How Mondelez made Cadbury pour like a melting lava in our hearts?

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Mondelez India, makers of the most loved snacking brands like Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury Bournvita, Oreo, have recently launched yet another lip-smacking product - Cadbury Oreo Milkshake Mix. Bringing together the two power brands of Mondelez - Oreo, and Cadbury, the company aims to make elements of both products outshine in the Indian market. In 2018, Mondelez tied up with Hindustan Unilever (HUL) to ease the entry of Cadbury into the world of frozen dessert. This partnership rolled out “Oreo Cornetto” and “Oreo And Cream” tubs in the country. Kwality Wall’s is owned by HUL which is all set to usher in “Cadbury Crackle Tub” in Indian households.

By focusing on categories other than its core chocolate category, Cadbury has become an inevitable part of our lives with kids, teens, young lovers, friends, and oldies sharing the same level of happiness. Making its name synonymous with ‘Chocolate’, Cadbury has marked its presence everywhere from a congratulatory gift to Festival hampers. On the other hand, Oreo has left its mark by being one of the most famous chocolate sandwich biscuits in the world. No doubt, a combination of the two can yet create another history. But what is it that makes this brand so successful?

Welcome to Cadbury’s Thinkistan

Cadbury has captured the entire Indian market- kids, teenagers, adults, and oldies, in its syrupy net. What is the recipe for this syrup?

Although Cadbury hit the Indian markets in 1948, it was only in 1905, when it introduced the Dairy Milk chocolate, that it took the market by storm.

Cadbury was given a new face when Mondelez International (Kraft Foods) took ownership of the company in 2010. At present, Cadbury India operates in five categories – chocolate confectionery, beverages, biscuits, cakes. Today, it has expanded itself in the milkshake market as well with its popular products being Dairy Milk, Oreo, Tang, Bournvita, and so on. What sets Cadbury apart from others is its creative mix of marketing strategies.

Cadbury – The Confectionery that Rules

Cadbury is undoubtedly one of the most loved confectioneries in the world, which has launched a plethora of unique products since its inception. The brand's popularity is evident from the fact that Mondelez India recorded a double-digit jump this year. In the period between January to March, this growth was significantly attributed to greater buying of chocolates, biscuits, and beverages. Interestingly, the global management appreciated the Indian team for registering a “higher than Covid-rate” of growth.

First time in 70 years, the brand replaced its logo with 'Thank You'. Citing reason why did the brand decided to tweak, Anil Viswanathan, Senior Director Marketing at Mondelēz International said, “We want to stand for something and inspire people to do something. We have realized that we need to do something ourselves. In a way, it is a brand trying to say that we are also out there and not just asking consumers to do something. We want to stand before the emotion that we talk about. Cadbury chocolate bars say ‘Thank You’, in 8 languages, to COVID-19 unsung heroes are our small efforts to be meaningful in this situation.”

“Our core objective is to service the consumer. Understanding consumer needs in this situation is really important. Don't go on sales mode. We need to work harder to reestablish the Brand connect”, remarked Viswanathan.

Despite facing fierce competition in the market from the biggest confectioneries in the world such as Hershey’s, Mars, Nestle, etc., Cadbury has managed to stay afloat in the business creatively handling all the fluctuations and competitions head-on. Its aim of not catering to a specific target or income group but anyone and everyone made it everyone's favourite.

This is because the demand for confectionery is highly-price elastic and value for money is a key part of the purchase decision.

Cadbury’s Target Audience

Cadbury did not want to establish itself as an income group-specific brand, hence it ensured that their products ranged from a meager amount of few rupees to a thousand, thus covering the entire demographic profile of the society. It applies a reasonable and affordable policy to charge the price from its competitors, as its vision is that of Cadbury in every pocket. 

Cadbury has a niche for each income group. It has inexpensive toffees and chocolates for kids and people who cannot afford expensive chocolates to luxurious chocolates, gift hampers for people who want to associate class and status with their chocolates, like Bournville and Temptations. It has chocolates for every occasion and section of society. 

Age-wise breakdown of Cadbury India’s offerings

Cadbury Dairy Milk: The Real Taste of Life

“The Real Taste of Life” was the multi-award-winning campaign launched by Cadbury in the ’90s. This was created to capture the child's spontaneity present in every adult. From the old man offering his wife the Cadbury Dairy Milk to the girl dancing in a crowded stadium, the campaign captures the impulsiveness of a life well. It was also awarded the title of “Campaign of the Century” by Abby (Ad Club, Mumbai).

Most recently, “Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye” associated Cadbury Dairy Milk with celebratory occasions and festivals. The “Pappu Pass Ho Gaya” campaign caught the pulse of the Indian consumers, and bagged a Bronze Lion at the prestigious Cannes Advertising Festival in 2006 for “Best use of the internet and new media.” 

The idea behind the “Pappu Pass Ho Gaya” marketing campaign involved a tie-up with Reliance India mobile service and allowed students to check their exam results using their internet services. The campaign encouraged those who passed the examinations to celebrate their day with Cadbury Dairy Milk. So much so that the “Pappu Pass Ho Gaya” phrase became a part of the Indian street language. It has been well-received and adopted by consumers to express their joy in moments of achievement.

Cadbury Dairy Milk- A Product that always Rules

Cadbury Dairy Milk’s marketing mix covers in its ambit 4Ps- Product, Pricing, Place, and Promotion. A range of reasons has helped Cadbury reach where it is today- customer experience, product pricing and innovation, marketing investment, and so on. But besides what every brand does, Cadbury stands out in its employment of extraordinary marketing techniques. 

On Every Hand Everywhere- Cadbury is the market leader in confectionery and sales. Their sales team plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the products are not only in the malls and supermarkets but in small shops as well. This way, they can target all segments of their customers. For this, Cadbury started promoting itself by distributing “free” goods. For example, If a retailer buys Cadbury chocolates worth Rs.3000, he/she gets 30 chocolates worth Rs.5 each for free.

Not only this, to increase the visibility of its products, they give purple metal dispensers to every shop where their chocolates are stocked up. It sits on the cash counter, providing enough visibility, ease of vending, and protection from other elements. This is also placed in such a manner that buyers are nudged into buying it. 

In summers, the visibility for chocolates drops because they are stored in refrigerators. For this purpose, Cadbury provided visi-coolers in high throughput outlets that keep the products cool while also maintaining their visibility.

Celebrating Cadbury Everyday

In 2009, Cadbury renovated its product “Perk” and launched “Perk with Glucose Energy”. This innovation was aimed to appeal to the taste buds of new consumers. It was mainly targeted at 14 to 18 year-olds. This offer was backed by significant advertising that said, “Naya Perk with Glucose Energy” encompassing TV, Outdoor, tie-ups, and sampling activities. It offered two pieces in each pack affordably priced at Rs.5 for 21 grams.

As far as 5 Star was concerned, consumers complained that it was too chewy and that it stuck to their teeth. The new 5 Star, launched as 5 Star Crunchy, was made softer and it melted easily in the mouth.

Cadbury also launched a new product “Rich Dry Fruit Collection” for gifting during the festive season. The product was available in attractive packs that cater to a premium gifting consumer and is an ideal festive gift. The premium dry fruits and the best Cadbury chocolates are combined uniquely to create this collection. Another product “Cadbury Celebrations” has efficiently managed to make itself synonymous with every festival. Using the product, Cadbury celebrated the sanctity of bonds and kept the emotions intact in its brand communication.

With the simple yet powerful tagline, “Kuch Meetha ho Jaye” Dairy Milk embarked on a challenging journey to establish itself as much more than just a bar of chocolate, it wanted to be a sweet, a dessert, thus broadening its niche dramatically.

Cadbury with these creative ads subtly captured emotions, making sure the ads were hitting just the right chord of human emotions and made a lasting impression in its target audience's minds.

Blending Cadbury and Oreo together

The all-new-product innovation by Mondelez India- “Cadbury Oreo Milkshake Mix”, has witnessed the creation of a “perfect indulgent drink”, empowering people to snack right. The milkshake launched by Nestle India could not capture the constantly evolving consumer tastes and preferences. With the launch of the brand-new Cadbury Oreo Milkshake Mix, priced at INR 175 for 200 grams, the thick milkshake provides the right snack, for the right moment, which is made the right way.

What sets Oreo apart is its relatively foreign taste to Indian tongues. At first, Oreo came with its cookies in Vanilla flavor. It soon gained a wide market because of two main reasons - the taste and versatile construct; as well as the right marketing strategy blended with some shades of experimentation. Oreo hit the Indian market just six years back, and today, India is one of the top 5 markets for the Oreo brand, the largest selling biscuit all over the world.

But how does someone know if they are being served the real Oreo in their milkshake or paan?

Sudhanshu Nagpal, the Head of the biscuits category of Mondelez India relies on Oreo’s different, “unique” texture and taste. He says that this is what is the brand’s biggest USP (unique selling proposition). He knows that people are searching for an “Oreo experience” in a range of products that only Oreo can provide.

Happily Married - Cadbury Chocolate and Mishti

It is widely known that when it comes to devising perfect marketing strategies, Cadbury leaves no stone unturned. It knows the extent to which Indians love sweets, given the industry size of traditional sweets is about $10 billion. Chocolate Dairy Milk (CDM) wanted to gain market share in West Bengal, one of the sizable sweet-consuming markets in India. 

Getting into the roots of West Bengal

What CDM did was it identified the traditionalists and bearers of Bengali cultural heritage as chefs and celebrities. A strategy was carefully devised to make these people along with sweetshop owners the evangelists of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate. They organised the challenges to create new kinds of traditional sweets using CDM. When local celebs were called upon to become the face of sweet shops, it nudged the Bengali populace to submit their recipes.

The result was CDM sold 80 new varieties of chocolate-mishti (sweet). Besides this, 2 million pieces of CDM-mishti were sold during the campaign with extensive PR coverage. The consumer metric even deduced that ‘CDM as a preferred sweet’ escalated by 32%. This was possible only because CDM used the right expression. It turned its barriers around, using them in a completely distinct manner thereby, defying age-old practices. 

Kya Swad Hai Zindagi Mein 

“Kya Swad Hai Zindagi Mein” defined in a new way the way Indians looked at Cadbury Chocolates. This theme brought instant growth to CDM, it not only ran successfully for about four years but also struck a chord with the Indian audience.

It is typically said that chocolates are eaten only when everyone is happy, and most mainstream advertising has portrayed it too. But chocolates are eaten under a variety of conditions and moods- when people are anxious, sad, or happy. Keeping in mind a whole range of emotions, chocolates become our best friends, a true soulmate- someone who stays with us through all the ups and downs as life moves on, and helps you bounce back. And that is what Cadbury’s Dairy Milk juxtaposed itself as - a BFF (best friend forever)

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