By SALONI DUTTA
Q] What’s the marketing strategy and media mix at play with the launch of Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Bubbly in India?
We started planning the launch of Silk Bubbly over a year ago because the aerated chocolate and bubbly as a platform is one of our most successful platforms in the world. The strategy was to continue to drive the premium end of the chocolate market with new innovations. If we look at the area of premium chocolates where Silk plays, consumers at that end are constantly looking for new news. We provided that last year with the launch of Caramello which was India’s first centre filled tablet and then we brought in Bubbly this year. That is what we have realised that we will keep having to do; excite people with new news all the time and yet at the same time keep the quality of Silk and the indulgent experience of the brand intact as we go forward.
Q] Cadbury recently launched two new limited edition flavours. Can you share with us the thought process and the marketing objective behind the ‘Add a flavour, add a friend’ campaign?
What we did with the flavourism campaign is that we brought two very wonderful parts of the Cadbury portfolio together – one, which is the entire relationship of friendships which is core to what the category brand stands for and secondly, what Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) can actually help consumers do, which is to grow their friendships. And the idea was just that - each friend brings its own little nuance to a relationship and in the same way CDM has so many different flavours that it can offer and that led to ‘Add a flavour, add a friend’. We launched the campaign and new flavours around Friendship Day this year and had outlets giving away a few stickers with messages such as ‘I think you are the nuttiest friend that I have’ which customers could put on a CDM pack and make it a personalised message to their friends. Or you could get Friendship Day bands and you could also sample the product. We spent a lot of time getting into direct contact with the consumer and that has worked really well for us.
Q] How has your foray into premium chocolates with Bournville, Temptations, Cadbury Glow, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Caramello panned out? Is it sustainable?
If you look at the various segments in chocolates, the premium segment is the one which is doing the best and is actually led by Cadbury’s with both Silk and then Bournville. Glow was a natural extension into the premium gifting space and it has lived up to our first year ambitions. If I look at Bournville, it is a niche opportunity right now because dark chocolate is an acquired taste. But we also know is that once a consumer does get converted to dark chocolate, he or she is going to stay with the brand for a very long time. Bournville is a brand that we are also going to continue to focus on, over the next few years, and I think the combination of Glow, Silk and Bournville makes it a very potent portfolio at the premium end.
Q] What is the plan at play to leverage the abilities brought to the table by digital media –especially social media which would be crucial to a space like chocolates?
We use social media at two levels. One is where we use social media to announce our new launches and to bring those launches to life. We also use social media to engage with consumers because beyond the new news of a launch there is an on-going conversation that we love to have with our consumers. And during festival time it is our festive portfolio with Celebrations where we bring that to life. We use digital media in these two manners, and I think the engagement part is what gives us a lot of confidence and shows us that there is a tremendous amount of brand love out there.
Q] How radically have you seen the media mix evolve?
The biggest evolution in the media mix is the way we are playing in the digital space and how it is now almost effortlessly part of all our campaigns. And I say effortlessly, because now there are times when we say that we won’t go on x or y mainstream media but we will definitely do digital, which is something that didn’t happen a few years back. We have reached a stage where we are not questioning digital anymore; we are questioning maybe some of the other media. So that is a big change that has happened with us.
Q] What are the challenges you see in expanding your share of the Indian market?
As per Neilsen we are closer to 65% share of the market and there is a big gap between us and the next player. What that means is we to play dual roles of driving and expanding the category, and at the same time, we also have to occupy the different spaces within the category to retain our shares and grow them. And it is this dual role that requires the kind of portfolio, be it premium, mainstream or the pricepoint segments, which we have built up in Cadburys’ over time. And that is what helps us play across all segments. Each brand has its own role, both in terms of meeting the needs of the consumer as well as growing the category and that is how we manage to do both – grow the business as well as hold our shares and grow them over time.
Q] How does distribution add to the company’s plan in expanding the market share?
Distribution plays a role at two ends. One is at the premium end, where we are focussing a lot on getting the right infrastructure, right down to the retail point, which means a cold chain infrastructure going all the way down to retail so that people get a great quality product when they consume it. And this has been a big investment from our side and there is no other player even close to where we are in terms of putting this kind of investment in the market. What we also have at the other end, is rural chain, where there is still room to grow. We have a strategy in place here and are looking at a sensible and phased expansion.
Q] For the festive season, which is an annual affair, how difficult does it get to re-invent the wheel when it comes to the communication?
When you have a very well-defined brand like Cadbury with its different pillars each brand has a very clear role in terms of the emotional benefits that it offers the consumers and the role in their lives. What we do is that we look at the lives of the consumers and get insights from there on what we should do in our advertising. And that is a process that we keep repeating. But it is such a rich space, most of the relationships in which Cadbury plays a role that we are never short of new ideas which we can use, in fact, we are often spoilt for choice and therefore coming out with a campaign idea for Cadbury’s is a pleasure.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Mondelez India Foods Private Ltd. (formerly Cadbury India Ltd.) is a part of Mondelez International and is in the business of creating delicious moments of joy. It operates in five categories – chocolate, beverages, biscuits and gums and candy and has been a chocolate category leader since its inception in India for over six decades. Cadbury Dairy Milk, CDM Silk, Celebrations, Bournville, 5-Star, Perk, Gems, Glow and Toblerone are brands available in India under the chocolate category. The beverage portfolio consists of Bournvita and Tang. Oreo is a part of its biscuit portfolio, while gum and candies consist of Halls and Choclairs.
FACTS
CREATIVE AGENCY: OGILVY & MATHER, CONTRACT INDIA
MEDIA AGENCY: MADISON, KINETIC
DIGITAL AGENCY: MADISON DIGITAL, DIGITASLBI, GREY, OGILVYONE WORLDWIDE
BTL AGENCY : CANDID MARKETING, KINETIC, MADISON
PR AGENCY: PERFECT RELATIONS
CMO FILE
As Director, Chocolates, India Prashant Peres is responsible for spearheading the chocolates categories. His role includes delivering the strategy and landing the overall innovation and communication agenda on these brands and delivering the P&L for this category, in India. Peres joined Cadbury India in February 2014, to lead Beverages, Gum and Candy and Marketing Services, prior to which he was working with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) as the Regional Vice President, Foods, South Asia. Peres has worked across sales, distribution, marketing and general management functions in categories like Ice-cream, Personal Care and Foods across regions of South Asia, South East Asia and the Turkey, Middle-East
MARKETING TIP
Stay very close to consumers and talk to them not through the lens of your brand or category but through the lens of their lives.
Feedback: saloni.dutta@exchange4media.com
