PrintCadbury, a British institution with a philanthropic heritage and a high marketing profile epitomised by its 'gorilla' ad campaign, is now the target of serious acquisition attempts from the US.
YES - ALLYSON STEWART-ALLEN, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PARTNERS
I think consumers do care when there's a threat to one of their favourite brands, especially one with such strong cultural meaning and heritage.
Cadbury has a firm place in British history and is associated with many historical and emotional events, including one of the strongest: childhood. It is seen as wholesome and paternalistic in the way it looked after its employees and the community.
So what concerns Cadbury's many fans is the brand's philanthropy, Britishness and meaning being replaced and reformulated for global audiences, rendering it meaningless in its home market.
As a UK-based American who watched with similar interest the InBev takeover of US icon Anheuser-Busch recently, so far, little tweaking to the brand seems to have taken place.
The game is about market dominance and share rather than upsetting the loyal custom and cash flow from the fans. Let's hope Kraft plays the game similarly carefully, should it win the battle for Cadbury.
NO - BART MICHELS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ADDED VALUE UK
First Abbey, then Asda and now Cadbury - for crying out loud.
A little British gem, potentially going the way of many before it in the worldly financial machine. It's not news that local institutions are sometimes bought by predatory international companies, but it always leaves one feeling a little sad.
Good old Cadbury. Born in Bournville, with homely Midlands philanthropic roots, the spiritual home of chocolate, the purveyor of life's little innocent simple pleasures, it could finally go Stateside - but do consumers really care?
The media will make this another example of British business failure, and the tabloids will have you believe that, as Americans don't know how to make real chocolate, it's the end as we know it.
However, as long as Cadbury can preserve its local roots in personality, use gorillas, not put a hint of Hershey or Kraft anywhere on pack, and, above all, keep sacred the glass-and-a-half taste that people really buy into, all this will soon be forgotten.
NO - ANDREW KNOWLES, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, JKR
Although Cadbury rightly enjoys our public support, unless it affects us personally, we British are pragmatic about who owns what. (According to TGI, only 15% of us definitely try to buy domestically produced goods whenever we can).
Aren't the Mini, Range Rover and Bentley better-designed, better-built and better-value since foreigners took them on? Has Kraft spoiled the taste of Toblerone or Terry's Chocolate Orange? No one wishes to see national champions such as Cadbury lose their integrity on the cheap, but independence demands performance.
Ironically, Cadbury has delivered of late and deserves to remain independent. Its low share price is a legacy of adventures in the past and if Kraft really wants the company, it will have to pay.
Looking to the longer-term implications for UK plc, it's hard to argue against the free-market sentiment. Competition, not protectionism is the spur we'll need to thrive in the global marketplace of the future.
MAYBE - NIGEL WHITE, GENERAL MANAGER, PORK FARMS
If we asked 100 British consumers whether they would prefer Cadbury to remain British, I would be pretty confident the majority would say yes.
I don't think we'd need to spend too much on market research to find out the answer there.
However, I'm less confident it would make a huge difference to their propensity to buy the brand. Cadbury, like Branston, Marmite and Heinz, is clearly a loved British institution.
'The nation's favourite', 'Cup hands, here comes Cadbury's, the Bournville benevolence heritage - are all strong associations with this iconic brand. As the market leader in a quintessentially English product category - pork pies - we at Pork Farms are well aware of the importance of heritage, provenance and the accompanying goodwill and emotional loyalty that this can generate.
- For more discussion, visit marketingmagazine.co.uk
- The Marketing Society is the most influential network of senior marketers dedicated to championing marketing in the UK.
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