Brand values and customer brands Research Proposal Tony Chocoloney’s Brand values and customer brands Arianna• Jolijn• Marlon• Julia• Nathalie

Problem Statement Tony Chocoloney’s has a strong brand image. However, there is a lack of proof that the chocolate is not 100% slave free. Due to the fact that consumers pay significantly more for Tony Chocoloney’s bars, it could be assumed that they would like to get more proof that the bars are 100% slave free. This is what we want to investigate.

Tony Chocoloney’s A 100% slave-free chocolate industry – that’s our goal. It’s the reason we created Tony’s Chocolonely. And it’s our mission to make other people as passionate about 100% slave-free chocolate as we are. * (Tony Chocoloney’s, 2016) - ‘’We know where we want to go—100% slave-free chocolate. And we know we can’t get there all on our own. Fact is we are still a small player in global chocolate. We want the big players to commit to 100% slave-free as well. We want to prove to them that there is a better way. Here’s what our roadmap to 100% slave-free looks like. ‘’ (Tony Chocoloney’s, 2016) ‘’A year earlier Teun discovered that the word largest chocolate companies were buying chocolate, from cocoa plantagens that used child slavery, dispite the fact that they signed an international trady against child slavery. (Tony Chocoloney’s, 2016)

Insight in the Problem ‘’Brand trust is a central aspect of Tony’s Chocolonely strategy due to the high focus on communicating a strong emotional message to its cosumers. Building a strong trustable brand provides a series of benefits for the company such as customer loyalty and a substantial competitive advantage on its market. This translates into reduced marketing costs, higher revenue and a long-term customer relationship. ‘’(Matzler, Garbner-Krauter, Bidmon, 2006)

Argumentation Tony Chocolonely’s strategy of communication and customer relationships has proven to be successful on the market. The brand is sending a strong message and supports a good cause, making it more than only a chocolate bar. However, there seems to be one aspect, which is not being communicated strong enough. Customers are willing to pay a higher price for this chocolate bar, but do they get the proof that their money is indeed used to stop slavery in the industry of chocolate? In order to enhance the trust that the customers have in the brand, shouldn’t Tony Chocoloney’s enforce this by proving that they are slave free?

Research Questions Main research questions: ‘’Are consumers of Tony Chocoloney’s bothered by the fact that the 100% slave free statement is not 100% proven? Sub questions: - What is the current brand image of Tony Chocoloney’s? - What kind of evidence would consumers want to gain more trust? Target audience: Residents of The Netherlands who are chocolate lovers ad who values fairtrade. (Above 16+)

Method of the research Brand attribute research (Qualitative Research) A Brand tribute research survey helps you determine what characteristics consumers associate with your brand. This can contribute with investigating what consumers truly think about Tony Chocoloney’s and how they feel about their ‘’100% free slavery’’ statement.

References Tony Chocoloney’s 100% free slave chocolate timeline, 2016, (Online), available at: http://www.tonyschocolonely.com/us/about-us/100-slave-free-timeline/ Tony Chocoloney’s Our mission, 2016, (Online), available at http://www.tonyschocolonely.com/us/our-mission/crazy-about-chocolate-serious-about-people/ Matzler, Garbner-Krauter, Bidmon, 2006, ‘’THE VALUE – BRAND TRUST – BRAND LOYALTY CHAIN: AN ANALYSIS OF SOME MODERATING VARIABLES’’, Innovative Marketing, Volume 2, Issue 2.