Managing Brand Transgressions

Introduction

The Eight Principles

Circa September 2003. India.

The world’s second largest democracy, a teeming land of more than 1.1 billion people (population in 2003), was busy preparing for Diwali, India’s festival of lights, slated for the end of October. Being a festive season, this time of the year happens to be prime for consumer goods marketers expecting an indulgent consumer and consequent sales spike. Cadbury, the British chocolate behemoth, was buzzing with anticipation as it had been experiencing a 15 percent hike in revenues during this period year on year (Vaid, 2006). Little did it expect the situation that was about to unravel, the likes of which it had never experienced in its glorious history, and that carried the threat ...