Dele Anifowoshe, Marketing Director of Cadbury Nigeria bubbles with joy as he explains to Ntia Usukuma, the reasons behind the combined celebration of Cadbury Bournvita’s endorsement by Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) and the introduction of the new 500 grammes Bournvita pack for Consumers.
You are celebrating the endorsement of Bournvita by Nutrition society of Nigeria, with the introduction of the new 500 grams pack. How are the two issues related? Was the new pack introduced to mark the endorsement?
Not exactly! These are two different issues but they occurred close to each other. That is the reason we opted to hold this special event on the same day. The endorsement of Cadbury Bournvita came after a multistep process including independent laboratory tests of the brand claims. This lasted several months.
If you may recall, the formal presentation took place some weeks ago at the prestigious Golden Royale Hotel, Enugu and many government officials, nutrition practitioners from the industry and academia, and our trading partners were all present to witness that unique occasion. The new 500 grams pack emerged from series of research, and being a consumer- focused company, we brought it into the market because it is the preferred choice of our teeming consumers. Everything we do is backed by consumer insight and research. The decision to upscale the flagship brand to 500 grammes was informed and backed by research both for the SKU and the refill box.
I can recall that Bournvita was endorsed by this same body a few years ago. Do you just stroll in there for endorsement anytime you need it or does the endorsement have a life-span?
NSN is a body that is very careful as regards its reputation so there is a life span for every endorsement. It is not an endless thing. That previous endorsement was in 1994. This one is from May 2013 to April 2016.
How relevant is this NSN endorsement?
This endorsement is from the highest collection of nutrition experts in Nigeria. It puts our brand ahead of its contemporaries, as pacesetters in the food beverage market. You might like to note that Cadbury Bournvita is the only food drink in Nigeria endorsed by the Nutrition Society of Nigeria. Having pioneered the fortification of food drinks in Nigeria in 1994, it is very satisfying to obtain this verification by the experts as we evidently stand tall when it comes to nutritional contents, rich cocoa taste and non-stop vitality. It proves to our consumers that Cadbury Bournvita is clearly a food drink that is rich in energy and essential micronutrients”
What informed Cadbury’ decision to come out with this new pack?
What we have done is to resize the 450 grammes Bournvita to 500 grammes. Everything we do is inspired by consumer insight, particularly the need to ensure that we are able to delight our consumers and come up with initiatives that will further reinforce their loyalty. The Bournvita brand has been in the market for 5 decades and as a leader brand, it as an innovative brand. We cannot afford to stand on one spot for too long, we need to continue to drive innovation and we need to come up with initiatives that will delight consumers. We are in a clime when affordability is an issue, so stepping up the grammes for us is a big advantage for our consumers because in a way, they are paying less compared to when Bournvita was in 450 grams SKU. It is better value for our consumers.
When Bournvita was in 450 grammes size, it retailed in an average supermarket for about N600 to N700. If you divide that sum by 450 grammes you will get a price per gram of about N1.50. Having up its size to 500 grammes, it retails for N700 in an average supermarket, if you then divide the N700 by 500 grams, you will get N1.40 per gram, so indeed it is of better value for our consumers. The 500 grammes replace the 450 grammes.
L-R – The Marketing Director, Cadbury West Africa, Mr. Dele Anifowoshe; Managing Director, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mr. Emil Moskofian; The Marketing Manager, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Chioma Afe and The Corporate Affairs Manager, Cadbury West Africa, Mr. Kufre Ekanem during the Media Launch of Cadbury Bournvita new 500G SKU and the celebration of NSN endorsement
Do you have any other product that is chasing the Nutrition Society of Nigeria’s (NSN) endorsement?
The reality is that we have to do things one step at a time. As it is, we have Bournvita as our flagship brand, TomTom as our flagship candy; and we just introduced Tang. We have just done one and I cannot let the cat out of the bag as regards plans for other products. But be rest assured that Cadbury Nigeria Plc which is a Mondelez International family prides itself in producing high quality products that consumers love. As a philosophy, all our brands are of the highest quality. We have just done one and we are celebrating it and this will not be the last for sure.The Nutrition Society of Nigeria’s endorsement is for all SKU of Bournvita, which include all the different sizes. It is the entire family of Bournvita that was endorsed. The whole thing we have done is to up size the 450 grammes to 500 grammes; these are two different activities but are all happening at about the same time, more like a double barrel benefit for our consumers.
What is the relationship between Cadbury Nigeria and Mondelez International?
We are a subsidiary of Mondelez International family. In Nigeria, Cadbury is like a representative of Mondelez. Just the same way Nigerian Breweries is a subsidiary of Heineken International in Nigeria.
The Bournvita Children Magical Flight was a great concept that endeared children to your brand and now that you have stopped it, what, plans do you have to engage children with the brand every year?
If you are following the history of Cadbury, you know this is a new generation of management and we believe that there is time for everything. We have redefined the essence of the brand; we have also redefined who our target audience is. There would be other engagement platforms that we can deploy to further build the bond between Bournvita and the consumers out there. Magic Flight was good in its time but this is a different line and we would be looking at other ways of driving that engagement and cement that relationship between Bournvita and our beloved consumers.
Which other brands does Cadbury intend to churn out to consumers in future?
We are a very ambitious company, we live by adding value to our consumers and we believe that the best way to do that is to increase our portfolio of brands to be able to meet the needs of our consumers. We launched ‘Tang’ about 4 months ago and it is a very good brand, families and kids love it. We are still in the teething period of growing the brand and more will come.
It seems the passion you use in positioning Bournvita and sometimes Tom Tom is not extended to other brands. Is there any plan to ensure that all your brands like Éclairs become market leaders in their various segments?
All our brands are market leaders. Brands like Éclairs have been delisted. In our portfolio now, our brands are; Bournvita, TomTom, Buttermint and Tang. We give all our brands very good support. After the last nations cup, Tom Tom hosted the Super Eagles and it was a big event. We support all our brands and they are all leaders in their various sector of the market. Without any doubt, they all get good support.
You said all your products are market leaders in their various sector. What did you do to ensure that they maintain that position?
It is always challenging to continue to be a leader and the solution is simple; be consistent in what you do, invest in the brands, build the brand. Ensure that the entire marketing mix is well integrated in a way that consumers will continue to see value in the brands. For us, pricing is important as well as communicating the key element of our brand essence is key. We run promotions to reward our consumers from time to time. Our distribution network is very good and we still keep working on our road to market. From an integrated marketing point of view, we do invest substantially and will continue to invest which is the only way to stay on top.
How do you source cocoa for your beverage? Do you buy or do you have a farm?
We have a cocoa processing facility in Ondo State called Starmark; it is now wholly integrated into Cadbury as one holistic organisation. It is like backward integration, we process our cocoa and we produce our Bournvita. We are in control of the entire process ‘end-to-end’ and that makes a whole lot of difference which is a guarantee of quality. When we say, from pod to cup, its Cadbury Bournvita all the way, it shows we take charge in producing our raw materials. No other beverage producer is really doing this. Cocoa powder is our basic raw material and we need to produce a high quality raw material to produce quality cocoa beverage. We don’t go through suppliers, no outside involvement. We are in control of our raw materials and that gives us massive advantage in terms of processes and quality assurance.
Do you intend to invest in research and development?
It is another strong platform for maintaining leadership. Mondelez is an international company and we leverage on the research and development platform of the company in South Africa and Germany. Being a global organisation, we have that advantage, and off course, we get very good support from our regional research and development centre. There is hardly anything we do that they don’t get involved which has been a major advantage for us in terms of being very consistent with our quality and in driving innovation as well.
Dele Anifowoshe Cadbury Mkg. Director
Is Cadbury Nigeria the regional head of Mondelez group in Africa?
Nigeria belongs to Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region of the Mondelez group. Nigeria is part of West Africa which comprises Nigeria and Ghana and West Africa is a component of EEME, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. If you look at most global brand today, that is how they are positioned; and we are not any different although geographical boundaries may defer but our footprint is the same.
Why did Cadbury decide to use animations for its TV commercials?
The last results from our AGM and stakeholders feedback shows Cadbury Nigeria is doing well and we having been meeting our figures consistently. If you link the 15 Seconds and the full length TV commercials it is a combination of both animations and human elements. The focus was to ensure that we deliver on the best ad which is why there is an infusion of different techniques and ethos. Our focus was to have the best possible commercial that can carry the message of Bournvita. The feedback shows that the consuming public very clearly appreciates what Cadbury Bournvita has been doing.
The 500 grammes is a landmark achievement. Are there plans to celebrate it big?
We have an itinerary of events to drive the new 500 grammes of Bournvita. It goes to show the quality of goodness we are giving our consumers with that added vitality. More importantly last year, we launched our National Consumer Promotions-NCP where we spoke of exciting our consumers. Coming into 2013, we believe that the 500 grammes of Cadbury Bournvita will even increase that excitement for our consumers. There is a lot more we have to offer consumers. There are various activities; but we have decided to start with the media. Other activities will include trade briefings etc. It is important that the customers and the media who are our partners alike also understand the rationale behind the introduction of the 500 grammes Bournvita. We need to let them know that this added goodness and vitality we are sharing is not just for ourselves but also for them. Beyond the fact that we are offering the 500 grammes at the right price and the best quality, we are also offering promotional offers and other ways to engage and sensitize our customers.
