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BRAND DEVELOPMENTBY IDENTIFYING BRAND VALUES

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Introduction

The Cadbury brand name has been in existence since 1824 when JohnCadbury opened his first shop in Birmingham, England. (CadburyIreland, as a subsidiary of) Cadbury Schweppes is the fourth largestconfectionery business in the world selling chocolate, sugar and gumbased products. Cadbury Ireland is the number one confectionerycompany in Ireland.Today Cadbury’s best tasting chocolate constitutesthe main ingredient of much of these products including everythingfrom solid blocks to chocolate filled bars and novelties.The Cadburybrand is associated with best tasting chocolate.This case shows howmarketing managers at Cadbury are working to ensure this associationis continually developed through their new ‘Choose Cadbury’marketing strategy. Key concepts of quality, taste and emotion underpinthe Cadbury brand. These core values help to differentiate Cadburyfrom other brands and ensure its competitive advantage.

The Cadbury Familyof Brands

The Umbrella Brand

In the chocolate market the Cadbury brand has in excessof fifty per cent market share, selling 10 of the top 20selling chocolate singles. Singles are individual bars soldover the counter.

Research data shows that the Cadbury brand equity is highlydifferentiated from other brands with consumers. Brand equity is thevalue consumer loyalty brings to a brand, and reflects the likelihoodthat a consumer will repeat purchase. This is a major source ofcompetitive advantage.The Cadbury umbrella brand has endured ina highly competitive market, and has established the link, in the mind ofthe consumer, that Cadbury equals chocolate.An umbrella brand is aparent brand that appears on a number of products that may each haveseparate brand images.The Cadbury umbrella brand image consists offour icons namely the Cadbury script, the glass and a half, dark purplecolour and the swirling chocolate image.These elements create a visualidentity for Cadbury that communicates the ultimate in chocolatepleasure. Consumer research is conducted regularly so managers canlearn more about how the market perceives the brand.This researchhas confirmed that the swirling chocolate and ‘glass and a half’ arepowerful images. Both clearly portray a desire for chocolate while thehalf full glass suggests core values of goodness and quality.

Product Brands

The Cadbury brand has a profound impact on individual product brands.Brands have individual personalities aimed at specific target markets forspecific needs e.g.TimeOut, for example, is an ideal snack to have with acup of tea. These brands derive benefit from the Cadbury parentage,including quality and taste credentials. To ensure the success of productbrands every aspect of the parent brand is focused on. A Flake, Crunchieor TimeOut are clearly different and are manufactured to appeal to avariety of consumer segments. However the strength of the umbrellabrand supports the brand value of each chocolate bar. Consumers knowthey can trust a chocolate bar that carries Cadbury branding. Therelationship between Cadbury and individual brands is symbiotic withsome brands benefiting more from the Cadbury relationship, i.e. purechocolate brands such as Dairy Milk. Other brands have a more distantrelationship, as the consumer motivation to purchase is ingredients otherthan chocolate, e.g. Crunchie.

Similarly issues such as specific advertising or product quality of a packetof Cadbury biscuits or a single Crème Egg will, in turn, impact on theperception of the parent brand. Similarly the umbrella brand has astrong brand value and a reputation that must be supported by itsindividual brands.

Identifying Brand Values

We are all consciously and unconsciously affected by brands in our dailylives. When we go to purchase a pair of training shoes we rarely makea purely practical decision. There are numerous branded and non-

branded options available. For many people, a pair of trainers mustsport a brand logo because that will communicate certain values toother people.

The confectionery market elicits similar conscious and unconsciousfeelings of passion, loyalty and enthusiasm. For many people, chocolateis Cadbury, and no other brand will do.This consumer loyalty is criticalbecause of the value of the chocolate confectionery market andbecause, in all markets, a small number of consumers account for a largeproportion of sales. Loyal customers are the most valuable customersto have because they will buy your product over and over again.

Branded products command premium prices. Consumers will happilypay that premium if they believe that the brand offers levels of qualityand satisfaction that competing products do not. The most enduringbrands have become associated with both tangible and intangibleproperties over time.The most successful provoke a series of emotionalor aspirational associations and values in our minds that go way beyondthe physical product.

Cadburys has identified these brand values and adjusts its advertisingstrategies to reflect these values in different markets. Its strategy canvary from increasing brand awareness, educating potential customersabout a new product, increasing seasonal purchases, or as is currentlythe case in the ‘Choose Cadbury’ campaign to highlight the positiveemotional value of the brand.

After identifying brand values the marketing manager must match theseto the specific market. For this reason it is important to identify possiblesegments that have specific needs, and to highlight appropriate brandvalues that will promote the brand in that market.

Consumption & ConsumerLifestyles

Chocolate Consumption

Cadbury’s core markets are currently in the UK, Ireland, Australia andNew Zealand.The Cadbury brand is very well known in these marketsand consumers have established patterns of chocolate consumption.Ireland has one of the largest consumption rates in the world along withSwitzerland. In Ireland alone, the average person eats 8kg of chocolateand 6kg of sweets each year. In key areas such as these, the Cadburybrand has secured significant brand status.

In Ireland, Cadbury has identified three key consumer segments of

‘impulse’, ‘take home’ and ‘gift’. These segments reflect consumers’

decision-making processes. For example, impulse purchases are typically

products bought for immediate consumption, e.g. single bars. Take

Home confectionery is generally bought in a supermarket and is most

often driven by a specific need. A specific need or usage can be an

occasion, e.g.‘I need something for the lunchbox’. Here consumers make

more rational decisions, e.g. brand influence, price/value relationship.

These areas are further subdivided, for

example the ‘gift’ sector comprises

special occasions (birthdays,

Christmas, etc.) and token or

spontaneous gifts. If marketers

successfully identify and isolate

consumer segments in this way, it

becomes easier to target products and

advertising in a more meaningful way to

increase consumption.

To Educatethe Market

BuildingBrand

Awareness

To increaseconsumption -

prompt anaction to buy

To encourageseasonal

purchases

ObjectivObjective of e of AdvAdverertisingtising

Tasks and Activities

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New Products ReflectingConsumer Lifestyles

New product development has played a key role in developing marketsas brands strive to offer something to a consumer that is truly different.We take a crumbly flake texture or honeycomb for granted but, whenintroduced, they were remarkably innovative. Changing lifestyle patterns;eating on the go, and impulse snacking has and continues to play a pivotalrole in the confectionary market. Continued snacking or ‘grazing’ hasreplaced traditional mealtimes for many people.

The Cadbury product range addresses the needs of each and everyconsumer, from childhood to maturity, from impulse purchase to familytreats. For example an analysis of the ‘gift’ sector highlights theimportance of developing innovative products to address specificmarkets. Cadbury designs products to coincide with Christmas, Easter,Valentine’s, Mother’s and Father’s Day and other calendar landmarks.Cadbury use marketing strategies such as the ‘Choose Cadbury’ strategyto encourage a link between chocolate and these events ensuring thereis a Cadbury chocolate product suitable and available for every occasion.

Developing an Advertising Message

Why Advertising is Used toPromote a Brand

The confectionery market is full of brands that need to fight for ourattention.The role of advertising is to keep a brand in the mind of theconsumer.We are constantly presented with countless brand images andmessages on a daily basis. During the lifetime of a brand, companies willdevelop marketing strategies that communicate brand identity and corevalues to gain our attention. In order to keep its product competitive andcontemporary, these messages need to change over time. Cadburyprovides one of the most successful examples of how an advertisingmessage can be modified from one campaign to the next to attributenew values to a brand giving consumers more reasons to buy Cadburys.Healthy brand equity or brand strength is critical in an impulse-driven,competitive market. Advertising plays a key role in maintaining thisstrength. Cadbury employs all types of advertising from the internet toposters, from TV, radio and cinema to print media. This same creativemessage is then communicated through point of sale, merchandising,package design and public relations.

The ‘Choose Cadbury’Marketing Strategy

The ‘glass and a half ’, corporate purple and flowing script has becomesynonymous with Cadbury: these design elements have been used togreat effect in developing the connotation of goodness that this imagerysuggests. In the 1980s another vital attribute - taste - was highlighted.Regardless of national preferences about how chocolate should taste(e.g. dark chocolate is traditionally more popular in Europe whereasAustralians prefer creamier milk chocolate) the implication was clear -Cadbury offers taste and texture that appeals to all. In the 1990s furtheremphasis was placed on ‘taste’. The strapline ‘Chocolate is Cadbury’,which was built upon previous brand values and allowed Cadbury tostake its claim and taking ownership of the word ‘chocolate’ and thechocolate eating experience.

Earlier this year, Cadbury introduced anew global marketing strategy called‘Choose Cadbury’. This strategy cameabout as a result of extensive researchinto consumer behav iour andperception. It is a campaign thatperfectly illustrates how a brand canevolve and how different messagescan be communicated without losingthe core strength and brand valuesthat are already established.

The classic icons have played a major role in establishing the look and feelof how Cadbury’s advertisements should look through successivecampaigns. These key ‘look and feel’ icons were heavily researched toensure that the messages they impart are always relevant to theCadbury consumer. In depth customer research is conducted to ‘test’these messages. Research results confirmed that colour recognition ofdark purple is strongly associated with Cadbury. Its logo is readilyrecognised and scores a ninety six per cent recognition level alongsideother global brands such as Coca Cola and McDonalds.The glass and ahalf symbol, which plays a key role in the current ‘Choose Cadbury’strategy, continues to communicate the quality and superior taste ofCadbury’s chocolate.

The central message of the ‘Choose Cadbury’ strategy hinges on the

established glass and a half symbol. Is the glass half full or half empty?

Cadbury suggests that the glass is always half full appealing to our

emotions. Therefore, in choosing Cadbury we are taking a decision to

embrace the positive.This optimistic metaphor is, according to consumer

testing in the UK and Australia, well understood amongst consumers. In

this ‘Choose Cadbury’ campaign, the product ingredient of milk has been

elevated from a practical, rational platform to an emotional one -

Cadbury can deliver on optimism, happiness and a feel-good factor. If a

brand can do all this, the decision to purchase this brand over all other

chocolate brands seems to be logical and inevitable. The ‘Choose

Cadbury’ strapline is a call to action designed to motivate us.We are not

expected to simply absorb the advertising message, we are being called

upon to make a conscious purchase decision.We are reassured that the

Cadbury product will remain unchanged, (Cadbury is Chocolate and it

still tastes good), but we are given more reasons to remain brand loyal

(Cadbury is Chocolate – feels good i.e. positive, uplifting, mood

enhancing, providing enjoyment and happiness). At no stage in the

evolution of the Cadbury brand has there been as much reliance on

taking ownership of the emotional side of eating chocolate as there is

now. Owning the emotional territory for chocolate helps Cadbury to

elevate its product in the mind of the consumer. With the ‘Choose

Cadbury’ campaign consumers are being offered both logical and

emotional reasons to buy a Cadbury product as a first option on every

occasion.

Conclusion

The success of the Cadbury brand can be seen in how its image is

continually maintained over time. Identifying brand values, and matching

these to consumer lifestyles in specific market segments can help

develop a clear advertising message. In previous advertising messages

quality and taste were emphasized. Cadbury is now building on this

through its ‘Choose Cadbury’ strategy to underline the feeling a premium

brand can bring to its customers.The Cadbury brand has proven itself to

be a leader in a highly volatile and competitive market because it has

successfully established, nurtured and developed its umbrella brand and

growing portfolio of products.

1. Explain the benefits and value an umbrella brand can bring to

a family of branded products.

2. Define the following terms

a) Brand

b) Consumer Motivation

c) Brand Values

3. In your opinion why is it important to understand consumer

lifestyles where trying to market a new product?

4. What is a ‘decision making process’? How do you think

marketers use this to ensure a product is successful?

5. What is the objective of advertising a brand? Explain this by

referring to the ‘Choose Cadbury’ marketing strategy.

6. How is Cadbury positioning the umbrella brand through its

‘Choose Cadbury’ marketing strategy?

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MumsMatureAdults

Adults

Teens

KidsValentine’s

Birthdays

Father’s Day

Easter

Mother’s Day

Christmas

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