Cadbury: Brand refresh

The ever-familiar Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate has changed its stripes. Lest you miss the new packaging that a bar of the chocolate will now sport, Cadbury, the country’s largest chocolate maker, has lined up a charm offensive to grab more of your attention. The subtle change might be the first step in a brand refresh for Cadbury Dairy Milk. The new packs, which were 18 months in the making, were designed by Pearlfisher, a UK-based design studio.

Cadbury had to address Cadbury Dairy Milk’s largest markets which are as diverse as the UK and Australia where cynical consumers are veering towards nostalgia; and India and South Africa where consumers are dynamic and don’t want to hark to the past. While the pack wears a less cluttered, simplified look, there is still a hint of dynamism in the swirls around the logo. “There had not been a packaging change since 2003. Though we are the market leaders, we wanted to stay ahead of the curve rather than react to the need for change,” says Cadbury India Executive Director (marketing) Sanjay Purohit.

But such changes may work just at the subconscious level. To have a more definite effect on sale, merchandising teams will fan out to retail stores and bargain for more shelf space. These would look to increase the amount of display space allotted for Cadbury Dairy Milk in various stores, much like how Cadbury’s product visibility shoots up around Diwali. “We look to secure 40 per cent of the display in the category for Cadbury Dairy Milk at every store,” says Purohit.

Though implemented globally, the new packaging has flagged off Cadbury Dairy Milk’s brand refresh for a market in which it is the strongest — India. A new campaign in late January will take this exercise forward. Cadbury Dairy Milk lords it over almost a third of the country’s chocolate market which is estimated at around Rs 2,000 crore.