Ethics in a downturn

Talking to ordinary consumers about ethical issues is in Cadbury’s DNA. Two hundred years ago, the Cadbury family set out to market hot chocolate as an alternative to alcohol, priced within the reach of the ‘common man’ and with a guarantee of purity in an age when adulteration with brick dust and other bulking agents was commonplace. That desire for ‘mass’ appeal is still at the heart of our CSR agenda, and sits behind our approach to Fairtrade communications. In becoming the first mainstream confectionery brand to go Fairtrade with a product, we’re not aiming at traditional Fairtrade consumers. Quite the contrary, we’re working with Fairtrade to try to create a tipping point that makes ethics something for everyone. And this is why we think we can help ensure ‘values’ don’t get overtaken by ‘value’ during an economic downturn. But it’s not as simple as it looks, and we’re learning a lot about how different consumers think along the way.

It can be very easy, if you work in CSR, to claim that sales would rocket if only the marketing team would get out and tell consumers about all the ethical things your company is doing. But of course, it’s not true (otherwise, everyone would be doing it). I’ve sat in enough consumer research groups to know that one person’s ethics is another person’s ‘nannying’ and that for most consumers, taste is king (or put another way, if you crave a Creme Egg or a Crunchie, CSR is probably the last thing on your mind).

However, it also seems crazy for companies like Cadbury with a strong tradition of doing the right thing to confine their ethics to the corporate sphere and not try to engage consumers on the subject; in fact, surely we’ve got a responsibility to use the power of our brands to take ethics to the masses? The question is, who and how?

Who?

We have identified three groupings – or consumer segments – across a spectrum of opinion. It ranges from those who care very deeply about ethical issues (we called these the ‘Ethical Elite’); to those who can actually be turned off by CSR initiatives (we called them ‘Antis’). And right in the centre are the vast majority – those who are open to ethics but only on their terms (the ‘Feel Good Factors’).

How?

These groups are different, not just in terms of what they believe, but also how you should communicate with them. They respond to different kinds of communication styles and messages.

1. ‘Ethical Elites’ are willing to pay, not just financially, but also in terms of time and inconvenience to get an ethical option. They’ll go to a special shop, look for a particular shelf, buy a special brand, taste something that they’re not familiar with and pay a special price for it. In fact, this is all part of what they see as the role of an ethical consumer, to the extent that if a product doesn’t require this then they might doubt whether it is good enough! This group care passionately about ethical issues but they are challenging to communicate with and can be suspicious of corporates. They want a lot of information – and love facts, statistics and independent scrutiny. They’ve got lots of questions. In addition, they are not satisfied with the information brands give them; they want to hear it from someone else they respect – whether it is an official organisation or a renegade blogger. This group are also the traditional heartland of Fairtrade. They are already convinced it’s a good idea and try their best to support it whenever they can across all kinds of product ranges
2. ‘Antis’ sit at the polar opposite of the spectrum. They see this kind of thing as completely irrelevant to them and are happy for this to remain the case. They’re cynical about – some might say hardened against – the issues, sometimes to the point of being ‘against’ CSR. They don’t want to know about it and they certainly won’t pay more for it. Quite simply, they don’t want ‘do-gooders’ preaching to them and want to be left alone to enjoy their chocolate in peace (and at the lowest price). Therefore, you need to take care that any communication to other, more interested consumers doesn’t alienate them
3. ‘Feel Good Factors’ are by far the biggest group of all, and are right in the middle of this spectrum. They are the mass mainstream and Cadbury’s heartland. They can be interested in ethical issues, but only to a limited extent and on certain terms. Ethics don’t beat convenience and value – and they certainly don’t trump taste. They want their favourite chocolate with easy ethics. However, they are increasingly looking for more from life. They want to ‘feel good’ about their brand choices, without too much personal sacrifice. Therefore, they want brands to take the lead and sort things out for them. The way to communicate with them is also revealing. They engage more emotionally and much more personally. They don’t want facts and figures or complex judgements by expert groups. They don’t want to have to swallow a CSR dictionary in order to understand what it’s all about. They want simple stories about real people that make them feel good from brands they love and trust. Like Cadbury

Understanding these groups really helps you understand why so many companies develop niche ethical offers at a premium price. These can attract the ‘Ethicals’ (and their extra cash) without ever needing to worry about alienating the ‘Antis’. It also explains why much of the communication about CSR reaches only a small proportion of the population and passes so many of us by.

We felt that the time was right for ethical consumerism aimed squarely at the mainstream. So with the certification of Cadbury Dairy Milk as Fairtrade, we’re not targeting the ‘Ethical Elites’ – who are actually already pretty well served by established Fairtrade brands, like Green & Blacks and Divine – but instead trying to reach what the Cadbury family called the ‘common man’ (or in my case, woman).

Underneath the communications is a pretty weighty and complex business initiative. Back in 2008, we set up the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme and other development organisations, such as the Ghanaian government, and farmers themselves. This is a ground-breaking initiative which aims to secure the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cocoa farmers and is now active across 100 Ghanaian communities. As you can imagine, it’s a detailed and time-consuming agenda, one that the average chocolate lover has neither the time nor attention span to get to grips with, and which few people will ever hear about.

The move to Fairtrade takes that work to the next level. As well as being a serious undertaking that benefits thousands of farmers on the ground, it provides mainstream consumers with an easy ethical choice: their favourite brand, with the same taste and same price but with added ethics. In addition, for the Fairtrade movement in consumer terms, it means a 20 – 25 per cent increase in Fairtrade sales and a real tipping point, with millions of consumers becoming supporters of Fairtrade.

So far, the consumer response reflects our consumer segmentation. We haven’t yet had time to see the response in store, because at the time of writing, the bars are only just hitting the shelves, but I’ve loved seeing the posts online on our blog. Hardcore ethical consumers are probing us on the detail, asking ‘why is it only Cadbury Dairy Milk?’ and ‘will you also be using Fairtrade sugar?’*. Meanwhile most consumers said ‘well done’ and even ‘thanks for making my favourite chocolate Fairtrade’ but had two burning questions – ‘will it taste different?’ and ‘will it cost more?’ (Answer, no and no).

So as we move to communicate this, we are keeping those mainstream consumers front of mind. We will be connecting the average Cadbury consumer to a new positive, ethical vibe. Therefore, from the brand that brought you the famous drumming gorilla and crazy eyebrow dancing kids, please expect the unexpected.

* Answer: What we’re doing so far, is already going to triple the amount of Fairtrade cocoa coming out of Ghana – and that’s just by making Cadbury Dairy Milk Fairtrade in UK and Ireland. We’re now working on other brands (and other markets) and have already announced our hot chocolate is going Fairtrade too. And yes, the sugar is Fairtrade as well as the cocoa.