Cadbury Celebrations - Eating Into the Traditional Sweets Market

One of the most exciting case studies of this generation, in spotting a market opportunity within a traditional product space and exploiting using clever marketing, is that of Cadbury Celebrations.

Celebrations is a premium chocolate pack offering from Cadbury India. Designed as a 'gifting' product, it is offered in several assortments - as a collection of Cadbury's traditional brands like Dairy Milk, Five Star, Perk and Gems, or in combinations of rich chocolate and exotic ingredients like almond, raisin, cashew and caramel.

Indians have a long and cherished tradition of gifting sweets on occasions, be it festivals, weddings, ceremonies, or celebrations both personal and corporate. The category of 'gift sweets' has and continues to be dominated by traditional Indian sweets. From the humble motichur ladoo (bright orange balls made of gram flour and sugar) to the delicately prepared and exotic sandesh (made from fine cow's cheese and molasses), traditional sweets occupy a special place in the Indian psyche - gifting them is considered auspicious (from their use as offerings to deities), appropriate and as a gesture of goodwill. In fact, the psyche is such that the process of choosing and buying sweets creates a sense of importance, even elation if you will, in the buyer's mind because it is understood that Indian sweets befit a special reason or relationship.

How then, did a chocolate brand fit into this equation? Cadbury was ingenious in spotting a huge opportunity in this category. Despite the huge variety, all Indian sweets eventually fell under the same title - mithai (traditional sweet). There were no alternate options available; no differentiated offering that satisfied the parameters established by mithai - grand in presentation, exotic and sweet in taste, rich in ingredients, fairly expensive, and having enough grammage to be appropriate for gifting.


Gifting in India is governed by these rules of propriety, and if a product had to compete with the monopoly enjoyed by traditional sweets, it had to be elevated to the plane of special occasions, special relationships, and special gifts.

It is imperative to note here that Indian sweets are delicious; they are considered a treat and an indulgence. Creating and projecting the perception of a far 'superior' product would have been difficult, to say the least. Proposing differentiation solely on the basis of taste or ingredients would have been a challenge. The solution was in the marketing. Cadbury had to market its product not as much as an alternate to mithai than as an exciting 'gifting concept' - one that people looked forward to receiving.

Launched in 1992, Celebrations was presented as a gifting choice that results when one really cares about the receiver, when one knows that expectations are higher than just traditional mithai.

The significance of marketing for this product is evident from the presence of a huge icon, Amitabh Bachchan, as brand ambassador since the beginning. So what points worked in Celebrations' favor?

Marketing prowess: Cadbury created campaigns centered around emotion and sentiment. The TVCs have consistently featured twin themes: an occasion for gifting and sharing (Diwali, Rakshabandhan, parties / celebrations), and a play on relationships - between brother and sister (view here), between old friends (view here), between families (view here). The spots bring out the special place our relationships occupy in our lives. Although they do focus on the product: the delicious combination of Cadbury chocolate and ingredients of traditional Indian sweets like dry fruit, they focus more on creating the perception that the 'brand' is perfectly appropriate for gifting and in fact, even desirable as a gift. The idea is to promote the magic of gifting, of building relationships through gifting, of sharing happiness through gifting. The spots are designed to create an aura around occasions and gifting on those occasions; they bundle together the little things that make gifting so special  - the joy experienced when handing over a gift, the expectancy, thrill and excitement of receiving one, the glint in people's eyes, the mischief of sharing (or not!), and people's realization that the gift is an expression of love. Cadbury has popularized, glamorized, and commercialized the idea of gifting - made it classy, aspirational, a lofty ideal, a source of happiness. And at the center of these ideas is Celebrations.

What are the other points in the product's list of selling points?

- Chocolate + rich ingredients
- The Cadbury brand and the public's fondness for Dairy Milk chocolate. The taste and acceptance factor is taken care of (everyone knows that everyone likes chocolate)

- Price: This is a significant point because Cadbury priced Celebrations competitively, as low as Rs. 125 for the Chocolates Assortment box and Rs. 200 for the Rich Dry Fruit Collection box. As the only unit available in terms of weight, price and form factor, there is no complication in the mind of the receiver as to the value of the gift received. In comparison, Indian sweets come with huge differences in price and quality (depending on the sweet and the store from where it is purchased), which possibly creates uncertainty in the mind of the receiver (the reverse is also true, though).

Adoption was swift and widespread. People have accepted Celebrations as a respectable gifting option, one comparable to Indian sweets. The TVCs continue to focus on the core tenet of the brand: nurturing relationships through sweetness. It is indeed a success story born out of smart, incisive understanding of a market accompanied by consistent, impactful messaging.