Cadbury case study

Published by admin on February 25, 2019February 25, 2019

Cadbury’s hostile take over by Kraft left most people dismayed and a little scared much like when Disney bought Star Wars. People in Britain loved the chocolate brand and the narrative of being started by Quakers and a company that was not just quality chocolate but a good place to work was put into question. There is tremendous value in using media reputation as a strategic resource. You could say that over the last decade Kraft has also given us a case study in how to mismanage a media reputation.

From breaking promises to employees, changing the recipe, not using British milk but sourcing it from Poland, to hundreds of lost jobs, Kraft has mismanaged the acquisition. Perhaps the executives thought that they were in for bad PR anyway and chose to ride it out instead of working to make good with the local community, but it seems that without the brand identity intact the value of the company is lost. The brand identity is tied so closely to the local community and its roots in Britain it would be like if Chevy decided to start making trucks overseas and shipping them to the US all the while calling them American made.

It seems that even Kraft is starting to see the error of their ways. After a documentary ran in 2016 exposing in detail all the problems the people of Britain, and lots of people on the internet have with Cadbury, the decision has been made to bring milk production back to Britain.

Kraft still has a long way to go to earn back all the trust that was lost after their broken promises but maybe recognizing the impact all the negative media attention will lead to better choices. Kraft should never have promised to keep the historic factory open and then fire 400 people when it decided that it no longer could afford to keep it up and running in its first year. Hopefully the executives will see the strategic value in getting the brand narrative in line with their means of production and the impact that could have on their return on investment.

Documentary: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=njgW-c3fAUk