Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk and Nostalgia Advertising

 Recently Cadbury Dairy Milk did the unthinkable; it recreated the iconic advertisement of the girl dancing during a cricket match with a twist. The marketing and advertising community was thrilled to see the recreated ad and the creative prowess of the agency O&M.

The ad evoked a lot of nostalgia among the consumers who not only liked the chocolate but also enjoyed the brand's advertisements. Nostalgia is defined by marketing academicians as a preference for objects that were common when one was younger. Marketers use nostalgia both in products as well as communications. Recently Mahindra brought back the Jawa brand as an example of nostalgia-based product development and launch. Nostalgia is also used in brand communication in different forms. It can be in the form of themes, music, imagery etc. Parachute Advanced used an old Hindi song in their campaign evoking old memories, some brands bring back the old jingles, taglines evoking nostalgia among the consumers. Research has indicated that consumers have a preference over products that are more aesthetic in nature which has strong associations with their youthful days. Another set of researchers have found that there is an increased tendency of spreading the brand through word of mouth. 

The recreated Dairy Milk ad is a brilliant move by the brand rekindling the interest and love for the brand. The ad also strikes a chord with the new generation because it ticks all the right boxes in terms of gender equality and empowerment. More than that this is yet another brilliant example of brand storytelling. 

Brand Update: Cadbury 5Star takes forward the Do Nothing Theme with new Ad

 Cadbury 5Star seems to have hit a jackpot theme - Eat 5 Star, Do Nothing. The brand has launched a new campaign extending the theme in a new situation. And just like the last one, the ad is funny and not boring. To find a campaign theme that can be used as a platform for multiple ad campaigns is a priceless moment for marketers. It gives the much-needed juice for consistent marketing campaigns without boring the viewers. I think that 5Star got such a platform. Kudos to the campaign team.

Brand Update: Crispello New Ad Shows a Subtle Shift in Positioning

 Cadbury's new brand of chocolate-covered wafer finger product- Crispello has launched a new campaign. What is interesting about the campaign is that there is a subtle shift in the positioning of the brand. If you remember the launch ad for the brand, the theme was that five young persons were driving the car and they hatch a plan not to share the chocolate with the fifth person since there are only four Crispello fingers. 

The new ad takes the theme forward with a twist where the three robbers wake up the dude so that Crispello can be shared since the brand says that equal sharing is a must. Not sure whether this positive twist is intended, however positively always helps in branding. However, the creative quality (IMHO) is below par when compared with the usual Cadbury ads. With the market leader KitKat running high decibel campaigns with celebrities, Crispello has to up the game to a different level. 

Brand Update : Cadbury Gems refreshes itself with more chocolate and a worst Ad

 Cadbury's Gems has always been a timeless brand with lovers across all age groups. The brand which is almost 53 years old in India has created a unique place for itself. So it makes sense when the brand thought of a theme of being ageless. But alas, the campaigns that the brand had created will destroy the brand's image and likeability. The campaigns with the tagline" Raho Umarless" which mean stay ageless was promoted on the premise of adults displaying their love for the brand in a bizarre manner.

In my opinion, these campaigns are nothing but disgusting. Firstly the brand is a bit confused about the target. Is it adults or kids or all? and what the ad does is that it repels everyone. Especially the way these adults in the ads eat Gems is repulsing. Then comes the worst of the lot- the 2021 ad. The new campaign marks the refreshing of the product with more chocolate. But the same outrageous campaign theme execution continues. I and my mother was watching the ad and at the end of it, both of us were saying - Yuck!

Brand Update : Oreo does it again with 5Star

In my earlier posts on the brand, I had talked about how the Oreo brand is being used as a platform to launch variants by collaborating with other brands in Modolez's portfolio like Dairy Milk. Oreo is now experimenting with yet another launch this time with the 5Star brand. Recently the company launched a new product Cadbury 5 Star Oreo which combines the caramel of 5 Star with Oreo. Mondolez has rightly realized that their products both in the chocolate and biscuit categories are no longer water-tight compartments but the consumers perceive these as a part of the snacking category which is much broader than chocolates and biscuits. 

This realization has given rise to the new strategy of cross-pollination ( as mentioned in some business news reports) of brands giving rise to new variants. The advantage of such collaboration is that there are instant awareness and motivation for trial. For snacking category success, a trial is a pre-requisite to success. When two familiar brands come together for a new variant, consumers don't have a reason not to try the variant and the product efficacy then will decide the fate of the new variant. For snacking category, consumers look for variety and novelty. So these experiments are a necessity if one wants to succeed. 

Mondolez should be credited for thinking beyond their products. How many brand managers would agree to their iconic brands to be cross-pollinated with other brands within the brand line for creating new variants? 

These experiments will encourage marketers to think beyond the products thus eliminating the occurrence of marketing myopia. It is not about whether the new variants succeed or not. This example also resonates with the advice given by Roberto Goizueta to the Coke executives who were rattled by Pepsi Challenge. Goizueta told the executives to focus on what percentage of fluid intake of an individual can Coke capture rather than be worried about the growing share of Pepsi. This changed the mindset of Coke executives encouraging them to rise up to the Pepsi Challenge. In the same manner, Mondolez is trying to gain a larger share of the whole snacking market rather than being narrowly focused on individual brand share. This probably is encouraging the company to launch this type of products.

Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Mousse puts you in chocolate heaven

Under Mondolez, Cadbury as a brand is on a roll. The fans of the brand are seeing a host of thoughtful product launches which are thoughtful and unique. What is so good about Mondolez's approach towards its product is to look at each brand as a platform through which new products( variants) can be launched. The company is not afraid to launch variants which are unique and often risky. These launches make the brand look sophisticated and interesting. 

This season, Cadbury under the popular brand Silk has launched a new variant- Mousse. Mousse is a french food which is in a soft and aerated form. Cadbury has successfully incorporated this popular dissert inside the Dairy Milk Silk. The mousse seamlessly integrates with the soft nature of Silk chocolates. 

Consumers are looking for indulgence and unique experiences everywhere. A brand succeeds when it gives a unique experience with product consumption. It is vital in the snacking category that is growing leaps and bounds among young consumers. Mondelez game plan is to capture the snacking market with unique variants launched under its power brands like Cadbury and Oreo. 

Silk Mousse is promoted across the various platforms with the proposition of " heavenly indulgence". The variant has the tagline - Scoop into Chocolate Heave" which reflects both the product form and the nature of the variant. 

Silk has always being promoted in the platform of romance. For this variant too, the brand is banking on the romance and a very young couple. As usual, the advertisement ticks all the right boxes.

Cadbury Chocobakes : Cadbury inside

Brand: Cadbury Chocobakes

Company: Mondolez

Brand Analysis Count: 596

Ever since Mondolez International took over Cadbury, the brand has been on a roll, coming out with variants and new products. From a corporate umbrella brand, Cadbury had become an umbrella brand for all chocolate related products under Mondolez.

For a confectionary brand, brand architecture can be tricky and often confusing. This is because, one has the tendency to leverage the equity of a powerful brand at the same time, give enough room for various sub-brands to grow. We have seen that in the case of Diary Milk, where this brand has now become a family brand endorsing sub-brand- Silk and an innovative co-branding product with Oreo.

Mondolez in 2019 forayed into the biscuit market using Cadbury. The new cookie brand was named Cadbury Chocobakes which in a way is a new journey for the Cadbury brand. The Chocobakes brand was launched in the chocolate-filled cookie category which was pioneered by Sunfeast's Dark Fantasy Chocofills brand. 

The success of Dark Fantasy may have motivated Mondolez to extend the Cadbury brand into cookies since the chocolate inside made a perfect case for the extension of the Cadbury brand into biscuits. 

In 2020, Mondolez made another surprising move to enter the Rs 2000 crore packaged cake category with the Chocobakes brand. The brand has launched a choco-layered cake in 2020. Thus from a single product brand, Chocobakes within one year became an umbrella brand and in line to come a category brand endorsing further products in the cookies and cakes category. 

Both the products are positioned using the proposition " Cadbury (chocolate) inside" where these products derive their equity from the parent brand Cadbury. It makes perfect sense since Cadbury has such strong equity and connection with chocolates. 

This brings into the concept of products as platforms. Gone are the days where products are treated as a standalone entity with limited extensions and variants. The rising costs and lesser product-lifecycles are forcing firms to look at faster ways to bring the products to the mind of the customers. When a brand becomes successful, marketers are trying to leverage the equity by extending it to multiple categories. Products and brands are becoming more like platforms that facilitate multiple product- launches. The downside of this is the confusing brand architecture and often forgetting to strengthen the parent brand whose equity is being milked by a number of products across various categories. 

Brand Update : 5 Star wants you to do nothing !

For now, Ramesh and Suresh are retired from 5 Star advertisements. The duo which gave a different narrative to the brand has kind of becoming boring because of familiarity. The duo can be hated or liked but could not be ignored.

This year, the brand has launched a new campaign in line with the earlier positioning of " Getting Lost in the taste of 5 Star". The new campaign which is humorous enough has the narrative of getting lost but a twist in the message -" It is good to do nothing"

The challenge faced by established brands like 5 Star is to be interesting and relevant across time. Since there is little scope for product-changes, the only variable is advertisement theme and positioning. While frequent positioning changes are not advised, these brands need to always deliver fresh creative campaigns. 

The new ad achieves the purpose of freshness and the new positioning platform is cheeky and has the steam to run a few seasons. The current advertisement story is not unique but the execution is very good. What I liked is the cheeky tagline " Eat 5 Star, Do Nothing". In a way, the brand has a competing narrative to KitKat which is based on having a break. 

Lessons of Leverage from Cadbury & Oreo

When you have two very popular brands, how often you think about leveraging the strength of those two brands for mutual advantage? Lessons are to be learned from the two most popular brands from Kraft foods - Cadbury and Oreo. When Cadbury was taken over by Kraft foods, many saw synergy in the business and not brands. However, Kraft foods have very cleverly leveraged the strengths of both the brands by launching variants exploiting the strength of both the brands.

Take the two products - Cadbury Silk Oreo which has Oreo biscuits inside and Oreo biscuits dipped in Cadbury chocolate. Consumers have different tastes, some like their chocolates to be crunchy while others would like creamy chocolates with no interference in between. But more importantly, consumers are craving for more consumption experiences. They are willing to experiment with different combinations and here loyalty seldom matters. 

So when the two brands which have powerful equity decide to collaborate and bring new products together, the experiences multiply manifold. Of course, there will be consumers who don't like these variants, there are original products for them. However, a large set of consumers of this category of foods love new varieties and combinations. 

While many FMCG brands bring out variants and combinations, it's very rare that such brilliant leverage of brand strength has occurred in the Indian market.

Cadbury Crispello : Let Something Good Happen !

Brand : Crispello
Company : Mondolez India

Brand Analysis Count: #587

Cadbury recently launched a new brand Crispello in the Indian market. The new product is the company's second entry into the crispy chocolate segment, the first being Perk. The new brand will be fighting with the likes of KitKat, Galaxy etc. While this segment is dominated by chocolate covered wafer products like KitKat, Cadbury's Crispello is a wheat crispies covered with chocolate.

The Rs 8000 crore chocolate market is witnessing intense competition with global players fighting it out for the share of the pie. Now the who-is-who of the players are in the market and to be in the game, brands need to constantly innovate. 

Crispello is targeting the new generation of customer who is always looking for a variety of experiences. Crispello is targeting the customers who want light indulgence snacking options. According to company reports, the brand understands that customers of this generation want multi-textured and complex experiences and the brand aims to deliver that option. 

The new brand follows the same brand architecture of other Cadbury brands. The new product is endorsed by the category brand- Cadbury, followed by the family brand - Dairy Milk. 

The brand also follows usual positioning of Dairy Milk centered around the concept of " Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye ".

The launch advertisement is also in sync with the positioning. Interestingly Crispello is positioned as a healthy diet snack targeting women in Europe.

The strategy followed by Mondolez which has been ruling the Indian chocolate market is to keep the excitement going among the consumers. The Cadbury brand has seen a lot of product launches which had kept the brand in the limelight. Some of the launches have been highly successful in the likes of Dairy Milk Silk. 

With global brands like Mars, M&M etc stepping up the game, the market leader is also making aggressive moves to stay on top. Exciting times ahead in this market. 

Brand Update : Cadbury tries to fight Kinder Joy with Dairy Milk Lickables

Cadbury is taking the fight to Ferrero's turf by attacking its best-selling Kinder Joy. Kinder Joy which was launched in 2007 quickly gained acceptance from the young consumers. Kinder Joy is holding 7% market share in the INR 7500 crore Indian organized chocolate market. 

Initially, Cadbury tried to fight Kinder Joy with Gems Surprise. But however ( in my opinion) it failed to get any big traction in the market. 

Recently Modolez launched Lickables as a variant of Dairy Milk. Just like Kinder Joy, the new product comes with a gift inside. The brand is running a campaign featuring aliens for this variant.

 

Now the difference between Kinder Joy and Lickables is the way they have looked at the toys that come free with the chocolate. For Kinder Joy, the toy is the key. It is not something that is given free, more than that, the company takes a lot of efforts in designing various themes and series of collectibles. This focus is often reflected in the quality of the toy that comes with Kinder Joy.

This was not the case with Gems Surprise. The toys were not exciting and not of high quality. If Lickables is trying to follow the story of Gems Surprise, it will not be able to achieve the desirable goal of arresting the growth of Kinder Joy. 

With regard to the campaign, I do not see anything significantly attractive about the ad except that the alien theme resonates with the spaceship looking packaging. Cadbury Dairy Milk Lickable needs a little more than just aliens to catch the attention of the discerning customer. 

Brookside : Dark Outside, Exotic Inside

Brand: Brookside
Company: Hershey

Brand Analysis Count: # 573


The 7500 crore Indian chocolate market is hotting up with global giants stepping up the fight. The latest to enter the market is the brand Brookside. Brookside is a brand of the chocolate giant Hershey.
Hershey has launched Brookside as a premium chocolate brand with the USP of the fruity core.

Brookside is a unique combination of dark chocolate and fruit flavor. Brookside is launched in 3 flavors - Blueberry & Acai, Raspberry & Goji, and Pomegranate.
The combination of fruity flavor and dark chocolate may not appeal to the larger set of consumers hence taste-wise, this brand would appeal to a limited set of consumers. However, there is something very different about the combination which will prompt many trial purchases.

The brand is positioned on the basis of this unique combination of fruit and dark chocolate and is reflected in the tagline " Dark Outside, Exotic Inside".

The brand is priced at Rs 50 for 33-gram pouch and Rs 140 for 100-gram pouch, Brookside is already running its launch campaign in television channels. 

Watch the TVC here: Brookside

After seeing the ad, my wife's remark was " I don't like fruit flavored chocolates " while my daughter's reaction was "wow ". So this brand will appeal customers who like something different and exotic to indulge. 

The entry of Hershey into the chocolate segment is a good news for the chocolate lovers. The iconic Hershey's Kisses and chocolate bars are expected to hit the Indian market in the near future. Mondolez is already gearing up for the fight. In the recent past, the company has been trying to strengthen the Cadbury Dairy Milk range with a lot of variants at the premium end in preparation for the new competition. 

Cadbury Fuse : Chocolatey Feast

Brand :Cadbury Fuse
Company : Mondolez International
Brand Analysis Count : # 570

Mars and Snickers now have competition. Mondolez International, the brand owners of the iconic Cadbury brand has launched a new brand named Fuse in the Indian market. The new brand will be competing in the coated peanut confectionery segment in the Rs 7500 crore Indian confectionery space. 

Fuse was debuted in the UK in 1996. The brand was well received  but was later discontinued in the UK. 

Fuse is now making its second avatar in the highly competitive Indian market. The brand is currently running the launch campaign. 

Watch the TVC here : Cadbury Fuse 

The brand is priced at par with Mars and Snickers. I find the packaging very attractive and instantly conveys the fun attribute to the brand. The endorsement from Cadbury is sufficient to initiate the trial purchase. 

With regard to the promotional strategy, the brand is positioned in the same line as the competing brands. The brand is positioned as a relief to the hunger pangs plus some fun thrown around. So in this front, Cadbury has not really put much thought on differentiating rather it chose to play the " me too " strategy. 

I also felt that the launch TVC is also not something that is unique. After seeing the ad, I had  the feeling of " Saw this theme before also " . 

With the launch of Fuse, Mondolez is trying to plug the gap in the product portfolio. The company may be forecasting a consumer interest towards the product like Snickers which is a convenient way to satisfy the hunger pangs. With the launch of Fuse, Mondolez is in a better position to ride  the consumer interest in this category. 

LuvIt Chocolates : If Someone Shares, Ushaar !

Brand : LuvIt
Company : Global Consumer Products

Brand Analysis Count : # 558

LuvIt is new brand from Global Consumer Products - a startup in the FMCG space. Global Consumer Products was started by A Mahendran who was the Managing Director of Godrej Consumer Products. The fact that an entrepreneur is trying to take on the giants like Mondolez and Nestle makes LuvIt an interesting brand.

According to Economic Times, the Indian chocolate market is worth around Rs 6800 crore. The market is lead by Mondolez with a share of over 70% and distantly followed by Nestle with 18% and Ferrero with 8 % market share. 

What makes LuvIt a brand to lookout for is the sheer ambition to fight the giants. The brand has huge ambition and it is seen by the way it was launched. It is reported in the news that Global Consumer Products has the backing of  Mitsui Global and Goldman Sacs 

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LuvIt  has launched 9 variants with prices ranging from Rs 4 to Rs 45. The brand is essentially targeting the adults especially the youth. The brand has invested considerable thoughts in its packaging and stands out as a very vibrant young brand and distinct from the competitors like CDM.

LuvIt has been launched in South India with the actor Sidharth as the brand ambassador. For the launch the company has gone the musical route by launching a one minute music video featuring the actor. The Southern India accounts for 30% of chocolate sale.

Watch the ad here : LuvIt

The basic positioning theme of LuvIt is focused on the taste. The brand says that it is too good to be shared. This is conveyed through the ads which says that if someone shares LuvIt then Beware. There is a hidden agenda behind sharing of the chocolate because the best way to enjoy chocolate is to enjoy it alone. 

The brand is using the term " Ushaar " which means Beware in its campaign in South India. The ads are pretty, however, the theme is not new, The recently launched Schmitten Chocolate too had a similar message - it is a crime to ask for a bite.

It is interesting to note that while the market leader Cadbury Dairy Milk says chocolate is to be shared, the new competitors are focusing on being selfish with the chocolate, so it is to be seen whether the challenging brand's pitch on selfishness will find favor with the consumers.

What makes LuvIt different is the brand elements. The brand has used lively and loud colors and the ad is also flashy. So the brand has definitely all the elements to encourage a trial purchase. 

Brand Update : Alia Bhatt to Perk Up Cadbury Perk

Cadbury Perk is a confused brand. Perk came into limelight with an epic fight between KitKat and Perk. Then both these brands went to two trajectories. While KitKat was able to find a direction in terms of positioning , Perk was totally a confused brand. Nestle then launched Munch to fight Perk. Perk kept on experimenting with advertising themes and positioning and still has not found its mojo. 

Really I miss the magic of the launch campaigns of Perk . From this classic ad, the brand went to meaningless campaigns and later somewhat settled into its glucose energy focus. While KitKat focused on Have a Break positioning, Perk was no where in the picture.

Now Perk is again trying a new positioning featuring the Bollywood star Alia Bhatt.  The brand is running the campaign featuring the new celebrity endorser. 

Watch the ad here : Alia Bhatt Perk

Along with the new ad, Perk now has a new tagline " Jiyo Lightum Light"  which probably means to live life freely. 

From the ad, I have a feeling that the campaign was created around the celebrity rather than the brand. The thinking would be like , let us make an ad that fits Alia Bhatt ! 

My feeling is that Perk is struggling to find the right positioning. The new positioning lacks a connect with the product and the practical joke theme and the bubbly girl character has been heavily used by many brands in the past. 

Its sad to see the standards of the Perk's ads go down compared to the earlier ones ( featuring Preity Zinta). 

Schmitten Chocolate : Love to Love it

Brand : Schmitten
Company : Rajhans Group


Brand Analysis Count : # 550

The Rs 4500 chocolate market has a new player- Schmitten. Schmitten is a Swiss chocolate made in India ! or to be fair, this chocolate is positioned as a Swiss chocolate. The new brand comes from Rajhans group which is a Rs 3500 crore real-estate developer. 

The new brand- Schmitten is positioned as a premium brand competing with the like of Cadbury Silk and Temptation. Schmitten is the mother brand which is being launched as a moulded chocolate like Dairy Milk. Schmitten also has another product - Hoppits which is a bar-chocolate like 5 Star.

According to newsreports, the chocolate although made in India is made with machine imported from Switzerland, Denmark and Germany and uses Ghanian coco beans and Swiss recipe.

Priced at Rs 80 for 70 mg pack, the brand resides at the premium end of the chocolate market.It is priced competitively for a luxury brand.

Schmitten is launched with the endorsement from Priyanka Chopra. The launch campaign is styled as a musical and the brand has the tagline " Love to Love It ".

Watch the ad here : Schmitten 

The basic premise of the brand's launch message is that its a crime to ask for a bite of Schmitten. The brand had a launch teaser campaign where various punishment for taking a bite of  Schmitten is shown.

Watch : Teaser Schmitten

The musical ad has some kind of a novelty in it but doubt whether the packaging and the ad has succeeded in creating the premium image for the brand. The ad purely talks about the story and doesn't convey any message regarding the USP of the brand.

My take on the launch campaign was that it could have been much better and the premium factor is missing in the ad.

Further the tagline " Love to Love it " is a confusing tagline. What does it actually mean !!

Having said that, since chocolate is an impulse purchase, Schmitten , with its celebrity endorsements would get consumer trials and eventually it is the product performance that is going to be the key. 

Brand Wars : Perk Vs Munch

Its been a long time since Indian advertisement world saw a humorous fight between the brands. There has been high profile competitive wars between the brands like Horlicks Vs Complan, Vim Vs Dettol, Dettol Vs Lifebuoy, Pepsodent Vs Colgate etc but these were serious fights. 

Recently the new war started between the arch rivals Perk and Munch. These brands were keeping different paths between each other for quite some time. Both were trying to position themselves on different attributes ; Perk focusing on the glucose content while Munch was focusing on the crunchier proposition. However, Perk decided to poke Munch by launching the first TVC featuring the son - Monu leaving home because his father gave the bigger, heavier Perk to his brother Sonu.

Watch the TVC here : Perk Monu

Not to be left behind, Munch countered with another TVC which features Sonu leaving the father because he gave the tastier Munch to the brother Monu.

Watch the TVC : Munch Sonu

The Perk TVC was hilarious with the brand trying to outsmart Munch by talking about the difference of 1 wafer and 5.5 grams with the Perk. 

Munch however tried to downplay the grammage comparison by focusing on the taste. The brand humorously counter's Perk's claim by stating that chocolates are eaten for taste and not weight. While this argument is weak counter for Perk's claim, what saves Munch was the humour and the instant fight back to Perk's offensive.

 Had Munch not reacted , Perk could have used the "high grammage " value for money proposition  very effectively 

Munch was recently investing heavily in the promotion by taking in cricketer Virat Kohli as the  brand ambassador . Perk was struggling with the positioning proposition and was in my opinion had a weaker platform based on the glucose content. Perk was trying the break away from that weaker spot by launching an offensive against Munch.

With the two brand's paths crossing now, it will be a interesting space to watch for.

Read more brand war
Brand war : Sensitive Toothpaste
Brand war : Colgate Vs Pepsodent

Brand Update : Choclairs says " Fruit of patience is Chocolate"

After the rebranding of Echlairs to Choclairs, Cadburys has launched another tvc for the brand. This time, within a short span, the brand changed its focus to the chocolate part. In the rebranding campaign, Choclairs was giving the message that Choclairs will not stick in the mouth. This time the brand is focusing on the chocolaty core of the product.

Watch the ad here : Choclairs Ummm

The ad is just ordinary and the theme is nothing new. The theme of sudden burst of activity after consuming chocolate has been used plenty of times ( for example Tic Tac) . Even in the execution also, there is no novelty. I would pass it as an ordinary ad with no wow factor. The brand now adopts the tagline " Sabar ka Phal Choclate Hota Hain " roughly translated to " Fruit of patience is chocolate " which is the parody of " Fruit of patience is sweet". The idea is good but when it got executed, the freshness was lost.

I think that to bring in humor, the brand somehow has messed up the whole plot. The exaggeration also spoils the entire ad. Since its Cadburys one expects a certain level of class in ads which was surely missing in the current tvc.

Brand Update : Cadbury rebrands Eclairs to Choclairs

Brand : Cholairs

Company : Cadbury India 

Brand Analysis : # 534

In an interesting move, Cadbury's has rebranded its eclair brand to Choclairs. The brand is now running a TVC communicating this rebranding. Cadbury have two brands in the Eclairs segment - Cadbury Dairy Milk Eclairs and Cadbury Eclairs Rich. 

According to Business Standard, echlair market in India is worth around Rs 1000 crore( 2011statistics) and is witnessing intense competition for share between the players like Nestle, Parle, Cadbury and Perfetti. It is estimated that Cadbury is leading the market with its CDM Eclairs.

What can be the possible logic behind the rebranding of a very well known brand ?

One reason can be to handle the issue of generic nature of the term Eclairs. As I understand, eclairs stands for the special type of candy and is used by all the players in  the market. So when a consumer ask for an eclairs, it is retailer that decides which brand to be given. So by changing the name of CDM Eclairs to Choclairs, Cadbury's expect that problem to subside and with the new TVC the brand is trying to teach the consumer to tell the new name Choclairs.

Watch the TVC here : Candbury Choclairs

Second reason can be to remove the endorsement of Dairy Milk from this category. In my earlier posts on this brand, it may be recalled that Cadbury's had earlier renamed its eclair to Cadbury's Dairy Milk Eclairs .In effect, the eclair was a Product line extension of Dairy Milk brand. Now the brand owners may want to restrict the use of Dairy Milk to the chocolate bar category. So since the endorsement is removed, the eclairs would need an identity and Choclairs has become a new independent brand. 

Third reason can be that Choclairs is the brand which is owned by Cadbury's and is a leading brand in UK and China. Choclairs was created in 1996. So this move can be seen as a global alignment of the brands by Cadbury.

The positioning of Choclairs in India is funny. The new brand's main message is that it will not stick on the teeth. The brand has  the tagline " jo dimag mein chipke, daaton mein nahi "  which translates to " It will stick to your mind and not on teeth ". I wonder why the brand has taken such an attribute in a rebranding exercise. 

It is true that eclairs have a tendency to stick to gum and teeth and may be the brand feels that it may be prompting many consumers away from the category. But as a tagline, I feel that the brand deserves a better treatment.

Related post

Eclairs : Brand Update

Nestle Alpino : To Love is to Share

Brand : Alpino
Company : Nestle

Brand Analysis : # 530

Nestle Alpino is the company's latest offering in the Rs 5562 crore Indian chocolate market. The premium end of this market is witnessing interesting action with Cadbury's Silk, Ferrero Rocher , Toblerone leading the fight. According to reports, 30% of the market is now consisting of premium chocolates.

Nestle always had been a laggard in the Indian chocolate market. After Kitkat and Munch, the company did not have any serious launches. It seldom fought the leader Cadburys and neither did it tried to respond to any of the launches from the market leader.

This year, Nestle stirred up the market with the launch of its premium offering branded as Nestle Alpino. Alpino has a striking resemblance to Ferrero Rocher. The packing and the product form puts Alpino directly pitched against Ferrero Rocher. That comparison gives the brand a premium image without any effort.

Nestle Alpino is being positioned as a chocolate that should be shared. There is a romance touch to this brand and this is highlighted in the launch campaigns.

Watch the TVC here : Nestle Alpino

Besides the product attributes like the chocolate bon-bon with creamy inside, what makes Alpino different are the love messages written inside the Alpino wrapper. There are more than 150 such messages inside the wrappers. This makes the brand a very cute affordable gift of love. 

Nestle has been investing heavily in boosting the distribution and POP promotions for Alpino and it is showing too. The brand is priced at Rs 25 a pack and the pricing is spot-on. Ferrero Rocher although is in similar price range has a perception of being an expensive product and this have prevented many from buying it frequently. But Alpino was able to create an image of an affordable luxury.

Alpino has all the potential to become a success in the Indian market and may eclipse Ferrero Rocher's brand in India. The fact that now Indian consumers are increasingly opting for premium chocolates rather than traditional mithai also favors product like Alpino.