Product Life Cycle Of Cadbury

Dairy Milk
Published: 23, March 2015

Cadbury chocolates was started in Birmingham in 1824 by John Cadbury.

Chocolate in those days was a very elitist product. Cadbury Dairy Milk came
up with the mix of milk and chocolate tray which is pretty much how the
product still is. There has been no drastic change in the recipe of the product
but the packaging and the representation and prominence of the 'glass and
half of milk' logo has changed over a period of time.

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Cadbury India began its operations in 1948 by importing chocolates and then
re-packing them before distribution in the Indian market. Today, Cadbury has
five company-owned manufacturing facilities at Thane, Induri (Pune) and
Malanpur (Gwalior), Bangalore and Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) and 4 sales
offices (New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkota and Chennai). Its corporate office is in
Mumbai.Worldwide, (http://www.iloveindia.com/economy-of-india/top-50companies/cadbury-india.html)
A Timeline:
1904 A new recipe is perfected by George Cadbury for milk chocolate.
1905 Cadbury launches Dairy Milk onto the market - a new milk chocolate
that contains far more milk than anything previously tasted and with a unique
creamy taste.
1913 Dairy Milk becomes Cadbury's best selling line.
Mid 1920s Dairy Milk becomes UK brand leader - a position it still enjoys
today.
1928 Fruit & Nut is introduced as a variation of Dairy Milk. The "glass and a
half" advertising slogan is introduced.
1933 WholeNut is added to the Dairy Milk family.
1948 Cadbury Dairy Milk is sold in India

1998 Dairy Milk is re-launched with the new and modern pack design, but its
recipe and unique taste are still very similar to the original recipe.
2005 Cadbury Dairy Milk celebrates its 100th birthday.
(http://www.innovation.cadbury.com/allaboutus/ourbrands/featurebrands/Page
s/CadburyDairyMilk2.aspx?TabIndex=1)

Brand Identity : Kapferer's model

Stage in the Product Life Cycle
Cadbury Dairy Milk is in the maturity stage of the product Life cycle. It
currently has a market share of 70% in the chocolate market and is way
ahead of its competitors. There is a high degree of brand awareness. The
colour purple and the 'glass and half full' logo is amongst the most recognised
logos and the association of the two with Cadbury Dairy Milk is synonymous.

Market Scenario/Challenges
According to AC Nielson study of 2007:

Facts & Figures

The Indian Chocolate market is estimated to beat around 1500crores.
It is growing at the rate of 18-20% per annum
With 72% of the market share in India, Cadbury is the market leader.

Companies
The 2 main competitors in the Indian market that Cadbury faces any
competition from are Nestle and Amul.
There are several new and local brands like Candico, Sweet World etc. which
are trying to make its presence felt.

Consumer Trends

The Mithaai or sweet has been the tradition in India so far. Chocolates are
noow trying to break into that league and hence faces stiff competition more
from this product category than its immediate competitors.
Chocolates are more of an impulse buy.
Consumers are preferring chocolates to Mithaai because of proper packaging,
longer shelf life, mid-range pricing and convenience.
Consumers have started showing interest in not just milk chocolates but other
varieties like Dark Chocolate etc.
One of the major challenges that Cadbury Dairy Milk faces is a decline in
sales due to new variants being introduced in the market by other brands
which could result in the product moving from maturity to decline stage.
Another major challenge comes from a different product category altogether
which is the Indian Sweets or Mithaai.

Steps taken by brand at each stage- at a

communication and product level
Introduction
Cadbury Dairy Milk advertising has always depicted a rich tapestry of human
emotions and relationships. In the 1980s, it was positioned as 'the perfect
expression of love', captured in memorable copy: 'sometimes Cadbury can
say it better than words'. During the early1990s, Cadbury Dairy Milk
emphasised its international identity, communicating that it was the 'real taste
of chocolate'. In 1994 came the path-breaking 'real taste of life' campaign. The
ad featuring a woman running on the cricket field celebrating the victory is still
strongly etched in our mind even today. This campaign created a dramatic
shift in the way chocolates were perceived. Cadbury Dairy Milk has
increasingly become trapped as a reward or bribe for children and this
campaign unshackled the brand by re-positioning it to the 'free-child' in every
adult. Cadbury Dairy Milk redefined itself as the perfect expression of
spontaneous, shared good feelings, providing the 'real taste of life'
experience. The strategy paid off: Brand Cadbury grew by over 50% in sales
volumes. (Super brands)

Growth
Then in 1998, the next stage of growth for the brand dealt with popularising
consumption in a social context, especially in more traditional settings like
weddings. With the campaign 'Khaanein waallon ko khaanein ka bahana
chahiye' featuring Cyrus Broacha, Cadbury Dairy Milk aimed to substantially
increase penetration levels. The campaign was launched in tandem with the
award winning 'Kuchh khaas hai...'campaign and the media strategy was to let
the two co-exist towards a common vision: 'A Cadbury in every pocket'. The
brand penetrated into smaller towns and sales volumes grew by 40% (Source:
Internal Sales Data). (Super brands)

Crisis Management
The worm controversy resulted in Cadbury's brand image taking a beating.
They had to recall a batch of chocolates. Instead of taking any short term
measures, Cadbury used this opportunity to take action and rebuild the trust of
people. They launched a project 'Vishwas' which educated retailers and
wholesalers on storage and other aspects apart from educating consumers.
The other major step was to change the packaging. The company's
repackaging exercise, which used a combination of packaging technologies,
was unprecedented in the category. With the redesigned packaging in place,
the company decided to communicate the measures it had taken to safeguard
quality standards. To add credibility to its pitch, Cadbury took recourse to
Amitabh Bachchan's deep baritone. This was the first time that a celebrity was
used to endorse Cadbury Dairy Milk. The commercial did wonders to
consumer confidence.
A series of ads with Bachchan including "Pappu Paas ho Gaya" to "Miss
Palampur" brought back the lost credibility of the people. With Bachchan they
also launched their new positioning of "Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye" bringing in the
tradition of celebrating a joyous occasion in India with sweets and now
Cadbury Dairy Milk in particular.

Maturity

The focus for a period shifted to taking the concept of "Kuch Meetha Ho
Jaaye" further. The "Pehli Tareekh Hai" campaigns talked about the
importance of having Dairy Milk and celebrating on getting your pay on payday. The ads had a very retro-feel to it and did click with the audience. But, it
is the recent string of "Shubh Aarambh" ads that have brought back the old
charm of Cadbury Dairy Milk with its very interesting insight of mixing the
traditional with the new age.

Summary
Cadbury Dairy Milk has adapted itself to the Indian market quite impressively.
From making a sweet eating nation to switch to chocolates to becoming the
market leader, Cadbury Dairy Milk has done it all because of the emotional
connect it established with the consumers. Its communication also always
focused on the emotional aspects and feelings of life apart from spontaneity.
Its communication has always showcased its values and personality. In my
opinion, the 'Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye" concept is a goldmine which can be
used in a variety of ways in a country like India."