CADBURY Dairy Milk Case study

On October 2003, just a month before Diwali, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner received complaints about infestation in two bars of Cadbur Dair !il", Cadbur #ndia$s flagship brand with over %0& mar"et share' (e ordered an en)uir and went directl to the media with a statement' Over the following 3*wee" period, resultant adverse media coverage touched close to +000 clips in print and +20 on ,- news channels' A ver bad controvers blew up at the festival season in 2003 when the chocolates sales are at their pea", when the compan was just have to shelve plans of becoming a major sourcing hub for .ritish chocolates and beverages giant Cadbur /chweppes' As part of a global realignment of its suppl chain management, the compan was giving finishing touches to a plan that might have seen Cadbur #ndia emerge as a major supplier of chocolates to the Asia*0acific region and the !iddle 1ast' #n #ndia, where Cadbur is s non mous with chocolate, the compan $s reputation and credibilit was under intense scrutin ' /ales volumes came down drasticall in the first +0 wee"s, which was the festival season2 retailer stoc"ing and

displa dropped, emplo ee morale 3 especiall that of the sales team 3 was sha"en ,he challenge was to restore confidence in the key stakeholders 4consumers, trade and emplo ees, particularl the sales team5 and build back credibility for the corporate brand through the same channels 4the media5 that had )uestioned it'

6emed 7
Marketing Challenges and Objectives ,he incident came close on the heels of a cola controvers where a scientific laborator declared colas unsafe due to high levels of pesticide' ,he jur was still out on that issue and so this incident ac)uired political overtones with parties decr ing Cadbur as an irresponsible !8C' Andrea Dawson* /hepherd, 9lobal Corporate Communication Counsel, Cadbur /chweppes called it :the worst worm infestation*related crisis an where in the world$' ,he immediate objective was to get the following "e messages across; #nfestation could never occur at the manufacturing stage ,he problem was storage lin"ed2 this without alienating trade channels Cadbur Dair !il" continued to be safe for consumption ,he challenge was to restore confidence in the "e sta"eholders 4trade and emplo ees, particularl

salespersons5 and build bac" credibilit for the corporate brand through the same channels 4the media5 that )uestioned it'

trategy
#t was decided from the start to address the issue head*on and ta"e whatever steps were necessar to restore confidence' (aving historicall maintained a low profile with the media and let its brands and its performance spea" for it, the compan began to cultivate relationships with the media and turn it into an all and a credible, independent endorser to rebuild sta"eholder confidence'
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,he da the crisis bro"e, the agenc set up a media des" to ensure that no media )uer went unanswered' From Da + ever stor carried Cadbur $s point of view'At the first media briefing organised b the agenc , the Cadbur $s !anaging Director addressed consumer concerns with the following "e messages; #nfestation is a storage lin"ed problem' #t is safe to eat Cadbur chocolates' Consumers must e<ercise the same care in purchasing a chocolate as the would when bu ing an food item' At a second media briefing about two wee"s after the first incident was reported, Cadbur announced significant steps to restore consumer confidence' Called 0roject -ishwas 4,rust5, this entailed;

 A retail monitoring and education program underta"en on a war footing to address storage problems' /ignificant pac"aging changes to :reduce dependenc on storage conditions as much as possible$ 3to be launched within two months' ,o communicate these significant changes the compan was ma"ing, Cadbur brought in a brand ambassador to reinforce the credibilit that the compan had demonstrated through its actions' Amitabh .achchan, a legendar #ndian film star, was chosen, as he embodied the values of Cadbur as a brand and connected with all of #ndia 3 mothers, teenagers, children, media persons and trader partners' A media conference was organi=ed in !umbai to launch the new pac"aging' And this was followed with press conferences in cities worst affected b the crisis 3 0une and 8agpur in !aharashtra and Cochin in >erala' #n these conferences, media persons were encouraged to compare the old and new pac"s with an innovative comparison "it and e<perience the significant changes in pac"aging first hand An audio visual with a message from Amitabh .achchan, was beamed to build credibilit and e<citement' 9iven that much of the damage had come from television coverage, a video news release with pac"aging shots and factor shots was given to television channels to control the visual messaging' /imultaneousl , senior Cadbur spo"espersons

had one*on*ones with the 1ditors of the Outreach program initiated in 8ovember 2003' Another audio visual with a message from the star was used in a series of sales conferences to enthuse and reassure salespersons' And this helped to rebuild confidence in the salespersons to go and sell the product more convincingl and confidentl to the trade' ,he announcement of the new pac" was done through a testimonial advertisement on ,called :/incerit $' #t consciousl addressed the problem head*on, with the superstar tal"ing straight into camera about how before doing the ad he first convinced himself about the )ualit of Cadbur chocolates b visiting the factor ' Consumers respected the brand for not s"irting the issue but ac"nowledging it and giving a solution to the problem ,his was 0ublic 6elations using a ,- Commercial to get "e messages across?

Results
Media Coverage; ,he media relationship effort clearl helped in ma"ing media accept that the infestation was genuinel caused b storage*lin"ed problems' From the start, all media reports carried the Cadbur $s point*of*view' .ad news automaticall gets great coverage' (owever, the agenc helped Cadbur get a total of 3%@ clips in over ++ languages covering the new pac"aging, and its benefits, in Aanuar 200B' ,he .usiness ,oda clip is a t pical representation of the changed media perception and a better understanding of the problem over a three month period'

ales; /ales volumes, which declined drasticall between wee" + and wee" +0 of crisis, climbed bac" almost to the pre*incident levels b wee"' within @ wee"s of introduction of new pac"aging and communication' ,his is a clear reflection of restoration of consumer and hence trade confidence in the corporate brand

,mage; ,here was significant upward movement in ratings amongst consumers on parameters li"e compan image, responsiveness of compan and behavioral parameters li"e intention to bu Cadbur chocolates' Chile the new product introduction and advertising had their role to pla in the changing consumer perceptions, the media$s positive coverage and the trade$s positive pre*disposition pla ed a huge part in helping Cadbur regain its reputation in the mar"et' ,he 06 department of Cadbur $s pla ed a ver effective role in managing the reputation and "eeping up the goodwill of the compan '