Cadbury India has decided to go ahead with advertising spends despite a general slowdown in the economy. The chocolate and confectionary major is not cutting back brand investments as it seeks to boost impulse purchases for its basket of products and staples.

Sanjay Purohit, executive director, marketing, Cadbury India, said the chocolate and confectionary categories were relatively resilient. “We did not decrease ad spends last year and will continue to maintain the same. We are cautious, but we believe that continued innovations in terms of product and pricing will drive our growth,” he added.

Regarding ad spends by companies in adverse economic circumstances, Ashish Basin, CEO, South East Asia, Aegis Media, said, “Studies have shown that companies that at least maintain their brand spend in downturns benefit from increased customer recall as far as 10-15 years after the recession is over. Downturns are a great time to reinforce the power of good brands as there is less clutter.”

Last year, Cadbury saw a couple of new launches — the key one being dark chocolate Bournville, launched in three variants and targeted at mass premium category.

“The product has been doing well in major cities and marks our strategy to grow in premium markets as well,” Purohit said.

Apart from entering newer categories, the company is also planning innovative pack sizes to boost consumption. Cadbury, which manufactures and markets brands such as Eclairs, Perk and Dairy Milk chocolate, has also launched some of its existing products in smaller pack sizes. “This is an attempt to give more value to the customers,” Purohit said.

Recently, the company launched Cadbury Bournvita Li’l Champs for children, a nutrition supplement for 2 to 5 year-olds. It expects Bournvita Li’l Champs to account for 10 per cent of overall Bournvita volumes in the malted food drinks category in the next two-three years.

At present, Cadbury operates in four categories such as chocolate confectionery, milk food drinks, candy and gum category. It claims to enjoys a value market share of over 70 per cent in India — the highest Cadbury brand share in the world. Its chief competitors here include the Indian arm of Nestle, Godrej Hershey’s and Amul.

The total confectionery market in the country is valued at Rs 4,100 crore, with a volume turnover of about 2,23,500 tonnes per annum. Urban India dominates chocolate consumption, accounting for a 73 per cent stock-keeping units share compared with 27 per cent in rural markets. Largely, this has to do with the need for adequate storage facilities such as refrigerators in rural areas. Also, rural areas are better served with local brands that are priced cheaper.

In India, the milk beverages industry is valued at Rs 1,610 crore, with an annual turnover of approximately 63,000 tonnes. As per A C Nielsen estimates, the industry is growing at 10.1 per cent per annum. In the milk food drinks segment, Bournvita continues to remain the leading malted food drink, the company claimed. Similarly, in the medicated candy category, Halls is said to be the leader. The company has also entered the gums category with the launch of its brand Bubbaloo, which is sold in 25 countries worldwide.