Ferrero’s communication in China

January 5, 2013|Case Study, Food & Beverage

Ferrero’s Communication in China

In this article, we will introduce you to the brand communication of Ferrero Rocher in China: what he does well and what he does badly.

A Successful product

Italian chocolate maker Ferrero is known everywhere primarily for its flagship product: Ferrero Rocher.

It’s true that Ferrero Rochers are made and designed exactly in the same way worldwide. But it is as if Ferrero Rocher has been designed to suit the tastes of Chinese consumers:

The golden packaging: as a color standing for Chinese emperors, yellow appeals to the Chinese as a symbol of wealth.
The round shape: symbol of harmony in China
Biscuit with hazelnuts: the Chinese are big consumers of nuts
A light product: Chinese like those less than Western treats “heavy” candies （source: china non-stop）.

Victim of its success

.Here is a picture showing copies of Ferrero Rocher in China.

Because Ferrero Rocher has already built a good brand in China, many companies want to take use of it. Usually, those competitors of Ferrero are lower in price and sometimes with a more attractive package, containing more chocolates inside. This picture shows it clearly: in comparison with false packaging with heart-shaped the rectangular package by Ferrero Rocher’s legitimate brand seems ridiculous.

This is a huge problem when it comes to the Chinese market where gifts are so important! Many Chinese don’t know enough how to tell the difference between fake and real Ferrero Rocher. They will probably stop buying Ferrero if they taste low-quality copies.

In 2008 Ferrero won a 5 years trial against a Chinese company that manufactured imitations of Ferrero Rocher. Montresor company had to stop production and pay € 42 000 to Ferrero.

But Montresor’s case was only a drop in an ocean of counterfeits.

To limit its huge expense of paying legal services, Ferrero Rocher should shift its budget to marketing to enhance its brand image..

Ferrero Rocher as a brand is not well known by the Chinese

While most Chinese are familiar with the product (And especially the beautifully round shape in a gold wrapper) they don’t know quite well the brand making the famous hazelnut praline contained in a chocolate cover.

Ferrero is the second chocolate brand in China but is way less recognized than Dove.

A video for the 30 years of the brand Ferrero Rocher

In 2012 for its 30 years, Ferrero Rocher wanted to launch of a video designed to reach Chinese consumers …

Campaign positioning “gifts”, “Ferrero Golden Christmas”

For Christmas Ferrero Rocher has launched a website dedicated to the operation “gift Ferrero” to encourage consumers to send e- greeting cards customized for their loved ones. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in a lottery to win a Ferrero luxury gift box which will be given to those who received the card from a beautiful girl or handsome guy from Ferrero.

Most TV emphasizes the history of Ferrero Rocher for this Christmas operation which corresponds to the expectations of Chinese for gifts and premium chocolate.

Ferrero has also improved its packaging for the Chinese public

Ferrero Rocher Heart Shaped

Ferrero Rocher as flowers

What’s more, you can choose to do it yourself as some Chinese did and make your own Ferrero Rocher gift bag 😉

Digital communication by Ferrero Rocher

A Chinese website:

Ferrero’s Weibo account

A Weibo account ferreroshop relays the storytelling of the product:

Weibo Ferrero Rocher

Chinese will like to learn recipes and stories about the quality of the raw materials used to make the product. Ferrero as many imported products is positioned as high-class food products.

.Conclusion

The brand Ferrero is trying to catch the bus in terms of digital communication. Ferrero is in a phase of brand image building.

But Ferrero is still far from the brand Dove, which can allow itself to have a communication that is more focused on consumer engagement. Ferrero has to consolidate its brand reputation in order to subsequently engage in communication strategies on social networks more innovative and qualitative.