Cadbury India Product Life Cycle Management
[pic 1]MKTG-1-0035  |  October 15th 2014Cadbury India: Product Life Cycle Management“We have stayed ahead of competition by growing the category. This category growth has come through behaviour-changing advertising, innovation and growing width and depth of distribution.”AIDed (Advertising, Innovation and Distribution) by its multiCOPY-prongedapproachofchangingconsumption behavior of Indians in general and rural Indians in particular, would it be able to stay ahead of the pack?Mondelez India Foods LimitedSince 2012, Cadbury India (Cadbury) had been trying to extend its market into rural markets. Cadbury, which made its entry into the Indian market in July 1948, had been reinventing over the last seven decades by making itself relevant through the expansion of its distribution network with innovative product lines like – Perk, Shots, Silk, etc. It had also been trying to reach out to varied groups of customers through its innovative advertising and repositioning its existing product lines. The Indian consumer is fond of sweets and consumed them as a dessert after meals and also to celebrate success and occasions like festivals, weddings, etc. Cadbury tried to reposition its products as a gift item and as a sweet for celebrations. It also switched the perceptions of the consumers that chocolates were just for the kids and repositioned its products
not only for teenagers but for all the age groups.Would its AID formula succeed in increasing the chocolate consumption levels of the Indian consumers and the market size, and in turn keep rechristening its PLC? Would it be able to extend its Product Life Cycle (PLC) and stay relevant in terms of its product value chain in the Indian chocolate market?Chocolate Market in IndiaIndia was among the fastest growing markets in the world in terms of chocolate consumption. Growing atThis DOCaseStudywaswrittenbySyed Abdul Samad and Dr. Nagendra V. Chowdary, ET CASES. It is intended to be used as the basis for classroom discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. The case study was compiled from published sources.a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25%, India’s confectionery market was worth about`5,000 crore in  ctober 2013 and was expected to cross `7,500 crore by 2015.1 Nearly, 70% of revenuesNOT2are contributed by sugar confectionery and the remaining 30% are accounted for by the chocolate confectionery1“Chocolate demand soars by 40% amid growing concerns of adulterated sweets & abnormally high dry-fruit prices this festive season:Survey”,