Why has Dairy Milk lost market share to Galaxy?

Despite having one of the most talked about ad campaigns in years and an increased ad spend, Cadbury's Dairy Milk brand has lost market share in the take-home category to rival Galaxy - owned by Mars.

Market research company TNS suggested that Dairy Milk's 'Gorilla' ad only succeeded in reinforcing the brand's position, while Galaxy benefitted from a smart marketing strategy which focused on its target audience.

Was the Gorilla ad a dud? Or a PR triumph which failed to deliver sales? And is a creative comms planning strategy more effective at cutting through the clutter in 2008 than a big, blustering TV commerical? Does Cadbury need a new approach in its marketing strategy?

It's not difficult really - advertising that may be fashionable to the ad community does not always translate into sales.

Galaxy sold more bars because it tastes nicer.

Never mind eh? Phil Collins did alright from the Gorilla ad.

Anyone have the sales figures for gorillas or drum kits?

I think Jeremy hit the nail on the head.  I've also commented about this in the past too.

You can chuck awards around at great creative, and BTW I loved the original gorilla ad, but unless it adds to the advertised product's bottom line then it's failed.

The world and its mother knows about CDM and to my memory it's not reinvented itself in a good few years - I still remember being given CDM minis as a treat by my grand father when I was about 4 and I'm now nudging 40!  Packaging's the same, product looks the same.

With Galaxy, at least they've gone to the effort of funking up the packaging and nicely texturing the bar in recent years.

I reckon CDM is a "session" chocolate, whereas Galaxy is more of a treat.  With health kicks and shrinking disposable income, binging on "bucket loads" of choccy are now out of the window.  Could be a reason...

Dairy Milk changed the packaging to appeal to "everyone" Galaxy changed the product and the packaging to appeal to "women who have a relationship with chocolate". A little bit of targeting gets your growth?

Maybe, just maybe, people prefer the taste of Galaxy? After all, no amount of drumming Gorillas can make the product taste any better.

@ Richard, I think it's a bit of both. I asked my girlfriend and sister about this and they both said Galaxy tastes nicer. But they were also aware of the Galaxy/Sex and the City: The Movie tie-up so I think it's a bit of both. Just having a better product isn't enough. Galaxy spent less money on pushing their product but they spent it wisely. Cadbury's strategy seems to involve a scatter-gun approach to their ad spend and a big, bombastic ad. I think you need to be mroe subtle and targetted in 2008 to cut through the clutter.

I think this underlines the value and importance of having a great media agency behind you and a smart comms planning strategy. It's no coincidence that Mars has one of their best in the business on their side in MediaCom and Sue Unerman. And it's nice to see Mars getting a bit of recognition as well. You might say Cadbury has had more than its fair share of coverage.

Galaxy tastes much nicer. I loved the Gorilla ad when it first came out, before it was rammed down our throats every second, but it had no effect on my decision about which chocolate to buy.

 i dont know i think that galexys new design is not as good as its old one and the chocolate is to creamy now.

 

plus cadbury were still running the long lasting coranationstreet sponsor ad 

Nothing beats deep consumer understanding.

I was underwhelmed by the Gorilla ad. I didn’t get it. Same goes for the Trucks follow-up. Dairy Milk is a cradle to the grave product. It's interesting to compare the Gorilla ad with the new Hovis ad. Two ads from companies with lots of heritage.

Maybe its just me than maybe throwing vast amounts of money in the aim to generate sales doesn't work? Oh wait, XL & AIG have realised this(although that was with sponsorship) and now CDM. I dont even think CDM even needs new packaging or a revamp - doing some decent high street promo would get the product back out to the masses and claw back some footing on Galaxy Personally tho, I am a G&B man, prefer the taste. Dave

And I thought that an edict had gone out saying that further discussion on this subject was unnecessary and that the campaign had been a triumph....

 

I think that its more the case that Mars has identified their target segment appropriatly i.e females aged 20+, who see chocolate as an 'indulgent me time' treat. Their integrated marketing campaign was also well thought out. Unfortunatly Cadburys have missed the point i.e determine your target audience, then determine their needs and wants and finally devise a campaign that is suitable amied at that segment.