Table of Contents

1.Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………1

2. Website Analysis …….........………………………………………………………………1

2.1 Features & Utility………………...……………………………………....…….2

2.2 Aesthetics & Design……………………………………………………………2

2.3 Content & Readability……………………………………….…………………3
2.4 Quality & Credibility………………………………………...…………………4
2.5 Search Engine Optimization……………………………………………………4
2.6 Web Analytics………………………………………………………………….5
3. Digital Channels…………………………………………………………………………...5

4. Attempts to Boost Digital Presence………………………………………………………..6

5. Response to Covid-19 through Digital Marketing…………………………………………6

6. SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………………………………7

7. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..8

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1. Introduction
Theobroma Patisserie and Café is a Parsi family owned chain of eateries across India. The term
theobroma literally translates to “Food of the Gods'' from its Greek origins and is also that botanical
word assigned to the cocoa plant. Theobroma commenced their journey when they opened the
doors of their small shop in Colaba, Mumbai in 2004. Over the years, Theobroma witnessed
unprecedented growth which led to them to expand to different locations across the country.
Theobroma never invested in traditional marketing mediums and for the longest time, it relied on
word of mouth marketing. However with the increasing importance of digitalization, having a
digital presence became crucial to keeping in sync with the younger generation. Realizing its value,
Theobroma created its website 2010. Digital marketing is therefore becoming a valuable asset for
not just Theobroma but all companies as it becomes more and more prevalent. It has various
advantages, the most important ones being the low costs of it as compared to traditional marketing
mediums as well as the transparency in tracking progress of campaigns and popular products. The
panic brought on by the pandemic also gave a push to companies to move towards digital
marketing with reduced finances for operations and most restaurants and eateries solely surviving
on deliveries. Most companies and brands including traditional cafes, restaurants and eateries are
moving towards establishing a strong digital presence. Moreover, in an age where individuals
between 15-40 spend a considerable amount of their day on social media channels and often glued
to their electronic devices, utilizing digital mediums has emerged as an effective marketing
strategy with companies witnessing considerable increases in revenues after adoption of the same.
Theobroma too jumped the bandwagon to keep up with the growing competition.

2. Website Analysis
A website is one of the most crucial aspects of digital marketing. Not only does a company’s
website establish credibility and trust for its users, it is also a means to increase revenue streams
through increasing recognition and reaching a wider audience. Websites have the ability to
transcend boundaries much more efficiently than traditional marketing mediums like
advertisements, etc. The digital revolution along with the internet of things has spurred on
companies to establish an official company website. However, not all websites have a positive
impact on a company’s image. The website design is crucial to ensure that the website has a

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profitable effect for a company. Though Theobroma started its operations in 2004, its website was
established only six years later, in September, 2010.

2.1 Features & Utility

Theobroma has various subpages under page heading listed
including a Homepage, Our Story, Kainnaz Messman, Our
Products, Orders, Corporate Offerings, Events &
Occasions, Locations, Contact Us and Careers
(Theobroma, 2016). The website also has a side drop
feedback option which provides customers with an option
to submit feedback instantly. The navigation is easy with
each link leading to a new page with the content laid out in
a similar format, maintaining consistency. The clear and
simple format of Theobroma’s website makes its utility comfortable for users. The website is user-
friendly, it takes minimal time to open all pages and subpages on the website. It has also integrated
its social media platforms below the page heading, allowing users to seamlessly transition to their
social media channels. However, the website also has some major flaws given that its rates only
54/100 according to Google page insights indicating a need for upgradation (Page Speed Insights,
2021). One unique aspect is that under location is that the page has a detailed description of all the
addresses of Theobroma stores in the country, neatly arranged city wise. While this feature
provides important information, the logic behind it is now redundant as people nowadays use
Google maps for this purpose. The website uses over 25 technologies for its website including
HTML5, Google Fonts, etc. It is responsive and compatible on all devices.

2.2 Aesthetics and Design

Aesthetics and design of the website is one of the most important aspects of a website’s structure.
Aesthetics include the brand colours used. Here colour psychology plays a major role, which talks
about the influence of colours on consumer behaviour. According to studies, using the right colours
can increase visits by 24%. (Sabanovic, 2017). Moreover, it takes only 90 seconds for customers
to form an opinion about a website, of which colour constitutes about 60% (Patel, 2021). This is
part of the emotional value aspect driving a website. Theobroma utilizes its five brand colours

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which include pastel tones of pink, blue, green, white and brown across its website as well as other
digital channels. The website design was done by Elsie Nanji, head of Red Lion by Publicis, an
advertising company based in London.

It is suggested that a website should not utilize more than 3-4 tones. While the pastel colours of
pink green and blue used by Theobroma are pleasant, the white and green checkered picnic sheet
used as background may prove to be distracting. Under design, information architecture, site map
blueprint and wireframes of the website are analyzed. Information architecture describes the
organization, labelling and navigation layout schemes of the website whereas the blueprint talks
about the layout and structure of the website. Theobroma’s website is organized in a structured
and neat format with page headings on the left side and a banner on top which is constant across
all website pages, with its different content. The homepage does not contain written information,
but a carousel of photographs of their products.

2.3 Content and Readability

One of the most important elements of a website is the content provided by the company, because
the primary focus of a website is making the content accessible. This however does not mean that
the website should be heavy on information. There should be a balance between textual
information and graphics. The concept of satisficing is often considered while analyzing the
content for its readability. Satisficing focuses on satisfactory experience instead of an optimal one.
It talks about putting minimum effort and which satisfies the short attention span often observed
amongst today's generations (Friedman, 2021). Another important aspect considered while
assessing the readability aspect is the way individuals scan websites. Users do not follow a linear
pattern of sequential reading. Instead a zigzag path is followed. Theobroma uses a brown shade
for its heading against a white background which has a comparatively lower contrast level making

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it not as clear. However, the content is written in black against white background making it easy
to read. The content is organized neatly with short and easy sentences making it readable.

2.4 Quality and Credibility

It is essential that the content provided is of high quality and credible (Malllon, 2014). Too much
information available across platforms tends to confuse users. Therefore it is essential that a
website provides high quality credible information. Theobroma, has only one website and domain.
Its information is available on its official website, Zomato, Swiggy and FOOYAS which directly
comes from the official website. Moreover, the website does not have any advertisements, keeping
the user focus solely on the brand’s content quality.

2.5 Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization talks about increasing the quantity and quality of website traffic
through organic keyword based search on a search engine. A strong SEO ensures that the website
generates good traffic and increases its reach. It follows a step by step process upon putting
relevant keywords. The search bot crawls and scans the website for keywords upon which links
are ranked on the search engine result page in order of relevance (Muller, 2021). This depends on
the ability of the company to have keywords and alt tags on their images that can be identified by
crawlers. According to uber suggests, Theobroma finds the right type of keywords in their search
engine optimization with 3,846 organic keywords which is considered fairly good (Ubersuggest,
2021). Theobroma has 83 indexed pages on Google, indicating a considerable presence online.
However, its photos do not have alt tags, which basically describe the pictures available on the
internet in less than hundred characters. While this concept was used for describing pictures to
visually disabled users, it acts as a useful tool for SEO. Overall, Theobroma has a strong SEO, as
upon searching the term Theobroma, the first link displayed is the official site. Moreover, upon
searching keywords like patisserie cafe, brownie, patisserie. It ranks 3rd, 5th, and 14th respectively
on Google maps, indicating it has a fairly decent presence on Google My business, which helps
drive local business for a brand through SEO.

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2.6 Web Analytics
Theobroma is ranked 24,212 in the country on the basis of its monthly visits on its website which
stand at 54,308 per month (Crunchbase, 2020). The average time spent on its website is 109
seconds with users visiting 3 pages on the website before bouncing to other platforms.

The above data is as of 26th December, 2020 and clearly depicts the website performance. The
website has improved in terms of monthly visits, but the duration of the visits has decreased.

3. Digital Channels
Theobroma utilizes multiple channels to establish its presence across various groups. It has a
Facebook page, which was established in June, 2009, prior to its website development. It has a
following of 33k started. They also have a strong presence on Instagram with over 50k organic
followers. However, given the fact that they began their Instagram page in 2015, the growth seems
staggered in terms of reach through the number of followers. Despite their staggered growth, they
continue to maintain active accounts on both the platforms with daily updates of their stores and
products on Instagram and Facebook stories. It is also registered on Swiggy and Zomato which
provides further recognition and reach for the brand. They have partnered up with Dunzo as their
official delivery partner to deliver their products to customers where aggregators like Zomato and
Swiggy do not deliver. This further boosts their reach and ensures additional revenue streams. It
also has a blog on FOODYAS, a global restaurant directory, which also offers the option of email
alerts on new updates and information. This makes up for the lack of a newsletter by the brand.

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4. Attempts to Boost Its Digital Presence
In 2019, Theobroma joined Facebook’s drive through
its VC Brand Incubator program to build the digital
presence of small and medium sized businesses in
India. Theobroma was one of the first companies to join
in as while it was a big brand, its digital recall value was
lacking (Alawadhi, 2019). Post this, an increase was
observed in its Facebook following. Theobroma also
held a multi-agency pitch for expanding its digital
presence. This pitch was won by DViO, a global
marketing company aimed to remodel brands in a
highly interconnected world. This mandate means that DViO will be in-charge of the creative and
digital marketing elements for Theobroma and will work as a partner to enhance its digital presence
(Patel, 2019). Theobroma also maintains a highly active Instagram and Facebook page, keeping
viewers up to date with regards to the operations and progress of the company. The company used
to occasionally conduct giveaways on Facebook as a means to engage with users. However they
discontinued this after the initial years.

5. Response to Covid-19 through Digital Marketing

The restaurant industry was devastated by the Covid 19 pandemic. A survey conducted during the
initial days of the lockdown relaxing indicated that less than 34% people considered dining out
safe in Delhi and NCR. This statistic is an indication of how severely the industry was affected.
Theobroma too suffered considerable loss of revenue during the lockdown phase. However, the
company was quick to bounce back. While restaurants were still not allowed to open and certain
relaxations were being announced, Theobroma tied up with Amazon Fresh to provide baked
products like tea cakes, cookies breads etc. specifically in Mumbai. This allowed a small amount
of revenue to trickle in to support the fixed costs incurred. Upon opening, Theobroma specifically
utilized Instagram as a medium to bring awareness regarding the precautions they were taking.
Instagram is one of the most popularly used social media channels and proves to be an effective
medium of communication. This was done by creating a highlight on Instagram. Facebook too
featured several posts showcasing the precautions taken by the company to create a safe work

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environment and depict extreme hygiene and sanitation practices. In light of the Covid pandemic,
this proved to be an effective strategy as the average time spent by users on such social media
channels had increased threefold. This allowed them to reach even those people who may not be
aware of the brand.

6. SWOT
A SWOT analysis was created to analyze the digital environment of Theobroma, upon which
strategies have been suggested that can help enhance its digital presence.

(SWOT Analysis of Theobroma: Self- Conceptualized)

● SO Strategy: Theobroma can utilize opportunities of partnership with internet based stores
like Amazon Fresh, Flipkart Groceries, and Big Basket etc. to expand through FMCG
products to expand its reach even across cities that don't have physical stores and move
towards cloud kitchens to generate additional revenue using existing resources.
● WO Strategy: Theobroma needs to introduce a newsletter and facilitate email marketing.
This will help engage directly with users and allow a level of personalization and

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 customization. The company can also organize creative interactive sessions and host e-
events like master classes to overcome the lack of interactive content available online.
● ST Strategy: Theobroma can utilize online PR strategies like influencer marketing. They
can invite influencers to generate buzz across social media platforms. The concept of
giveaway can also be re-introduced to increase their following across its various digital
channels. This will facilitate wider reach and generate excitement at minimal costs which
will return as increased revenue streams
● WT Strategy: Theobroma’s website has several elements that are either obsolete or no
longer important for the website. Updating the website and reordering certain elements
may help increase website visit rates. Adding alt tags to its photos may also increase the
traffic it generates. The company may also consider working on co-creation with potential
competitors in the future to facilitate an environment of co-opetition.

7. Conclusion
Theobroma’s brand has existed since the past 15 years. It is a popular brand with high recall value
and brand recognition. Seldom does one talk about brownies and not think about Theobroma and
vice versa. While its jump on the bandwagon of digital marketing commenced quite late, it has
managed to establish its digital presence to an extent. However there is certainly scope for
improvement with newer and newer technological innovations in the digital sphere. The SWOT
analysis has painted a clear depiction of the company's strengths and weaknesses and what
opportunities and threats the company may encounter in the future. It is up to Theobroma to
leverage its strengths to build upon opportunities and tackle threats that may arise. Weaknesses
once identified can be worked upon to expand the brand’s reach allowing Theobroma to grow as
brand without disbursing too much capital and straining their resources. Moreover, such an
investment will be likely to ensure a good ROC creating greater value for Theobroma.