying what Cadbury was about.

Fallon’s follow-up films – Trucks in 2008 (featuring vehicles racing to Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’) and Eyebrows in 2009 (showing two children and their dancing eyebrows) – continued in the absurdist style pioneered by Gorilla. And Cadbury’s advertising gradually shifted even further from its original values and into the broader theme of joy.

In 2012, Cadbury officially adopted ‘Joy’ as its official positioning and launched the Joyville campaign, which depicted a magical place where Dairy Milk was made (with no mention of Bournville). Though ‘joy’ was initially touted as Cadbury’s creative platform for the next decade, it was scrapped six years later. As Darren Bailes, executive creative director at VCCP (which was appointed as Cadbury’s global creative lead in June 2017), bemoans: ‘The brand had got away from what we had all grown up with: it had become novelty, jazz-hands, with a single note of fake optimism – joy. It had become plasticised.’

Cadbury had become ‘category generic’ as other confectionery brands continued to go big or downright bizarre in their campaigns. Amid Snickers’ You’re Not You When You’re Hungry spots and Twix’s strange sibling rivalry in ‘Left Twix or Right Twix’ (both from BBDO New York), Cadbury was getting lost in the noise.

Crunchie time  /

A hard reset was needed. ‘The brand wasn’t doing well, brand health metrics were down and the connection between “Glass and a Half” and taste was missing,’ says Wicks. ‘We weren’t tapping into the richness of the Cadbury story with the joy concept.’

Kantar’s NeedScope, an emotional positioning score, reflected this disconnect. Cadbury, Wicks explains, is a brand that scores as ‘belonging’, replicating the feeling of ‘a warm hug or positive connection’. Yet for a decade, Cadbury’s advertising had been hitting the ‘vitality’ mark, ‘high energy, carefree and individualistic’. The all-singing, all-jiving nature of its advertising was jarring with how the public perceived the brand. Finally, explains Sophie Kerbegian, joint head of planning at VCCP, ‘The Mondelēz team realised that they had something very special and that they hadn’t been treating it with quite the respect that it deserved.’

Bournville again  /

Harking back to its Quaker origins, Cadbury created a brief centred on the spirit of generosity. ‘We thought this was an interesting way to bring the brand back to the idea of connection,’ says Wicks, ‘but even more so, this was a great manifestation of the central Cadbury idea of a “Glass and a Half”.’

Today, there’s this global cultural backdrop that everything and everyone is terrible,’ says Kerbegian. ‘But actually, when you scratch below the surface, there are small acts of kindness and generosity that no one is talking about or nobody sees.’ These low-key acts of kindness, inspired by the Cadbury of old, would lay the foundations of a new creative platform, which became known as ‘generous instinct’. ‘We defined it as an act of generosity that had a meaning greater than its value,’ says Kerbegian.

With the new creative platform in mind, the task was to now reflect it in the advertising...

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Password reminder, case study: cadbury gorilla.

Client : Cadbury  Agency : Fallon Award : Black & Yellow Pencils, TV & Cinema Advertising, D&AD Awards 2008

Cadbury Dairy Milk has been around for over a century and is nothing short of a national treasure, enjoyed by young and old alike. But no brand, no matter how popular, comfortable or comforting, can ever afford to stand still. ‘We sensed from all the research we were doing that, although people were still talking about their love for Dairy Milk, it felt a bit passive,’ explains Lee Rolston, Cadbury’s director of marketing for block chocolate and beverages.

‘It’s a bit like the comfy sweater you keep at the back of the wardrobe that you’ll never throw out but you start wearing less and less.’ Keen to reinvigorate the brand, Cadbury approached Fallon London in March 2007 with a clear, concise brief: ‘Get the love back’. The resulting Cadbury Gorilla TV advertising campaign cleaned up at numerous international advertising and design awards and secured itself both a D&AD Yellow Pencil and a D&AD Black Pencil at the  D&AD Awards . 

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Cadbury Marketing Strategy: A Case Study

• February 1, 2024

Cadbury marketing strategy – Cadbury , the renowned multinational confectionery brand, has been delighting chocolate lovers for nearly two centuries with its wide range of delectable treats. From the iconic Dairy Milk chocolate bars to biscuits, cakes, and beverages, Cadbury has established itself as a global leader in the confectionery industry. 

But what sets Cadbury apart from its competitors? It’s their carefully crafted and successful marketing strategy. In this article, we will explore the key ingredients that make up Cadbury marketing strategy recipe for sweet success.

Read More : 7 Coca Cola Marketing Strategy 2024 – A Case Study

The Origins of Cadbury: A Chocolate Revolution

Cadbury’s journey began in 1824 when Quaker John Cadbury started selling tea, coffee, and drinking chocolate in Birmingham, England. His passion for chocolate led him to create a heavenly chocolate drink that soon gained popularity. 

As the business grew, Cadbury expanded its offerings and started producing chocolate bars. With the introduction of their first chocolate bar in 1849, Cadbury began its chocolate revolution.

Building a Strong Brand Identity

Cadbury marketing strategy – One of the essential elements of Cadbury marketing strategy is its strong brand identity. The Cadbury logo, with its vibrant purple background and bold typography, represents the brand’s simplicity, accessibility, and timelessness. 

It instantly captures the attention of consumers and creates a sense of familiarity and trust. Cadbury has also introduced a limited-edition golden logo, symbolizing exclusivity and elegance for their premium products.

Product Mix: Catering to Every Sweet Tooth

Cadbury marketing strategy – Cadbury’s product mix is diverse, offering something for every sweet tooth. From their classic Dairy Milk bars to a wide range of candies, gums, biscuits, and beverages, Cadbury has a treat for everyone. 

They continuously innovate and develop new flavors and products to cater to different market segments and meet the rising tastes and preferences of consumers. Cadbury’s product range includes iconic brands like Bournville, Eclairs, Oreo, Perk, and Dairy Milk Silk.

Pricing Strategy: Balancing Affordability and Luxury

Cadbury’s pricing strategy is carefully balanced to cater to a wide range of consumers. They offer products at various price points, ensuring affordability for cost-conscious consumers while also providing luxury experiences for those willing to indulge. 

Cadbury employs different pricing strategies, including skimming pricing for premium products like Cadbury Silk and economy pricing for mass-market favorites like Dairy Milk. Bundle pricing is also utilized during holiday seasons to offer value packs and attract more customers.

Extensive Distribution Network: Reaching Every Corner

Cadbury marketing strategy – Cadbury’s extensive distribution network plays a vital role in its global success. With production facilities in multiple countries and sales offices in major cities, Cadbury ensures its products are available in urban and rural areas alike. 

Their chocolates can be found in supermarkets, corner shops, and grocers worldwide. Additionally, Cadbury embraces e-commerce, making its products easily accessible through online platforms. Wholesalers, distributors, and vending machines also contribute to Cadbury’s wide reach.

Promotion: Creating a Sweet Connection

Cadbury marketing strategy revolves around creating an emotional connection with consumers. They employ various advertising techniques to showcase their products, using print and television advertisements to capture the attention of chocolate lovers. 

Cadbury also leverages social media platforms to engage with their audience, sharing enticing images and videos of their chocolates. They run campaigns that evoke nostalgia, celebrate festivals, and promote sharing sweet moments with loved ones.

Public Relations and Sponsorships: Supporting Causes and Celebrations

In addition to traditional advertising, Cadbury utilizes public relations and sponsorships to build its brand reputation and connect with its target audience. They sponsor events like music festivals and sporting competitions, associating their brand with joyful experiences.

Cadbury has also partnered with NGOs to support social causes and recognize unsung heroes. By aligning with these initiatives, Cadbury reinforces its commitment to corporate social responsibility and strengthens its bond with consumers.

Sales Promotion: Tempting Customers with Sweet Deals

Cadbury marketing strategy – Cadbury employs various sales promotion strategies to entice customers and boost sales. They offer discounts, coupons, and competitions to create excitement and incentivize purchases. 

Special promotions like “buy one, get one free” and seasonal offers during holidays attract customers and encourage them to indulge in Cadbury’s delicious treats. These sales promotions not only drive sales but also create a sense of urgency and exclusivity.

Innovation and Research: Sweet Surprises for Every Occasion

Cadbury’s dedication to innovation and research ensures that they constantly surprise their customers with new products and flavors. Their research and development team is constantly experimenting with new ingredients and packaging to create unique and exciting chocolate experiences. 

Cadbury introduces limited-edition products to celebrate festivals and occasions, catering to the evolving tastes and preferences of their consumers.

Building Strong Partnerships: Collaborations for Success

Cadbury marketing strategy – Cadbury understands that success is not achieved alone. They forge partnerships with other businesses to expand their market reach and create unique offerings. 

Collaborations with celebrities, sports teams, and other brands help Cadbury tap into new audiences and create buzz around their products. 

By leveraging the reputation and influence of their partners, Cadbury strengthens its brand presence and builds stronger relationships with consumers.

Digital Marketing Strategy

In the digital age, Cadbury recognizes the importance of a strong online presence. They harness the power of social media platforms to engage with their audience and foster a sense of community. 

Cadbury’s social media accounts feature mouthwatering images, interactive campaigns, and behind-the-scenes glimpses, keeping their followers eagerly anticipating new releases and promotions. 

By actively responding to comments and messages, Cadbury ensures that their customers feel valued and connected.

International Expansion: Spreading Sweetness Worldwide

Cadbury marketing strategy – Cadbury’s global success can be attributed to its expansion into international markets. With production operations in multiple countries and products available in over 50 nations, Cadbury has become a household name worldwide. 

They adapt their marketing strategies to suit different cultural preferences and consumer behaviors, ensuring that their products resonate with local audiences. 

Cadbury’s international presence has helped them gain a diverse customer base and establish themselves as a leader in the confectionery industry.

Read More : 9 Burger King Marketing Strategy – Case Study

Cadbury marketing strategy is a carefully crafted recipe that has contributed to its enduring success. From building a strong brand identity to offering a diverse product mix, employing effective pricing strategies, and leveraging extensive distribution networks, Cadbury has created a sweet connection with consumers worldwide. 

Their promotional efforts, partnerships, and commitment to innovation further differentiate them from their competitors. With a strong online presence and international expansion, Cadbury continues to satisfy sweet tooths everywhere, spreading joy and sweetness one chocolate at a time.

Gerard Jovian Brand

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Cadbury Crisis Management Case Study: Preserving Trust in Times of Crisis

In the realm of beloved chocolate brands, Cadbury has long held a cherished place in the hearts and taste buds of consumers worldwide.

However, even the most esteemed companies are not immune to crises that can pose significant threats to their reputation.

Effective crisis management becomes paramount in such moments, serving as the linchpin in preserving brand equity and consumer trust.

In this blog post, we delve into the realm of Cadbury’s crisis management, exploring a notable incident that tested the brand’s resilience and examining the strategies they employed to navigate the storm.

By understanding Cadbury’s response and the lessons gleaned from their experience, we can gain valuable insights into crisis management in the food industry and the critical importance of safeguarding brand reputation.

The Cadbury crisis: an overview 

In October 2003, just a month before the festive season of Diwali, customers in Mumbai reported the discovery of worms in Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates. Responding promptly, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took action by seizing chocolate stocks produced at Cadbury’s Pune plant.

Cadbury defended itself by stating that the infestation could not have occurred during the manufacturing process and suggested that poor storage at retailers might have been the cause of the reported worm cases.

However, the FDA remained unconvinced. Uttam Khobragade, the FDA commissioner, expressed doubts, stating, “While it was presumed that worms entered the chocolates during storage, what about the packaging? If the packaging was not proper or airtight, it could be considered a manufacturing defect due to unhygienic conditions or improper packaging.”

This exchange of allegations and counter-allegations between Cadbury and the FDA led to negative publicity that significantly impacted Cadbury’s sales. During a time when Cadbury typically experiences a 15% sales boost due to festive season demand, their sales dropped by 30%. As a result, Cadbury’s advertising went off air for a month and a half following Diwali, as consumers seemed to lose interest in their chocolate cravings.

Facing intense scrutiny, Cadbury took action by launching an education initiative called “Vishwa’s” in October itself. This initiative aimed to educate 190,000 retailers in key states. However, it was what Cadbury did in January 2004 that truly helped restore the brand’s reputation.

Investing around Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million), Cadbury revamped the packaging of Dairy Milk by introducing imported machinery. The new metallic poly-flow packaging, despite being costlier by 10-15%, did not lead to a price increase for the product.

Bharat Puri, managing director of Cadbury’s India, stated, “Although we are addressing a few bars out of the 30 million we sell every month, we believe that as a responsible company, consumers should have complete faith in our products. So, even if it requires significant investment and change, we must not let consumer confidence erode.”

Simultaneously, Cadbury enlisted the support of brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan for extensive endorsement, with the actor risking his personal reputation for the brand.

Cadbury also increased advertising spending for the January to March quarter by more than 15%. The brand’s recovery began in May 2004, and by June, Cadbury claimed that consumer confidence had been restored. Experts believe that Cadbury’s success was due to their proactive and direct approach in addressing the crisis. Moreover, consumers were more forgiving because of the emotional connection they had with the brand in India.

Explanation of the potential impact on Cadbury’s reputation and consumer trust

The potential impact of the crisis on Cadbury’s reputation and consumer trust cannot be overstated. Cadbury had spent years cultivating a strong brand image built on trust, quality, and indulgence.

Consumers who had long associated Cadbury with delightful moments and safe indulgence were suddenly confronted with doubts and concerns about the integrity of the brand.

The presence of foreign objects in their beloved chocolate bars not only raised immediate health and safety worries but also shook the trust that consumers had placed in Cadbury’s manufacturing processes.

The crisis threatened to erode the emotional connection between Cadbury and its customers, potentially leading to long-lasting damage to the brand’s reputation and a loss of consumer loyalty. The way Cadbury handled the crisis would be critical in determining whether they could restore faith in their products and reassure customers that their commitment to quality and safety remained unwavering.

Cadbury’s Response: Swift and Transparent Action 

Here are three points that explain the response of Cadbury to the crisis:

A. Immediate actions taken by Cadbury to address the crisis

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Cadbury swiftly sprang into action to address the crisis and mitigate its impact on consumer trust. Their response was marked by a combination of transparency, accountability, and proactive measures. First and foremost, Cadbury initiated an immediate recall of the affected products from the market, demonstrating their commitment to ensuring consumer safety.

This recall was accompanied by clear and concise public announcements, both through traditional media channels and online platforms, informing consumers about the issue and advising them to refrain from consuming the affected products.

Cadbury launched an internal investigation in collaboration with independent third-party experts. This step aimed to determine how the foreign objects had made their way into the production process and identify any potential lapses in quality control.

In addition to the recall and investigation, Cadbury established a dedicated consumer helpline and email contact to address any concerns or inquiries from customers. This direct line of communication allowed affected individuals to seek information and assistance, demonstrating Cadbury’s commitment to maintaining open dialogue with their consumer base.

Moreover, Cadbury proactively engaged with regulatory bodies, such as food safety authorities and government agencies, to ensure compliance with relevant regulations and collaborate on resolving the crisis. This collaboration helped in conducting thorough investigations, sharing information, and implementing corrective measures.

Throughout their response, Cadbury remained transparent, providing regular updates to the public and stakeholders on the progress made in resolving the crisis. By openly acknowledging the issue and taking swift action, Cadbury aimed to rebuild consumer trust and demonstrate their commitment to the highest standards of product safety and quality.

B. Emphasis on transparency, open communication, and acknowledgement of the issue

Cadbury recognized the critical role of transparency, open communication, and sincere acknowledgement in their crisis management strategy. Understanding that silence or evasion could further erode consumer trust, they chose a different path.

From the onset, Cadbury openly acknowledged the issue, taking full responsibility for the presence of foreign objects in their products. They did not attempt to downplay or minimize the severity of the situation, but rather acknowledged the potential risks and concerns that consumers may have.

To ensure transparent communication, Cadbury provided regular updates to the public and stakeholders about the progress of their investigations, steps taken to address the issue, and any findings or developments. This transparency helped to build confidence among consumers that Cadbury was actively working to rectify the situation and prevent similar incidents in the future.

Moreover, Cadbury prioritized open communication channels with their consumers. They promptly established a dedicated helpline and email contact to address individual inquiries and concerns. By providing accessible means for consumers to voice their questions or fears, Cadbury demonstrated a commitment to engaging in two-way communication and actively listening to their customers.

Engagement with customers, media, and regulatory bodies

Cadbury demonstrated proactive engagement with various stakeholders throughout the crisis, including customers, media, and regulatory bodies. Here are some examples of their efforts:

• Customers: Cadbury promptly set up a dedicated helpline and email contact to address customer inquiries, concerns, and feedback. This direct line of communication allowed affected individuals to seek information, share their experiences, and receive assistance from Cadbury’s customer service team.
• Media: Cadbury issued press releases and media statements to communicate their response to the crisis, including the immediate recall, investigation, and measures being implemented to ensure product safety. These official statements aimed to provide accurate information and address media inquiries promptly.
• Regulatory bodies: Cadbury collaborated closely with relevant food safety authorities and regulatory bodies to ensure compliance with regulations and to share information regarding the crisis. This collaboration helped in conducting thorough investigations and implementing appropriate corrective actions.

Evaluation of Cadbury’s crisis management approach and its effectiveness

Cadbury’s crisis management approach can be evaluated as highly effective based on several key factors:

• Swift and proactive response: Cadbury’s immediate actions, including the recall of affected products and launching an internal investigation, demonstrated a sense of urgency and a commitment to addressing the crisis promptly. This swift response helped contain the situation and prevent further harm to consumers.
• Transparency and open communication: Cadbury’s emphasis on transparency and open communication was commendable. They openly acknowledged the issue, took responsibility, and provided regular updates to the public, customers, media, and regulatory bodies. This transparency fostered trust and allowed stakeholders to stay informed throughout the crisis.
• Stakeholder engagement: Cadbury actively engaged with stakeholders such as customers, media, and regulatory bodies. They established a dedicated helpline and email contact for customers, responded to media inquiries, and collaborated with regulatory authorities. This proactive engagement demonstrated a commitment to listening, addressing concerns, and working collaboratively to resolve the crisis.
• Accountability and commitment to quality: By taking responsibility for the contamination incident, Cadbury showed accountability for the lapse in their manufacturing processes. They acknowledged the potential harm caused to consumers and reassured them of their commitment to maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety.
• Learning and improvement: Cadbury’s crisis management approach also involved conducting internal investigations, collaborating with third-party experts, and implementing corrective measures. This commitment to learning from the incident and making necessary improvements indicated a proactive approach to preventing future occurrences and continuously enhancing product safety.

Identification of key lessons and best practices for crisis management in the food industry

Identification of key lessons and best practices for crisis management in the food industry:

• Prioritize consumer safety: The primary focus during a crisis in the food industry should be on ensuring consumer safety. Swift actions, such as recalls and investigations, must be taken to address any potential risks and protect consumers from harm.
• Transparency and open communication: Transparency is crucial in maintaining trust during a crisis. Companies should openly acknowledge the issue, provide timely and accurate information to stakeholders, and communicate updates regularly. This includes engaging with customers, media, and regulatory bodies to address concerns and share progress.
• Swift response and proactive measures: Time is of the essence in crisis management. Acting swiftly to contain the issue, launching investigations, and implementing corrective actions demonstrate a commitment to resolving the crisis effectively and minimizing its impact.
• Establish a dedicated crisis management team: Having a designated crisis management team with clear roles and responsibilities is essential. This team should be equipped to handle crisis situations, make quick decisions, and coordinate communication across various channels.
• Collaborate with stakeholders: Engage with relevant stakeholders, including customers, media, and regulatory bodies. Collaborating with regulatory authorities ensures compliance and regulatory support, while open communication with customers and media helps address concerns, provide accurate information, and rebuild trust.
• Learn from the crisis: Conduct thorough investigations to identify the root cause of the crisis. This allows for improvements in manufacturing processes, quality control measures, and overall safety protocols to prevent similar incidents in the future. Continuously learning and adapting based on the crisis experience is vital.
• Preparedness through crisis simulations: Conducting crisis simulations and drills in advance can help organizations prepare for potential crises. These simulations allow teams to practice their response strategies, identify gaps, and refine their crisis management plans.
• Monitor and respond to social media : Social media plays a significant role in crisis communication. Monitor social media platforms to gauge public sentiment, address customer concerns, and promptly respond to queries or complaints.
• Maintain brand consistency: During a crisis, it is essential to maintain consistency in messaging and actions across all communication channels. This consistency helps in building trust and avoiding confusion among stakeholders.
• Rebuild trust through actions: Regaining consumer trust takes time. Implement measures to enhance product safety, quality control, and quality assurance processes. Launch consumer-centric initiatives and communicate these actions to demonstrate the brand’s commitment to customer satisfaction and safety.

Final Words 

Cadbury’s crisis management approach serves as an excellent example of effective strategies and best practices in the food industry. By swiftly addressing the crisis, prioritizing consumer safety, and embracing transparency, Cadbury demonstrated their commitment to their customers and their brand integrity.

The lessons learned from Cadbury’s crisis management are applicable to any organization in the food industry. Prioritizing consumer safety should always be the guiding principle, followed by open communication with stakeholders and a proactive approach to resolving the issue.

Remember, a crisis can be an opportunity to showcase a company’s resilience and commitment to its customers. By implementing these best practices and being prepared, organizations can navigate crises with greater confidence, protect their brand reputation, and rebuild trust even in the face of adversity.

About The Author

Tahir Abbas

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Case Study On Cadbury’s Digital Marketing Strategies [Download PDF]

• November 23, 2022

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Did you know that Cadbury initially sold drinking chocolate and labelled itself a healthy drink? This was way back in 1824, and well, fast forward to 2022. All we can think of when one says chocolate is Cadbury. What happened between these years (or centuries) is a testament to how Cadbury jumped on every opportunity and established its brand name worldwide.

To sell really tasty chocolate isn’t that difficult, but to sell it as Cadbury does, is something to learn from! This blog will discuss how Cadbury used the digital platform for branding and earned a name for itself amongst the competition. 

Let’s first understand more about Cadbury’s digital marketing strategies;

About Cadbury

Cadbury built its very first manufacturing unit in India in 1948. They now have a total of five manufacturing units and one cocoa operation across India. The market share of Cadbury India is around 70%, which is the highest in the world. India’s favourite chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk, is a benchmark for all the other chocolates. These are some of Cadbury’s products:

• Celebrations

Beverages: Cadbury Bournvita

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cadbury Bournvita (@cadburybournvita)

Oreo Biscuits

You can play with Oreo Biscuits also, just like her 😉

Since 1965, Cadbury has been leading the cocoa cultivation development. This is with regard to their collaboration with the Kerela Agricultural University and their constant training sessions with cocoa farmers on its cultivation.

Why Should Marketers Study Cadbury’s Digital Marketing Strategies?

Marketers must study Cadbury’s digital marketing strategies because they can get inspired by them and try to implement some of those strategies for their brands. Here are four of the many things marketers can learn from Cadbury: 

1. Use Brand Name to Increase Visibility.

The Cadbury logo is always displayed on all its products, ensuring customers know who made their favourite chocolate bars.

When was the last time you heard “Nestlé Kit Kat” mentioned?

Did you hear about Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk before?

Almost certainly never. When compared to the way Cadbury chocolate is marketed, “Cadbury’s Crème Egg,” “Cadbury’s Roses,” and, of course, “Cadbury’s Dairy Milk” seems a lot more natural because that is how we are familiar with them. In this way, Cadbury’s chocolate is instantly recognisable. You can use your brand name, too, to make your product more identifiable.

2. Consistency

Just in the UK, Cadbury sells over 276 goods, including bars, bags, ice creams, desserts, biscuits, travel exclusives, spreads, beverages, food products, and seasonal products for Christmas, Easter, and Halloween.

Despite having such varied products, Cadbury develops products that are consistent with their brand – nothing seems out of place or as if it were made by someone else. As a result, when consumers desire a Cadbury product, they know what to look for and what to expect when they get it.

3. A Style Guide

Every page should be consistent, according to a basic rule of web design. Suppose certain pages on your website have a completely different layout, typeface, or colour scheme than others. In that case, the consumer may become confused and believe they’ve left your site and landed on another.

To promote exposure and familiarity, a great brand requires consistency. This implies that your name, logo, colours, tone of voice in your writing, and other branding elements should be consistent across your website, social media pages, email newsletters, and physical marketing materials. If you’re launching a new product, pay attention to how you show it online and advertise it to your target audience.

4. Adapting to Changes

Cadbury continues to update its product offering to keep up with the newest consumer trends and adapt to its changing market, as evidenced by its extensive product range. With 538 abandoned goods, the firm knows when to retire a product that isn’t profitable enough and when to attempt something new.

Cadbury, for example, will produce Dairy Milk chocolate with 30% less sugar next year, maybe because people are more concerned about living a better lifestyle than ever. But, through it all, it knows how to maintain its brand despite product and market changes.

The same rationale can be applied to your marketing strategies. Whether it’s a new social networking platform or Google making adjustments to AdWords (or as it’s now known, Google Ads), the internet marketing landscape is continuously shifting. The most important thing for marketers to do is to assess these developments and efficiently adjust to them without losing sight of their brand.

Determine whether you should attempt a new social media platform, establish a new ad campaign, or send out a series of mailshots. But remember what your brand is, how you want to be perceived, your objective, and who you’re aiming for when you do.

Cadbury’s Digital Marketing Strategies 

1. cadbury’s social media marketing strategies & case study.

Cadbury entered the social media realm with the intent to revolutionize its marketing strategies and step back from Television and other traditional forms of advertising. Here is how they are currently performing on different social media platforms: 

Cadbury’s Instagram Marketing Strategies

Cadbury has different Instagram accounts for each of its products. This allows them to keep their marketing more focused on that particular product and adhere to the audience consuming it. Each account has different content, colour themes, and overall presentation.

Here is the follower count of Cadbury’s most famous products (as of November 2022):

Each of these brands post content that is specialized to their own product. BournVita recently ran a campaign with the saying “Maa Kabhi retired nahi hoti” on their Instagram page. This goes well with their brand language since BournVita’s TV ad focuses on the relationship between a child and their mother. Hence, even across different platforms, their brand image stays the same.

On the other hand, Dairy Milk’s Instagram page is filled with posts related to IPL since they sponsor the ground staff in IPL. 

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cadbury Dairy Milk (@cadburydairymilkin)

Cadbury’s Instagram Analytics

Cadbury Dairy Milk is very active on Instagram space. The Instagram handle was created in 2016, and they are getting quite a good traction on the handle, as they use it to post updates, collaborations, and upcoming products there and interact with their audience. To date, they have around 254k followers and still growing.

Cadbury’s Facebook Marketing Strategies 

Cadbury also uses Facebook to publish similar content as Instagram for their Facebook audience. They have a much larger follower on each account on Facebook. 

Cadbury used Facebook to follow up on the 30-second television advertisement they published using the saas-bahu duo. This campaign was to brand their product, “Dairy Milk”, to build friendships and other relationships. They aimed to catch the sentiments of the otherwise negative duo, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and show them in a more loving and positive light. This proved to be successful because Cadbury could connect with their audience and make them emotional. 

According to a study by Medium , these were the following trends they experienced after their campaign on Facebook:

• There was a 5.8% increase in top-of-mind awareness.
• Facebook is alone responsible for a 5.1% boost in brand consideration.
• 5.7% increase in TV reach
• Increase of 8.1% in the number of people who watch light television.
• Increase of 2.8% in spontaneous awareness
• Tenfold increase in Facebook ad spend

Cadbury’s YouTube Marketing Strategies:

Unlike Instagram and Facebook, where Cadbury has different profiles for different products, Cadbury has only one channel on YouTube, with different sections for “Seasonal,” “Flavours,” and “Marvellous creations.” Cadbury has over 548K YouTube subscribers. They also use “YouTube Shorts,” YouTube’s most recent feature, to post short videos within 30 seconds. 

Cadbury’s Youtube Engagement Rate

Cadbury’s YouTube engagement rate is 0.67%. They receive an average of 262 likes per post .

Cadbury’s Twitter Marketing Strategies

Cadbury also has separate accounts for its different products on Twitter. 

Cadbury Dairy Milk’s Twitter account is currently occupied by content about the ongoing IPL 2022. Similar to its Facebook and Instagram accounts, Cadbury Dairy Milk’s Twitter is occupied by content about its sponsorship of the ground staff. Cadbury has a strong social media presence, particularly on Twitter. Customers are kept engaged on Twitter by posting on a regular basis. Although there is much-repeated information across platforms and pages, this is understandable because it broadens the audience’s reach.

Cadbury’s key strength is its ability to engage its followers on social media since they are quite good at responding to customer comments and inquiries. This good aspect of the organisation aids in developing a welcoming and accepting brand image.

2. Cadbury’s SEO Strategies

Cadbury India has a gifting website where people can customise their chocolates for gifting purposes and place an order for the same. According to SEMRush, here’s an overview of how their domain is performing:

Cadbury’s organic keywords include

• Cadbury India
• Lumba rakhi
• Cadbury celebrations
• Cadbury happy birthday, and
• Dairy milk silk,

However, Cadbury does not have a website with the same name as its domain. Mondelez International, its parent firm, only has a section dedicated to it. The website must also be optimised in order to appear first on Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

Popular companies like Dairy Milk and Oreo do not have their own websites. A distinct website for the brand allows individuals to learn more about the products while also increasing transparency between the company and its customers.

Case study of Cadbury’s Top Digital Marketing Campaigns: 

1. 5 stars everywhere – a cadbury 5 star campaign.

The smart move of Cadbury definitely makes a mark on history & its audience’s hearts and minds. That’s the plan, right? Every time you rate anything you remember, Cadbury is there.

“When you #DoNothing and the entire world does your work for you. #5StarsEverywhere #Cadbury5Star ,” that’s the campaign.

2. Stay Home Stay Safe: At Home with Oreo – A Cadbury Oreo Campaign

Oreo, a Cadbury cookie brand, has produced a clever commercial corresponding to the pandemic situation: staying at home. Oreo debuted the #AtHomewithOreo campaign, which is aimed at youngsters. In these uncertain times, the campaign urges children to be playful. “Make Way For Play ” is the campaign’s slogan. Isn’t it an excellent use of the current situation?

3. How Far Will You Go For Love? – A Dairy Milk Campaign

Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk is marketed primarily to millennials. On the other hand, Dairy Milk Silk has proven to be a favourite among youngsters, and launching this promotion for Valentine’s Day was a fantastic decision!

The campaign’s theme was simple: “How far will you go for love on Valentine’s Day?” with the hashtag #PopYourHeartOut. Kartik Aryan, a well-known actor and youth hero, was also enlisted to help promote the ad.

4. Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye – A Dairy Milk Campaign

People in India highly value rituals and traditions, especially when embarking on a new endeavour on an auspicious occasion. Cadbury Dairy Milk launched the “Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye” campaign, in which Cadbury India positioned Dairy Milk as a treat that could be enjoyed during joyous occasions in our lives.

Cadbury India demonstrated individuals of all ages sharing big and small life experiences, interacting with others, and making great occasions even more memorable with Cadbury Dairy Milk. The campaign is still remembered fondly, and Amitabh Bachchan, the great Indian actor, previously endorsed it.

As you can see, Cadbury has seeped into the digital world to showcase its products and spread the word about its brand. You can enrol in the best online digital marketing course if you wish to build amazing digital marketing approaches for your company. This course is for students who want to learn everything there is to know about digital marketing and how to use it to grow their businesses.

Are you prepared to take your company’s image to new heights? Now is the best time to take our free digital marketing course !

Which was your favourite campaign by Cadbury? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Written By Digital Scholar

Digital Scholar is a premier agency-styled digital marketing institute in India. Which offers an online digital marketing course and a free digital marketing course worldwide to elevate their digital skills and become industry experts. Digital Scholar is headed by Sorav Jain and co-founder Rishi Jain, who are pioneers in the field of digital marketing. Digital Scholar’s blogs touch upon numerous aspects of digital marketing and help you get intensive ideas of different domains of digital marketing.

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Cover Story - Cadbury's Diwali ad marks the beginning of a new era in advertising; here is how it happened

The ad campaign lets local store owners to create an ad for their shops featuring Shah Rukh Khan for free. Thanks to the magical power of AI & ML, as these technologies were used to recreate Khan's face and voice in a way that it sounds like the actor is saying the local store or brand's name.

Another Diwali is around the corner and another Cadbury ad has stolen the limelight, this time with an AI twist.

If you were living under a rock for the past one week or longer, then let me bring you up to the pace. Cadbury has launched an ad campaign featuring the Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan. But, the plot twist is that it is not “just a Cadbury ad” or as per the Gen Z lingo- #NotJustACadburyAd. Instead, this one lets local store owners to create an ad for their shops featuring Shah Rukh Khan for free. The local shops can now use the face and voice of the actor to promote their brand without spending a penny.

Thanks to the magical power of AI & ML, as these technologies were used to recreate Khan's face and voice in a way that it sounds like the actor is saying the local store or brand's name.

Pretty awesome, right?

To launch this ad campaign, Cadbury collaborated with an Indian AI startup called Rephrase AI- a synthetic media production platform that principally uses AI for video personalisation.

"Rephrase AI is proud to partner with Mondelez (the parent company of Cadbury) to help enable personalised ads for all local stores in the country. This shows the power of the Generative AI technology we've been pioneering for the last three years,” said Ashray Malhotra, CEO and Co-Founder of Rephrase AI to INDIAai.

“This is the start of the synthetic media revolution where we help businesses communicate with their customers on a one-on-one basis with their brand ambassadors, help CXOs talk to their employees personally at scale, and help run hyper-targeted ad content,” he added.

Despite the ad campaign putting most of us in awe, numerous concerns have been raised about its ethics and close similarity to another type of synthetic media called deepfakes, which has gained significant notoriety in the last couple of years.

Rephrase AI points out that their work is not deepfakes but they do share the same techniques for creation. According to Rephrase AI, while deepfakes essentially means creating synthetic videos with deep neural networks, the colloquial use of the term is for transferring movements and expressions of one person to another; an equivalent in the real world would be voice mimicking for speech. 

According to Rephrase AI, for this particular ad campaign, real videos were created from scratch and they used facial re-enactment tools, where we predict the lip movements, facial expressions, head movements, eye blinks, and everything that goes into making the AI-driven presenter's face look photorealistic - to drive the campaign.

The tech behind synethetic media

To understand the technical nuances behind this controversial ad campaign, we reached out to Atharva Peshkar and Atharva Khedkar, founders of Nagpur based Detectd , a deepfake finding startup. The duo, while describing the process of synthetic media creation, also explained to us how this particular ad campaign might have developed.

According to them, deep learning algorithms can be used to manipulate or even generate media. In general synthetic media or deepfakes, are created using a special class of Deep Neural Networks called Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs).

These GANs are made up of two networks: a G(x) : Generator network and a D(x) : Discriminator network.

• Generator: Learns to create fake data by incorporating feedback from the discriminator. It learns to make the discriminator classify its output as real.
• Discriminator: The discriminator is simply a classifier. It tries to distinguish real data from the data created by the generator.

They both engage in a two player adversarial (zero-sum) game- one’s win is another’s loss. The ideal state that the generator and the discriminator networks achieve is Nash equilibrium i.e. generated samples by the generator are so realistic that the discriminator can judge with 50% correctness.

During the training process, the generator attempts to fool the discriminator by generating data that seems realistic and is identical to the training set. Whereas the discriminator seeks to avoid being fooled by trying to learn a sharp classification boundary between the fake (generated by the generator) and real data.

Thus generator model learns how to make realistic images by generating images from random noise. Random noise is sampled using a uniform or normal distribution before being fed into a generator that creates an image. The discriminator learns how to distinguish fake images from real photos by feeding on the generator output, which includes fake images and actual images from the training dataset.

Coming to facial manipulation, it is most commonly done with synthetic videos and can be classified into the following categories:

• Synthetic facial attribute and face generation: In this category, the objective is to create non-existent realistic faces using GANs. The most popular approach is StyleGAN. Some of these works are This Person Does Not Exist
• Facial re-enactment, speech synthesis and lip synchronization: This is the category that deals with manipulating media by either synthesizing new speech from text, manipulating the subject’s facial expressions to match the speech and lip-syncing video and audio sources.

An example of this would be “Wav2Lip: Accurately Lip-sync Videos to Any Speech” research by IIIT Hyderabad. This is the same category where the synthetic video by Cadbury featuring Shah Rukh Khan comes into play.

Retailers could upload their details (like the business name) to a platform. Then a GAN model for deepfake speech synthesis, like WaveNet(a vocoder developed by DeepMind in 2016), or Tacotron (a text-to-speech algorithm created by Google in 2017) might have been used to generate the appropriate audio clip for every retailer in SRK’s voice. This voice was then ultimately lip-synced with the video to make the final clip for the ad.

However, for creating such an ad campaign certainly has numerous challenges to overcome. 

“This campaign was the most stringent test of our AI yet, in multiple ways. The tech tends to be very sensitive to slight changes in position and lighting. Because we had to create avatars of Shah Rukh in 5 different positions, each of them in the middle of an extended act, such slight changes between the training data and the actual ad were inevitable. So we had to make the tech much more robust, which ultimately involved us writing whole new AI models from scratch," says Rephrase AI co-founder Nisheeth Lahoti.

“Also, store names are a mix of English and Hindi words, which posed a bit of a problem because until recently, our multilingual models were notably worse than our monolingual (particularly English-language) ones. We've closed this gap substantially in the last few months, and particularly rapidly in preparation for this campaign.”

"Finally, the state of voice cloning worldwide for such a multilingual setup leaves a lot to be desired. So, we'd started an in-house project to clone voices. But we expected it to take a few months to get to production-level quality, if it ever got there at all. Even in our wildest dreams we couldn't have imagined that we'd end up deploying and using it less than a month after starting the project," he added.

It is an undeniable fact that the ethical and legal concerns regarding the usage of synthetic media, deepfakes and digital avatars, must face public discourse, as its ability to be misused is widely documented. Nevertheless, one has to accept the reality, that we have entered into a new era of AI-driven advertisements.

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Cadbury's Diwali ad marks the beginning of a new era in advertising; here is how it happened

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Neuromarketing

Neuromarketing – the marketing case-study to centuries of monopoly.

Cadbury: Simply Marketing or Neuromarketing Case-Study?

We have several reasons to have a clear winner for this question: Marketing or Neuromarketing Case-Study? Neuromarketing has proved its value a countless number of times, playing a pivotal role in turning companies into Ace companies. 

We’re about to study neuromarketing through one of the most iconic and loved brands of all time, wherein ‘all-time’ literally means over a century! 

Cadbury – The Confectionery that Rules

• Cadbury owner Mondelez UK reported a profit of more than 185 million pounds after it bought out Cadbury. 
• Mondelez UK, a subsidiary of US giant Mondelez International, recorded a 740% jump in profit for the year with turnover rising from 1.65 billion pounds to 1.66 billion pounds. 

The confectionery business is expanding as you read this. Cadbury was founded in 1824, initially selling tea and coffee but later switching to chocolates, biscuits, and other products.

Cadbury has had fierce competition such as Hershey’s, Mars, Nestle, etc. which are among the biggest confectioneries in the world. Despite that, it has managed to stay in business despite initial fluctuations, which were before Dairy Milk entered the scene. 

But the fluctuations stopped, and we all know who it owes its splendid success to! 

Cadbury Dairy Milk – The Trump Card

350 million bars of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk is sold every year – that’s almost a million a day!

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk was first introduced in 1905, mainly to compete with Swiss chocolates. But it has managed to do much more than that, thanks to Neuromarketing. 

Let’s see some of Cadbury Dairy Milk’s amazing Neuro-moves! 

Emotional Branding

The term Emotional Branding is quite famous in the neuromarketing world, and it means, appealing to the target audience through emotion and sentiment. 

This feature is distinctly found in almost every Cadbury advertisement. 

For instance, Cadbury Dairy Milk Celebrations have a series of beautiful ads that show families celebrating different festivals, depicting Cadbury Celebrations as the perfect gift to rejoice and cherish celebrations. 

The most heart melting ads are the ones that revolve around a child’s pure love and innocence. 

For instance, in one of such Dairy Milk ads, a cute little girl asks a shopkeeper for a Dairy Milk since it was her mother’s birthday. But she doesn’t have money, so she gives him all her tiny toys that she has, and even her favourite rubber band. The shopkeeper, touched by her innocence, gives her a Dairy Milk and also gives her a tiny toys flower as change. 

The ad is so heartwarming that it establishes Dairy Milk as the best and most beautiful gift one could give a loved one.

Colour Impacts

According to Neuroscience, every colour has a unique impact on the human brain and the brain perceives different meanings out of different colours. For instance, it’s a universal fact that white colour stands for peace. 

In the marketing world, using colours to design advertisements as well as product packages is no less than an art. 

The colour purple, according to Neuroscience purple symbolizes magic, luxury, royalty, dignity and spirituality. 

Cadbury has undeniably used the colour purple at its best, which is why Dairy Milk is associated with luxury, rich quality and celebration!

If you’re ever asked what purple colour reminds you of, one of your first 3 responses may be Cadbury or Dairy Milk! 

Customized – for You, by You

Nobody can tell what a person would love, better than the person himself/herself.

If you want to know what your customers would like to have, why not have them tell you? 

What better way for an innovation than having your customers brainstorm and create their favourite product for themselves? 

A competition from Cadbury to invent a new flavoured chocolate product has named an Irish 17 year old Callum Clogher as its winner, after creating a Choca-Latte Dairy Milk bar.

The winning bar consists of a mix of coffee cream and vanilla sandwiched in between the smooth taste of Cadbury Dairy Milk.

The company is calling upon consumers to ‘go madbury for Cadbury’ as it relaunches the Inventor competition for 2020. Shoppers now have the chance to create their very own Cadbury Dairy Milk bar, which could become the next addition to the iconic Cadbury Dairy Milk family in 2020.

30% less sugar = 0% Cognitive Dissonance

Mondelez, which has been ramping up its Cadbury profile, recently launched premium Cadbury Dark Milk variant. The brand has rolled out a new variant in its Cadbury range called “Cadbury 30% less sugar”.

The move is quite exactly what neuromarketing looks like. 

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that evokes guilt or regret post doing something wrong, or making the wrong choice. This is experienced by all human beings, especially by women. 

Cadbury 30% less Sugar aims to reduce the cognitive dissonance within people who are conscious about their calorie intake, yet have a sweet tooth and want to enjoy chocolates. 

Brand Recall – Neuroscience to the rescue

Heather Andrew, CEO of Neuro-Insight, deconstructs how the winners of Marketing’s polls on the best ads of the past 60 years work from the brain’s point of view. Public’s favourite ad of the last 60 years is Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’.

Polls like #60YearsTVAds provide a fascinating barometer of the cultural/creative/emotional messaging that resonates with consumers and industry experts long after an ad has disappeared. 

Marketers are increasingly turning to neuroscience to understand consumers’ subconscious reactions to creative messaging to gain more objective insights into what works, or doesn’t – in an ad.

The way the brain responds to creative messaging is informed by a number of factors – some obvious and some very subtle.

So what makes ‘Gorilla’ special from the brain’s point of view?

• The art of the unexplained

The ad is built on a strong sense of intrigue – we see unexpected images that aren’t immediately explained. 

‘Gorilla’ opens with a shot of the gorilla’s face to the introduction of Phil Collins In the Air Tonight, but this very familiar soundtrack only makes the ad’s climax more surreal with no explanation provided. In both cases the brain is highly engaged in wanting to know more, but never quite getting satisfaction until the branding appears at the end of each ad. This means the brain stays involved right through the ad. 

The ad might seem really weird and that’s precisely what makes it unforgettable! This and many other such effective ads have boosted Cadbury’s brand recall to a major extent. 

Care, Concern and Brand Image

In 2007, Cadbury introduced recyclable cardboard packaging for its Roses and Heroes chocolates this Christmas.

The square boxes, made from sustainably sourced cardboard, replaced the traditional round metal tins. The move was a part of the company’s Purple Goes Green environmental strategy. It included a pledge to cut packaging, carbon emissions and water usage of seasonal products by 25% by 2010. 

Tapping into consumer concerns over sustainable packaging would help boost sales as well as elevate brand image, which was the motive behind the programme. 

“Many of our customers are dreaming of a green, not white Christmas this year. Introducing an environmental twist will help us to meet shoppers ethical concerns, and the new boxes are easier to wrap.” Said Jo Grice, Head of marketing at Cadbury. 

Any Occasion and Every Occasion

Cadbury aims to target kids between the age group of 5 to 10 who consume chocolate the most. However, Cadbury chocolates are eaten by people of all ages, sexes, cultures, regions and on all occasions.

Although Cadbury targets people of all age groups, it has distinguished its product offerings to different occasions and age groups of customers. 

For example, Cadbury Temptations and Bourneville are meant for higher end consumer groups who are willing to pay more. 

Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk is targeted to the people who can’t resist chocolates. It has positioned itself as a symbol of good times, meant for special, romantic, or even little memories, celebrating all moments in life.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Crackles and Crispello are meant for people who need crispness in chocolates. 

Cadbury Lickables are exclusively designed for kids to relish, in their own childish ways. 

Cadbury Celebrations, as the name suggests, is specifically designed for special occasions and festivities. 

They address the needs of each and every consumer, from childhood to maturity, from impulse purchase to family treats. 

They design products to coincide with Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s, Mother’s and Father’s Day, and other calendar landmarks. 

They use neuromarketing strategies such as the ‘Choose Cadbury’ strategy to encourage a link between chocolate and these events, ensuring that there is a Cadbury chocolate product suitable and available for every occasion. The marketing communication over the years as well the lovely taste of Cadbury and its consistently good quality have given fantastic brand equity to the brand.

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Storyful Increases Purchase Intent, Ad Recall for Cadbury

Storyful and Cadbury PS saw an opportunity to leverage user-generated content to relate to its Gen Z target audience. The resulting #SayitwithPS campaign yielded 62% lift in ad recall and a 10% lift in purchase intent.

After struggling to meet target KPIs and engage with South Africa’s chocolate consumers through a series of animated video content, Cadbury PS had to rethink their content’s creative marketing approach around its #SayitwithPS campaign.

Taking Cadbury PS creative design back to the drawing board, the campaign sought an opportunity to leverage user-generated content and build brand loyalty through relatable messaging and video imagery for its Gen Z target audience. By creating a unique brand identity for each of the individual PS bars, Cadbury and Storyful built a personal connection to the brand’s messaging and image that resonated with consumers and tapped into the emotional aspect of sharing chocolate with a loved one. Using the brand’s top two performing PS bar messages, #Winning and #Besties, Storyful identified content that put sentiment, friendship and supporting one another at the core of the campaign, positioning #SayitwithPS as a token of friendship and appreciation.

Cadbury was one of the first brands in South Africa to successfully use user-generated video content in its advertising. Having launched the campaign across the market’s Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube platforms, the brand received its highest campaign engagement rates to date, with 95% positive sentiment. The videos achieved phenomenal Brand Lift Study results, with a 62% lift in ad recall (three times higher than previous campaigns) and a 10% lift in purchase intent (double that of previous campaigns). The results made #SayitwithPS the best-performing campaign the brand has ever run in South Africa.

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Mondelēz International | #NotJustACadburyAd - SRK's becomes Ambassador for 10,000+ Local Businesses

🚨 The Challenge

Empowering small local businesses to advertise themselves and helping them find their way back after the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on global economies – especially small local businesses in India – who couldn’t sell their products and services, let alone turn a profit. In celebration of Diwali – India’s festival of lights – Mondelēz International wanted to help local Indian shopkeepers by creating a groundbreaking AI avatar campaign featuring India's biggest celebrity, Shah Rukh Khan.

🟢 The Solution

The #NotJustACadburyAd campaign was divided into two key components:

• Targeted Ads: Initially, Rephrase.ai developed 500 personalized video ads, each targeting specific PIN codes on Facebook and YouTube. These videos were tailored to refer to local stores in the respective areas, fostering a sense of familiarity and relevance. ‍
• Microsite and Personalized Videos: A dedicated microsite, " NotJustACadburyAd.com ," was created to enable shopkeepers nationwide to participate in the campaign. Shopkeepers were invited to enter their store's names on the microsite, generating personalized videos of Shah Rukh Khan endorsing their stores. The shopkeepers were encouraged to utilize these videos for promoting their businesses across social media platforms.

🎯 The Results

‍ The #NotJustACadburyAd campaign achieved remarkable outcomes, reinforcing Mondelēz's relationship with local stores and engaging consumers across India.

Strengthened Local Store Relationships:

• The campaign facilitated close associations and deeper connections between Mondelēz and thousands of local stores nationwide by enhancing brand visibility in local communities.

Enhanced Performance Metrics:

• Video View-Through Rates (VTRs): The campaign delivered an impressive 22% higher VTR compared to previous campaigns , indicating a higher level of engagement among the target audience.
• Click-Through Rates (CTRs): #NotJustACadburyAd garnered an 18% higher CTR , showcasing the campaign's ability to drive traffic and capture viewers' interest effectively.

User Engagement:

• User Participation: Over 105,000 users logged on to NotJustACadburyAd.com to create their personalized versions of the ad, showcasing the campaign's popularity and user engagement.
• Circulation and Virality: A total of 130,000 versions of the ad were generated gaining 94 million views across WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media platforms, amplifying the campaign's reach and generating organic brand advocacy.

PR and Brand Exposure:

• The campaign garnered significant media attention, resulting in PR coverage worth over USD 1.5 million. This coverage further reinforced the impact of the campaign and boosted Cadbury Celebrations' brand visibility during the Diwali season. ‍

The #NotJustACadburyAd campaign also received one of the most coveted Cannes Titanium Lion award.

Business Impact: ‍

• Cadbury Celebrations' Success: The campaign contributed to a remarkable 29% growth in Cadbury Celebrations' sales during Diwali, marking the brand's highest-ever Diwali performance .
• Record-breaking Diwali Sales: The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) reported a remarkable 74% increase in Diwali sales, achieving the highest sales in a decade . This surge can be attributed to the campaign's positive influence on consumer purchasing behavior and support for local businesses.

The #NotJustACadburyAd campaign emerged as a standout example of leveraging media, creativity, and technology to forge meaningful connections between brands, local stores, and consumers. By creating a digital avatar of Shah Rukh Khan and involving local retailers, Mondelēz International established a personalized and engaging experience that resonated with audiences across India.

The campaign's success not only resulted in exceptional performance metrics and business growth but also showcased the vast potential of AI-based innovations for other brands to explore and leverage in their future marketing endeavors.

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Home » Management Case Studies » Case Study: Cadbury Crisis Management (Worm Controversy)

Case Study: Cadbury Crisis Management (Worm Controversy)

In India chocolate consumption was very low in the early 90’s but as the decade advanced the consumption drastically increased. The late 90’s witnessed a good chocolate market condition. The chocolate market in India is dominated by two multinational companies — Cadbury and Nestle. The national companies – Amul and Campco are other candidates in this race. Cadbury holds more than 70% of the total share of the market. Nestle has emerged by holding almost 20% of the total share. Apart from chocolate segment, there is also a big confectionery segment which is flooded by companies like Parry’s, Ravalgaon, Candico and Nutrine. All these are leading national players. The multinational companies like the Cadbury, Nestle and Perfetti are the new entrants in the sugar confectionery market. (Management paradise) There are several others which have a minor share in these two segments. According to statistics, the chocolate consumption in India is extremely low. If per capita consumption is considered, it comes to only 160gms in the urban areas. This amount is very low compared to the developed countries where the per capita consumption is more than 8-10kg. Observing this fact it would not be appropriate to consider the rural areas of India as it will be extremely low. This low consumption is owing to the notion behind consuming chocolates. Indians eat chocolates as indulgence and not as snack food. The major target population is the children. India has witnessed a slow growth rate of about 10% pa from the 70’s to the 80’s. But as the century advanced the market stagnated. This was the time when Cadbury launched its product- Dairy Milk as an anytime product rather than an occasional luxury. All the advertisements of Dairy Milk paid a full attention to adults and not children. And this proved to be the major breakthrough for Cadbury as it tried to break the conventional ideas of the Indians about chocolate.

The Worm Controversy

On October 2003, just a month before Diwali, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner received complaints about infestation in two bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury India’s flagship brand with over 70% market share. He ordered an enquiry and went directly to the media with a statement. Over the following 3-week period, resultant adverse media coverage touched close to 1000 clips in print and 120 on TV news channels. In India, where Cadbury is synonymous with chocolate, the company’s reputation and credibility was under intense scrutiny. Sales volumes came down drastically in the first 10 weeks, which was the festival season; retailer stocking and display dropped, employee morale – especially that of the sales team – was shaken. The challenge was to restore confidence in the key stakeholders (consumers, trade and employees, particularly the sales team) and build back credibility for the corporate brand through the same channels (the media) that had questioned it.

In defense, Cadbury issued a statement that the infestation was not possible at the manufacturing stage and poor storage at the retailers was the most likely cause of the reported case of worms. But the FDA didn’t buy that.  FDA commisioner, Uttam Khobragade told CNBC-TV18, “It was presumed that worms got into it at the storage level, but then what about the packing – packaging was not proper  or airtight, either ways it’s a manufacturing defect with unhygienic conditions or improper packaging.”

That was followed by allegations and counter-allegations between Cadbury and FDA. The heat of negative publicity melted Cadbury’s sales by 30 per cent, at a time when it sees a festive spike of 15 per cent.

For the first time, Cadbury’s advertising went off air for a month and a half after Diwali, following the controversy. Consumers seemed to ignore their chocolate cravings.

Remedy for the Worm Controversy

A focused and intense communications program was implemented over the next six months to rebuild credibility and restore confidence among the key stakeholders. The results:

• In media, the key message that infestation was a storage-linked problem, not manufacturing related , found widespread acceptance. Across the board, media carried Cadbury’s point-of-view on the issue.
• Sales volumes climbed back to almost to pre-crisis levels eight weeks after the launch of new packaging — a concrete step taken by the company to minimize the incidence of infestation. This reflected consumer confidence in the brand and the company.
• There was significant upward movement in ratings amongst consumers on parameters like company’s image, responsiveness of company and behavioral parameters like intention to buy Cadbury chocolates.

The last two helped to restore faith in the corporate brand among the trade and employees.

Marketing Challenges and Objectives

The incident came close on the heels of a cola controversy where a scientific laboratory declared colas unsafe due to high levels of pesticide. The jury was still out on that issue and so this incident acquired political overtones with parties decrying Cadbury as an irresponsible MNC. Andrea Dawson- Shepherd, Global Corporate Communication Counsel, Cadbury Schweppes called it ‘the worst worm infestation-related crisis anywhere in the world’.

The immediate objective was to get the following key messages across:

• Infestation could never occur at the manufacturing stage
• The problem was storage linked; this without alienating trade channels
• Cadbury Dairy Milk continued to be safe for consumption

The challenge was to restore confidence in the key stakeholders (trade and employees, particularly salespersons) and build back credibility for the corporate brand through the same channels (the media) that questioned it.

It was decided from the start to address the issue head-on and take whatever steps were necessary to restore confidence. Having historically maintained a low profile with the media and let its brands and its performance speak for it, the company began to cultivate relationships with the media and turn it into an ally and a credible, independent endorser to rebuild stakeholder confidence.

Phase 1: Presenting Cadbury’s View (October-December 2003)

The day the crisis broke, the agency set up a media desk to ensure that no media query went unanswered. From Day 1 every story carried Cadbury’s point of view. At the first media briefing organised by the agency, the Cadbury’s Managing Director addressed consumer concerns with the following key messages:

• Infestation is a storage linked problem.
• It is safe to eat Cadbury chocolates.
• Consumers must exercise the same care in purchasing a chocolate as they would when buying any food item.

At a second media briefing about two weeks after the first incident was reported, Cadbury announced significant steps to restore consumer confidence called Project Vishwas (Trust), this entailed:

• A retail monitoring and education program undertaken on a war footing to address storage problems.
• Significant packaging changes to ‘reduce dependency on storage conditions as much as possible’ –to be launched within two months.

An Editorial Outreach program with 31 media editors across 5 most affected cities was orchestrated by the agency to get senior Cadbury spokespeople to share their version of events in one-on-one meetings. The trade, and consumers, were reached nationally through a press ad ‘Facts about Cadbury’, released in 55 publications in 11 languages. It presented facts about Cadbury manufacturing and storage and highlighted corrective steps being taken by the company. This was a public statement of the corporate stand on the issue. The trade was supported with posters and leaflets to help them share Cadbury point-of-view with their customers. A response cell with a toll free number and an e-mail id were put in place to give trade a means to directly contact the company with any issues they faced- reinforcing the company’s commitment to quality. From the beginning, a series of town hall meetings were held with senior managers addressing employees

to ensure they were updated on the proactive actions being taken by Cadbury to manage media, help trade and ensure future occurrences of such incidents were kept to the minimum. Regular email updates from the MD were also used to communicate the company’s point of view and to ensure consistency of messaging since employees are the company’s ambassadors.

Phase 2: Packaging Change (January- March 2004)

The new ‘purity sealed’ packaging was launched in January 2004. By investing up to  Rs  15 crore (Rs 150 million) on imported machinery, Cadbury’s revamped the packaging of Dairy Milk. The metallic poly-flow, was costlier by 10-15 per cent, but Cadbury didn’t hike the pack price.This entailed double wrapping for maximum protection to reducing the possibility of infestation. This was a big step involving investment of millions of dollars and getting on stream a production process in 8 weeks, that would normally take about six months. To communicate these significant changes the company was making, Cadbury brought in a brand ambassador to reinforce the credibility that the company had demonstrated through its actions. Amitabh Bachchan , a legendary Indian film star, was chosen, as he embodied the values of Cadbury as a brand and connected with all of India – mothers, teenagers, children, media persons and trader partners.

A media conference was organized in Mumbai to launch the new packaging. And this was followed with press conferences in cities worst affected by the crisis – Pune and Nagpur in Maharashtra and Cochin in Kerala. In these conferences, media persons were encouraged to compare the old and new packs with an innovative comparison kit and experience the significant changes in packaging first hand. An audio visual with a message from Amitabh Bachchan, was beamed to build credibility and excitement. Given that much of the damage had come from television coverage, a video news release with packaging shots and factory shots was given to television channels to control the visual messaging. Simultaneously, senior Cadbury spokespersons had one-on-ones with the Editors of the Outreach program initiated in November 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 convincingly and confidently to the trade. The announcement of the new pack was done through a testimonial advertisement on TV called ‘Sincerity’. It consciously addressed the problem head-on, with the superstar talking straight into camera about how before doing the ad he first convinced himself about the quality of Cadbury chocolates by visiting the factory. Consumers respected the brand for not skirting the issue but acknowledging it and giving a solution to the problem. This was Public Relations using a TV Commercial to get key messages across!

Campaign Results:

• Media Coverage : The media relationship effort clearly helped in making media accept that the infestation was genuinely caused by storage-linked problems. From the start, all media reports carried the Cadbury’s point-of-view. Bad news automatically gets great coverage. However, the agency helped Cadbury get a total of 378 clips in over 11 languages covering the new packaging, and its benefits, in January 2004. The Business Today clip is a typical representation of the changed media perception and a better understanding of the problem over a three month period.
• Sales : Sales volumes, which declined drastically between week 1 and week 10 of crisis, climbed back almost to the pre-incident levels by week. within 8 weeks of introduction of new packaging and communication. This is a clear reflection of restoration of consumer and hence trade confidence in the corporate brand.
• Image : There was significant upward movement in ratings amongst consumers on parameters like company image, responsiveness of company and behavioral parameters like intention to buy Cadbury chocolates. While the new product introduction and advertising had their role to play in the changing consumer perceptions, the media’s positive coverage and the trade’s positive pre-disposition played a huge part in helping Cadbury regain its reputation in the market.

Role of Public Relations

Public Relations  concerns the total communications of your total organization/group of organizations. It is unlike advertising, where you are sharing skills of planning, creative and media buying teams with an out-sourced agency. PR calls for a very intimate understanding of the total inner workings of your organisation at all levels – workers to Board levels. It requires the integration of knowledge and communications. It is not a part time job for a Marketing Services Manager. If it is to work and serve the larger objective, the PR department should be independent, servicing others like production, personnel, marketing, finance, corporate agendas. Therefore, the PR Head should be part of the top management team – reporting directly to the CEO. He also needs to share everyone’s confidences.

The PR department of Cadbury’s played a very effective role in managing the reputation and keeping up the goodwill of the company.

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