Branding Strategy of Cadbury
When you are busy with lessons, work, and other daily burdens, Chocolate is one of those things that can quickly raise your mood and give energy. It is believed that Chocolate can reduce heart disease risk, protect skin from the sun, improve blood flow, lower blood pressure and even prevent memory decline. However, it is also important to know that all of these can happen if you eat high-quality Chocolate. One of those chocolate companies is British multinational company Cadbury which Mondelez International owns since 2010. As you can guess from the title, this post focuses on the company’s brand strategy, one of the things that lead them to enormous success.
Let’s begin with analyzing the company’s brand identity.
For that purpose, let’s look at the following post from their Instagram page.
After having a look at this picture, one thing that immediately catches the viewer’s attention is the big chocolate egg. This is one of the favorite products of Cadbury, Creme Egg or Easter Eggs, which first appeared in the 1900s.
Several years ago, Cadbury started an interesting initiative, which purpose was to show that giving and hiding chocolate for someone is a great way to convey one’s love. So, when visiting their page, one can see the “Show you care to hide it” headline.
The organizers of this exciting event want to say that if you care for someone and love someone, you will have huge chocolate for them, and Cadbury can help you with that through the Cadbury Worldwide Hide site, where you just need to choose an address.
So, from the caption of the picture, it becomes apparent that one can even make a proposal to their loved ones by “hiding” a Cadbury Egg in their street.
Also, as you see, this is a unique and interesting marketing strategy, which makes us believe that Cadbury is one of The Innocent Brand Archetype representatives. The motto of this archetype is “Free to be you and me!”
To begin, let’s learn some facts about this Brand Archetype.
Desire: to experience paradise
Aim: Find happiness, be happy
Strategy: Do things appropriately
Now let’s move into the messaging level of The Innocent Archetype.
Level One: a desire for simplicity
Level Two: naïve, dependent, and obedient
Level Three: reframing, being positive
Level Four: a mystical sense of oneness, integrity
The Innocent Brand Archetype can provide a good identity for the brands that:
- Have a desire to be different from the product that has a tarnished image
- Can be associated with morality and can bring childhood memories
- Health and cleanliness are on the core values
- Can suggest simple answers to an identifiable problem
- Have a price from moderate to low
By continuing the journey of Cadbury’s branding strategy, let’s learn about its brand story.
Advertising Strategies from 1930s to 1980s
Starting with the company’s advertisement strategies, it is essential to note that at the beginning of the 1930s, Cadbury promised to make their customers stronger.
Children were the company’s primary target segment. Besides, Cadbury highlighted the fact that they had a glass and a half of milk in every Dairy Milk bar.
In the 1950s to 1960s, Cadbury also targeted women, including them in their advertisements. Throughout the 1950-the 1960s, they had their advertisements launched on TV.
From the 1970s to the 1980s, Cadbury rose the usage of slogans and started promoting their products with the help of various celebrities.
This helped the company to raise awareness about the brand and created a lasting impact on the public.
Advertising Strategies from 2000s till nowadays
The start of the 2000s was very challenging for the company as some factories closed, there were trading standards disputes, and many more.
So, Cadbury needed something that could help the situation, so they created the ad “Gorilla”- one of the best adverts of the 2000s.
Although it was only 90seconds, as it was designed for entertainment purposes, this advertisement saved the company.
From the beginning of the 2010s, Cadbury’s promotions include advertisements and posts on social media.
Product Changes Over Time
Now let’s move to some changes that happened to Cadbury’s products. One of the unexpected things in Cadbury’s history was the company’s Dairy Milk chocolate’s changed recipe in 114 years (in 2019).
The company’s real purpose was to make their product healthier, which they, of course, succeed in doing so.
This new version has dropped from 56g per 100g in the original bar to 39g per 100g. However, along with this unique and healthy version, Cadbury also sells the traditional one.
The brand manager Katrina Davis said that “There is an increasing trend for people wanting to manage their sugar intake, and that’s why we have worked tirelessly to create a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar with 30 percent less sugar, which still tastes great.”
Some achievements throughout the company’s history
The company’s famous offering of Dairy Milk’s bars (which was first introduced in 1905) were consumed by 21,4 million people in Great Britain in 2019.
Although the company’s seasonal product Easter Egg is only available between January and Easter Sundays is now considered to be Cadbury’s famous offerings.
Logo Changes Throughout The Years
The first logo of Cadbury was in bold and rounded letters with pronounced serifs. Even though the logo of Cadbury was simple, it was easy to remember as it did not contain any extra elements.
When looking at the other logos of Cadbury from other years, it is noticeable that the company mainly focused only on the name of their brand. Only the font of the letters or the color was different. For example, the following logo the first version from 1866.
This logo has a more decorative style of letters and is also more elaborate. On the other hand, the second version is simpler.
The first “real” logo made for the company was this version (maybe because it was made by famous person Geroges Auriol). Georges Auriol was a designer and an artist who drew an artistic tree for Cadbury. However, it turned out that the society preferred the simple version of the logo, so it changed after the WWII.
Moving forward, let’s continue with the Brand elements of Cadbury.
To begin, it is essential to mention that Brand elements are the things that can make a memorable image on customers’ brains. Each brand has specific brand elements. The brand elements depend on the type of the products and industry.
Name: As it is already known, the name of this company does not have any history as it was named after John Cadbury, who founded the company.
As throughout the time, John’s brother Benjamin also joined him, for some time, the company was known as Cadbury Brothers.
However, when they dissolved from each other, Cadbury Brothers also changed their name to the previous one.
Slogan: “Tastes Like This Feels”
Cadbury gives huge importance to the feelings and emotions that their customers can have when eating their chocolates. The company has created some short and engaging commercials, where one can notice the campaign “Tastes Like This Feels.” (here you can watch one of them https://youtu.be/Dd_GSSQQGNY )
“With this campaign, we want to remind people that joy is never far away. By focusing on the unique taste sensations that each chocolate bar in the range delivers, consumers will be able to easily identify the right bar for them that will lead to their moment of joy,” says Matthew Williams, the marketing director of the company.
Packaging: All products of the company have a unique design which gives a fresh and iconic identity to them. These new designs of the products seek to show the generous spirit that the company holds.
When looking at the design, one can feel that every single detail is meant to highlight the quality of the ingredients and the classic creamy taste that Cadbury Dairy Milk lovers can feel.
Color: Main colors that the company uses for different purposes, such as packaging and logo, are Deep Violet, Metallic Sunburst (almost gold), and White.
It is believed that Deep Violet is associated with royalty and the nobility, creating an impression of luxury, wealth, and extravagance. Metallic Sunburst is also associated with luxury and safety. White color conveys the message of cleanliness and freshness.
So, as it is noticeable, the designers of the brand also gave huge importance to the meaning of the colors, as they can completely give the image of the brand.
Products: Cadbury’s products include Cadbury Dairy Milk, which is chocolate made of fresh liquid milk; Cadbury Fuse-delicious fusion of crunchy peanuts, Gems, that have chocolate flavor; Cadbury Bournvita Biscuits Casbury Cocoa and many more.
Logo: Nowadays, the company’s logo is in gold letters. This logo is closer to the founder’s signature. It adds modernity and freshness to the company. It is equally important to note that the company also did not remove their statement color purple.
For a long time, purple is associated with the company’s products (e.g., creamy Dairy Milk Chocolate), so he creators of the logo decided not to take it off, which was, of course, right.
Now, it’s time to discuss the brand equity and positioning of Cadbury.
It’s worth noting that brand equity depicts the brand’s general perception of its customers. Your brand’s equity is important because through having strong brand equity, the brand can charge more for its products and services than the generic products or other competitors. So, the more brand equity the company has, the easier it becomes for them to convince customers to buy their products.
Cadbury is one of the companies that has strong brand equity. It is in the market for more than 200 years and has a strong marketing strategy that does not leave a single place for not promoting its brand and products. They communicate with their customers through every medium, such as TV, social media, newspapers, radio, etc.
Cadbury is one of those brands that bring families together. After having a bite of Cadbury’s products, one can feel warmth and pleasure. In one sentence, it is a “fun” and “feel-good” brand.
When it comes to brand recognition, Cadbury makes sure that their customers would be able to see their chocolate bars in every supermarket. They make sure that the customers can see them both when entering the market and getting out. Besides, the company’s campaigns and commercials are created in a way that is very easy to remember and hard to forget. Their commercials always have catchy slogans, songs, items, and actors.
Summing up, Cadbury is indeed one of the best chocolate brands. The company always tries to stay loyal to their believes and values. Cadbury’s products are always of high quality, and they always give “warm” pleasure to the customers. The company understands that brand equity and brand elements are crucial components of the company’s success, so they are always attentive to them. This post focused on the branding strategy of Cadbury. I hope you could find answers to the questions regarding this brand’s identity. To see more posts like this, please, visit our main page.
