Now that Cadbury’s and Kraft have lined up to allow the £11.5bn takeover of the British firm the PR colossus that is Edelman has a PR challenge on their hands.
The press has made much of the 186-year old British company, started in Birmingham, losing its identity and becoming American.
This concern seems to be validated by a quick Twitter search that shows many people expressing their own doubts. In fact, today, Cadbury is a trending term in the real time social network.
In fact, there’s so much interest that the Cadbury webservers can’t cope and the site has gone down. This holding page struggles in the limelight instead.
Some PRs are bullish on the brand’s fortunes. Christine Jewell, joint MD of 3 Monkeys, told trade press that;
“Chocolate rules for the consumer, as long as Kraft does not tinker with its brand values. Most consumers will quickly forget the brand’s ownership.”
.. but does this mean that if Edelman manage to calm the growing public concern that they’ll be credited with just keeping a hand on the rudder? Certainly the spotlight will swing back their way if there is as much as a bubble in the chocolate.
January 19, 2010
PR