Cadbury Crisis in India

WORKSHOP IN COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS
CADBURY: CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN

Organizational Structure of Cadbury
Q1: Did Amitabh Bachchan stick his neck out?

Ans: Yes without any doubt we can say that Amitabh Bachchan did stick his neck out.
Associating yourself with a controversy knowing the fact that you are being idolised in the
country by kids, adults and older people is extremely risky. It is putting your entire image and
personality at stake. It was a very bold decision on his behalf.
Although he was being paid a hefty amount by Cadbury for its advertising campaigns “Pappu
Paas ho gya” and “Kuch meetha ho jaye”, however big the amount is, money is nothing when it
puts all the hard work of your entire life at danger.
There is a video in which Amitabh Bachchan actually tells why did he take up this offer. The
video can be found here. He tells the audience in this video that he visited the manufacturing unit
of Cadbury and found that there is strict Quality control and sealed packaging of the chocolates
done. Everything was done under the supervision of the concerned authority and the brand really
works hard to satisfy the needs of their customers while taking care of the quality. He then
concluded that if he takes this opportunity it would help them to revive their status and after that
Amitabh Bachchan would be able to sleep peacefully.
Q2:Did the time frame taken was good enough?
Ans: Yes, it is good. Since, the cadbury had around 70% market share at that time and India was
acquiring the chocolate as their consumption habit. There were few competitors like Nestle,
Amul etc. were trying to capture the market. When the crisis happened, the company tried hard
to retain its brand image and quality products. However, the rumors were spread quickly among
the streets that the cadbury is unhealthy and harmful. To overcome the crisis, the company’s MD
took the front line stand and denied all the rumors through media channels. On the other hand,
the competitors like Nestle fails to snatch market share from cadbury due to their poor strategy.
This months long issue come to an end when Cadbury fix some norms to avoid future haphazard
like this.
The major change was packaging of the chocolate. They implemented two sheet protection and a
foil wrap around the product. Secondly, they focused on retail monitoring and education to
standardise the storage facilities at retails outlets.
Q3:Would you do it differently?

The crisis with Cadbury happened in 2003, the time when online and live media is emerging.
The only medium was print media and radio. Taking that time frame, the best channel to
communicate was print media. The company holds a lot of one-to-one meeting with media,
stakeholders, sales team and other related executives.
However, the company doesn’t use mass advertisement strategy to reach to the common
audience living in tier 1 and tier 2 cities. Taking Amitabh Bachan as their lead ambassador was
just a halfway, rather they should invest a lot in print advertisement with the same message.
Secondly, The major segment for Cadbury was kids, teenagers and adults. They might go for a
female face for the advertisements to display the message to healthy and safe from a motherly
perspective.
Thirdly, they could go for regional actors for the promotion of Cadbury. When the same crisis
has happened with Coca Cola, they use this regional promotional strategy to regain its market
share. The advertisements in regional language, actors, environment would be a much better
option to target the untouched regional population.
Q4:What all is important when it comes to Communication crisis?

Ans: A good PR professional knows that a crisis well-managed is a crisis well-prepared.
The following things are important when it comes to communication crisis:
1. Accepting the mistake if there is any at the earliest.
2. Inform the employees before reaching out to Press conferences and One on One
interview as they are the voice of the company.
3. The same message should be conveyed by each and every stakeholder of the company
with consistency and empathy.
4. The message should be clear, easy to understand without any industry jargons.
5. The social media handles should be monitored closely for any probable communication
crisis in advance. A proactive approach should be followed rather than reactive.
6. The press and customers should be told about each and every thing happening in the
company to resolve that particular issue. This is important to build/regain trust of the
employees.
Communication Plan
A good plan, a crisis plan, is a plan with steps. The Inbound PR campaign comes in stages —
attract, convert, close, delight.
1. Have a crisis communication team: Identify the company’s stakeholders. Brief and train the
person. You need to have a list with the people who will be in the crisis communication team.
The spokesperson must be trained on how to handle a crisis and must be able to answer
challenging and specific questions.
2.Different messages for different audiences: Customized messages and approaches are used
for different audiences like customers, employees, media, shareholders, stakeholders,
community. The messages should be clear and easy to understand. You’d have news
announcements for media, announcements and memos for employees, email or meetings with
investors, crisis communication kits for the crisis communication team.
3.Employees are the voice of the company: Employees should not learn about the crisis from
the media. Internal announcements need to happen before media announcements.During a crisis
the employees are a valuable asset because they can be also the voice of the company, they can
be the strongest advocates.
4.Different messages for different audiences: Customized messages and approaches are used
for different audiences like customers, employees, media, shareholders, stakeholders,
community. The messages should be clear and easy to understand. You’d have news
announcements for media, announcements and memos for employees, email or meetings with
investors, crisis communication kits for the crisis communication team.
5.Proper channel: choosing what channels to be part of the crisis management process is also
important.Use one channel for media.Virtual press rooms are a good place to update instantly
journalists — announcements, updates, solutions, information about company’s products and
services, positive outcomes for employees, community, etc. Have one contact only handling
media requests. This way you can control the messages you want to deliver.
6. Press Conferences/ One on One interview: When giving a press conference or having one-
to-one interviews, it is better to have Q&As prepared in advance. This way the spokesperson can
be ready for tough questions. The Q&As list helps the whole management of the company to be
aligned around the same information. The same messages are repeated and shared via different
channels. This builds consistency, openness and shows that your company is not withholding
information.
7.Proactive approach: When working on a crisis communications plan, you must monitor and
identify issues in social media that may become a crisis. In social media, news spreads with the
speed of light and a minor issue might become a major crisis for the company you are working
for.So all these issues should be monitored and acted upon proactively instead of adopting a
reactive approach.
6.Media relations: It is a very important moment during a crisis. All media must be redirected to
the same contact. All media must receive the same information. “No comment” and “off the
record” answers are not allowed. They can work against your company’s image because they
imply you are guilty and you are not taking responsibility.
8. Be honest and transparent: This builds trust.With inbound media relations, you also aim to
build trust between the journalists and your brand or company. Inbound media relations get you
coverage from the content you provide. Journalists find you via the content you have shared on
your own channels. You build trust and show that you are an expert.
9. If you are mistaken, admit it: Be sincere and apologize in time. The more quickly you do so,
the more quickly the communication crisis will be solved. Also, your apology needs to be
genuine, it has to show empathy. Use simple words, without industry jargons and difficult to
understand words and sentences. Always explain what had happened, what you are doing to fix
the problem, what will be all outcomes, how you will take care of all impacted stakeholders like
employees, community, investors. It is important to show actions that you are fixing what have
been damaged.
10.Monitor the behavior of audiences: Monitor media announcements, online behavior and
comments, and social media channels.
11.Be honest and transparent: This builds trust. With inbound media relations, you also aim to
build trust between the journalists and your brand or company. Inbound media relations get you
coverage from the content you provide. Journalists find you via the content you have shared on
your own channels. You build trust and show that you are an expert.
12.Consistency of messages: During a crisis — repeat, repeat and repeat the same messages to
your public.
13.Monitor the behavior of audiences: Monitor media announcements, online behavior and
comments, and social media channels.
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Cadbury Crisis in India

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WORKSHOP IN COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS

CADBURY: CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN

Q1: Did Amitabh Bachchan stick his neck out?

Q3:Would you do it differently?

Q4:What all is important when it comes to Communication crisis?

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