Revealing opportunities to
strengthen & diversify
portfolio
Chocolate biscuits
Background


For Cadbury‟s Biscuits, there was a need to understand their category in more detail and
evaluate ways forward for growth. Specifically, the business objectives were to:

Understand why recent product launches and range extensions had not been successful

Establish a clear picture of the structure of the market

Investigate how best to promote their key brands

Determine ways to increase their share of the market
This was translated into research objectives of:

Describe current purchase behaviour

Ascertain competitive brands to Cadbury portfolio

Identify key strengths and weaknesses of their brands and how best to exploit

Quantify and profile consumer segments to target

Model opportunities to increase share in the market
Chocolate Biscuits Case Study
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Project and sample

Utilised TNS OptimaTM approach, with a 25-minute quantitative questionnaire

Interviewed 1000 main grocery buyers in the UK, who had bought and eaten chocolate biscuits
in the past month

Questionnaire covered:

Market behaviour/purchase

Ranking of brands purchased

Reasons for choice

Attitudes to the category and personal values
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Segmenting consumers on attitudes revealed…

A broad attitudinal split between “Indulgers” and Limiters”

BUT Cadbury brands only reaching 50% of chocolate biscuits consumers
Chocolate Biscuit Eaters
Indulgers
Limiters
Experimentalists
Biscuit
Barrels
Chocoholics
Chocolate
Avoiders
Controllers
Naturals
27%
12%
12%
23%
13%
13%
Buy
Cadbury
brands
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Looking at purchase behaviour revealed…

Many of the Cadbury‟s brands are competing with each other - both a strength and a weakness
Cadbury’s Brands
Shorties
Digestives
Choc chip cookies
Wafers
Midler
Orange Creams
NO OVERLAP
HIGH OVERLAP
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So knowing about consumer attitudes and their behaviour
has revealed…

The majority of consumers tend to buy brands from within the same sector

Competition between Cadbury brands is high which is a strength but also a weakness since
Cadbury brands lack presence in the rest of market
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How are the brands positioned?
Tasty/ eat
anytime
E.CLASSIC
CREAMS
O/LABEL
COOKIES
Hot drink
CHOC HOB
NOBS
C.CHOC
CHIP
COOKIES
C.WAFERS
Convenient
PENGUIN/
KIT KAT
Out of home
C.SNACKS
(BAG)
Treat/ “best”
C.SNACK
(BARS)
C.CHOC
FINGERS
C.ANIMALS
Chocolate
Children
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This led to the recognition of “Fortress Cadbury's”
O/LABEL
COOKIES
E.CLASSIC
CREAMS

“Fortress Cadbury‟s”
was viewed as a
strength – and hence to
be defended

But also a weakness in
terms of lack of
presence in other
(bigger) sectors of the
market

… and raised the
question of how to best
to attack
CHOC HOB
NOBS
C.CHOC
CHIP
COOKIES
C.WAFERS
PENGUIN/
KIT KAT
C.SNACKS
(BAG)
C.SNACK
(BARS)
C.CHOC
FINGERS
C.ANIMALS
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And now knowing about consumer attitudes, their
behaviour and Cadbury brands positioning…



Cadbury brands core values are:

Best chocolate

Expensive but worth it

Name I trust

Special occasions/visitors

Gift/attractive pack

Like myself/children like
BUT:

There is little differentiation between Cadbury‟s brands

Limited representation of the total chocolate biscuit market
Immediate next steps:

Identify the key strengths to communicate for its leading brand - Cadbury Fingers

Create a plan to develop other parts of the market for Cadburys – re-positioning or new
brand?
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For Cadbury Fingers…


Communication focus needs to be on chocolate, treat/fun, children.
Reasons for Choice
Rank in
market
Rank for
Cadbury Fingers
Like the chocolate
2
1
Nice treat
6
4
Children like them
12
2
Special occasions
19
7
Cheers you up
22
13
Expensive but worth it
23
21
Make I trust
24
15
Best Chocolate
30
14
What did they do?

Developed new packaging and advertising based on fun, family and children

Highest awareness levels post advertising

Sales +15% in period post advertising
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Further opportunities to increase share …

Four key brand opportunities identified:


Simulation indicated Sector 4 offered
largest volume potential
Development of Sector 2 indicated
little cannibalisation from existing
brands
Sector 4
OL Cookies Fox’s Creams
Choc Hob Nob
Cookies
C. Assortment
Sector 1
Sector 2
Penguin
Kit Kat
C. Wafers
C. Snacks
Cadbury Fingers
C. Animals
Sector 3
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Decisions taken following the research

Acquired brand and production facility to compete in the „Cookies‟ Sector (Sector 4
opportunity):

And subsequently developed new products

Acquired production facility to supply Own Label products to compete with Penguin, Kit Kat
(Sector 2 opportunity)

Identified clear positioning for key brand Cadbury Fingers in the UK
“Optima™ was able to show us the true nature of the market and explain why
new product launches had been cannibalising our existing range.
The analysis then identified opportunities for new products and acquisitions
which have now been exploited successfully, which helped us grow from an
£85m company turnover to £250m ”.
Tony Camp, International Marketing Director, Cadbury Biscuits
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