Tasty additions will keep a brand fresh
If Mark Ritson was standing in the election for sharpest business columnist, he’d probably be celebrating a landslide victory. Since we announced that Ritson was joining us here at Marketing Week, our own campaign to inspire marketers has received a boost. You can read his first column.
While you’ll now find Ritson on the back pages, our “secret marketer” is continuing to bring you his real-life no-nonsense advice.
One brand that could perhaps use some advice from both Ritson and the secret marketer is Cadbury. The confectioner announced last week that it hopes to open up to 60 cafés in the next five years.
Even though analysts in the City say the market is too crowded for a new chain of outlets, can Cadbury make cafés work? I think it’s possible if the brand follows two simple rules.
First, use the brand’s heritage. The way to make Cadbury cafés something a bit special and different from rivals is to play up the history of the brand. I’d love to see “John Cadbury’s original Quaker drinking chocolate” on the menu. The National Geographic café in London is a great template – it takes the adventurous, natural values of the brand, then relates that to food and drink.
“Cadbury needs to make sure it doesn’t just become a purple plastic-tabled me-too on the high street. Consumers have already lost their love of identikit global brands”
Second, use the different brands for different consumers. Cadbury is fortunate to have so many ranges, which means it can appeal to masses of people. The Green & Black’s range of hot drinks could be thick, dark hot chocolate for discerning adults. Meanwhile, the Dairy Milk cocoa could be a creamy treat for everyone. And there has to be a range of milkshakes based on Flakes and Crunchies for the kids.
Cadbury needs to make sure it doesn’t just become a purple plastic-tabled me-too on the high street. Consumers have already lost their love of the identikit global brand – hence why both McDonald’s and Starbucks are redesigning their outlets to reflect the local areas where they appear.
The importance of local communities is something Jo Roberts explores in her cover story (page 14) this week. Location-based services such as Foursquare are helping consumers define their lives in the places where they reside. And brands are rewarding them for doing so.
Whether you are a giant operator in 150 countries or a local shop with one outlet, you need to understand marketing on every scale. And the Marketing Week team with the added ingredient of Ritson should help you do so.
