‘Opportunity is in the smaller cities:’ Cadbury’s Kripalu

Cadbury India’s journey has had its shares of ups and downs. It’s not difficult to figure out the lows; the 2003 worm controversy would probably win hands down but the highs have been many. Cadbury's relationship with its creative agency O&M being one of them. Anand Kripalu, MD, Cadbury India (pictured, left) credits the success of their communication over the years to the fantastic relationship that they share with the WPP agency.

Said Kripalu, “They not only own but understand the brand as much as the company in this case. True client-agency partnership is like two flip sides of the same coin. When they work together, hand in hand with complete trust and understanding, you get great advertising.”

Asked how one could draw a parallel with Cadbury’s Gorilla ad in UK and their local advertising with the positioning ‘Kuch Meetha Ho jaye’ in India, Kripalu said, “We are clear about what the essence of the Cadbury’s brand is and believe in putting that out in the relevant societal context of the country. The positioning in India is clearly ‘Kuch meetha ho jaya’, which is absolutely relevant to drive the consumption of chocolates in India. It is the core of the brand, which has been executed locally.”

Kripalu added that increasing chocolate consumption in India was about changing attitudes and their marketing campaign has looked at making the consumption of chocolate an everyday routine affair, like dessert after a meal, hence the positioning 'Kuch meetha ho jaye.'.

Kripalu was speaking at the sidelines of the launch of the book “Cadbury’s Purple Reign,” written by former Cadbury’s executive John Bradley, in Mumbai recently. ‘Cadbury’s Purple Reign’ is the story of the chocolate brand’s global journey through the years, billed as the brand’s “definitive history” according to the company’s release. The author was not present at the occasion but filling up for him was Kripalu and O&M’s Piyush Pandey (pictured, right). The launch was preceded by a show that included some of the most compelling communication from Cadbury’s India, that viewers of a certain age could still relate to, after all these years. Charting out the history of the brand in India, from being an urban premium brand towards building a more mass appeal, Kripalu said that the opportunity for Cadbury going forward was not in the urban centers but in fact, in the smaller cities and said that they were working on their distribution strategy to make this possible. The Economic Times’ Brand Equity Most Trusted Brand 2008 survey ranks Cadbury at no 34, which is higher than their 2007 ranking, a sign that the folks at Cadbury House have their work cut out for them.