CADBURY: ANSWER TO COGNITIVE DISSONANCE IN THE MINDS OF CONSUMERS:
CADBURY¶S INTERNATIONAL Cadbury is a very old trusted tru sted name. It all started in Birmingham in England when Jo hn Cadbury started his family grocery shop with side business o f cocoa and chocolate products prod ucts in around 1824. His two sons, Richard and George, expanded their family business of cocoa and chocolate. Bournville, a town near Birmingham, was build by them as a part of expansion of their business. Cadbury plc is the industry's second-largest globally after the combined Mars-Wrigley. Cadbury was acquired by Kraft Foods in February 2010. In 1906 Cadbury Brothers introduced a new recipe for milk chocolate, marketed under the name Cadbury Dairy Milk, which has remained a mainstay and the flagship brand of its product line ever since.
Cadbury¶s India Limited Ever since the Cadbury is in India in 1947, Cadbury chocolates have ruled the hearts of Indians with their fabulous taste. The company co mpany today employs nearly 2000 people peo ple across India. Its one of the oldest and strongest players in the Indian confectionary industry with an estimated 68 per cent value share and 62 per cent volume share of the total chocolate market.
Cadbury And The Worm Controversy In 2003,the discovery of worms in some so me samples of Cadbury¶s Chocolate created one of the biggest controversies in India against a Multi Mu lti National reputed that had been a benchmark for QUALITY for decades. Cadbury's found itself in the eye of a storm, when a few instances of worms in its Dairy Milk bars were reported in Maharashtra.
The controversy created an deep adverse impact on the company with their sales not only drastically dipping down, but at the t he same time allowing the competitors to establish their foothold. Clearly, the worm controversy took a toll on Cadbury's bottom-line. For the year ended December 2003, its net profit fell 37 per cent to Rs 45.6 crore (Rs 456 million) as compared with a 21 per cent increase in the previous year. In October 2003, just a month before Diwali [ Imag es ], customers in Mumbai [ Images ] complained about finding worms in Cadbury C adbury Dairy Milk chocolates. Quick to respond, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration seized the chocolate stocks manufactured at Cadbury's Pune plant. In defense, Cadbury issued a statement that the infest ation was not possible at the manufacturing m anufacturing stage and poor storage at the retailers was the most likely cause of the reported case of worms.
But the FDA didn't buy that. FDA commisioner, Uttam K hobragade told CNBC-TV18, "It was presumed that worms got into it at the storage level, but then what about the packing - packaging was not proper or airtight, either ways it's a manufacturing defect with unhygienic conditions or improper packaging." That was followed by allegations and counter-allegations between Cadbury and FDA. The heat of negative publicity melted Cadbury's sales by 30 per cent, at a time when it sees a festive spike of 15 per cent. For the first time, Cadbury's advertising went off air for a month and a half after Diwali, following the controversy.
CABDBURY¶S FIGHT-BACK
'Project Vishwas' ³Steps to ensure quality & regain the confidence´ However, Cadbury¶s reiterated that all through the 55 years of leadership in India, t hat it has remained synonymous with chocolates and hav e remained committed to high quality and consumer satisfaction. In less than two weeks, the company launched a PR campaign for the trade. And three months later, came an ad campaign featuring Big B and a revamped poly-flow packaging.
Following the controversy over infestation in its chocolates, Cadbury India Ltd unveiled 'Project Vishwas' , a plan involving distribution and retail channels to ensure the qua lity of its products. The company's team of quality control managers, along with around 300 sales staff, checked over 50,000 retail outlets in Maharashtra and replaced all questionable stocks with immediate effect. The Vishwas programme was intended to build awareness among retailers on storage requirements for chocolates, provide assistance in improving storage conditions and strengthen packaging of the company's range of products. By 2004, by investing up to Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) on imported machinery, Cadbury's revamped the packaging of Dairy Milk. The metallic poly-flow, was costlier by 10-15 per cent, but Cadbury didn't hike the pack price and launched a new 'purity-sealed' packaging. Due to the controversy people became dissatisfied with the brand and here comes in the COGNITIVE DISSONANCE.As a result unhappy customer were not r eady to buy it even though it was there favorite chocolate and seemed to ignore their chocolate cravings.
The Big µB¶ FACTOR
The big factor that has pushed up CDM sales is the Amitabh Bachchan campaign. It helped restore consumers' faith in the quality of the pro duct. In early January, Cadbury appo inted Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador for a period of two years. The company believed that the reputation he has built up over the last three decades complements their own, which was built over a period of 50 years. Cadbury spent nearly Rs 40 crore for the new ad campaign.
THE AD: Addressing his audience, Mr. Bachchan says, "Mujhe aapse kuch kehna hai , jis kaam mein manushya ki antar aatma uske saath na ho, uss kaam ko karne se usse sab kuch mil sakta hai ... man ki shaanti nahin mil sakti . Isliye jab Cadbury walon ne mujhe kaha ki unki baat main aap tak pahunchaoon, to pachpan saalon se Cadbury khaane wala main bhi thoda sa hitchkichaya.... ...Maine unse ek sawaal poocha,ki kya iske baad main chain ki neend so paoonga ya nahin, to jawaab mein voh mujhe apni factory le gaye." Walking into the Cadbury factory, he takes a look at their complete
manufacturing process and continues, "Aur mujhe apni international technology....apne kade quality controls aur double protection... ...packaging dikhayi." Saying which he takes a bite of the chocolate. Finally giving his personal assurance and approval he says, "Aaj kal mein badi chain ki neend so raha hoon." "Ab aapki favourite Cadbury Dairy Milk naye purity seal pack mein."
So what is important is the way the customer perceives a brand and the celebrity, so if the celebrity is favored, it does have a positive influence over the brand. Taking the millennium superstar Amitabh Bachchan, as an endorser, he fulfills all the FRED objectives, namely, Familiarity (target market is aware of him, finds him friendly, likeable, dependable and trustworthy); Relevance (which says that there should be a link between the endorser and the product as well as between the endorser and the audience); Esteem (masses see him as a credible name-face-voice); Differentiation (he is seen to be one among the masses, and yet he towers above them. He is different). Cadbury pulled off a coup by using Amitabh Bachchan¶s image to restore the faith of its customers. By launching a massive ad campaign they were able to tackle the dissonance of customers head on. This is supported by the fact that in May 2004 Cadbury's value share went up to 71 per cent and consumer confidence in the product was back. Hence, this case is an example of how Celebrity endorsements can positively help to alter the effects of Cognitive Dissonance and reduce the post buying behavior of its consumers.
