A Dannon Csr Case Study
Case Study: The Dannon Company
Teresa P. Cambare
Southern New Hampshire University
OL-690 X3474 Responsible Corp Leadership
Term [pic] 13TW3
Case Study: The Dannon Company
The Dannon Company is a subsidiary of Danone whose heritage dates back to 1919 and founded by Isaac Carasso in Spain. When Carasso immigrated into the United States in 1942, he established Dannon Milk Products, Inc. in New York, changing Danone into “Dannon” to make the name sound more American. Like most startup companies, Dannon faced challenges as a company until several decades after, in 1988, when Dannon capitalized on the advantages of having an FDA approval that they had one of their first most successful product launches. Since then, Dannon have developed many novel yogurt products. In 1994, it conducted a strategic operational reorientation and started focusing more on the health benefits of its products. Like its parent company, Dannon thrives in the yogurt industry distributing various forms of yogurt products around the world, ranging from its Staples or Fruit Blends, to Light and Fit (a low calorie yogurt), Kids, and its most recent and most successful launch, Activia (a probiotic cultured yogurt). In spite of the worldwide popularity of yogurt products, Dannon discovered that it is not a core part of the American diet compared to their European counterpart, as demonstrated by the 2007 yogurt consumption statistics. With Dannon’s recent goal to grow the yogurt category and its relevance to the American market, its executives saw this opportunity as a high-potential growth. Thus, by the end of 2009 being at the strategic crossroads to become the U.S. market’s leading distributor of yogurt in the domestic sector, Dannon’ senior director of public relations, Michael Neuwirth, wondered if the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) might have a role in this venture. To study the perspectives of the company’s stakeholders regarding the idea,
Teresa P. Cambare
Southern New Hampshire University
OL-690 X3474 Responsible Corp Leadership
Term [pic] 13TW3
Case Study: The Dannon Company
The Dannon Company is a subsidiary of Danone whose heritage dates back to 1919 and founded by Isaac Carasso in Spain. When Carasso immigrated into the United States in 1942, he established Dannon Milk Products, Inc. in New York, changing Danone into “Dannon” to make the name sound more American. Like most startup companies, Dannon faced challenges as a company until several decades after, in 1988, when Dannon capitalized on the advantages of having an FDA approval that they had one of their first most successful product launches. Since then, Dannon have developed many novel yogurt products. In 1994, it conducted a strategic operational reorientation and started focusing more on the health benefits of its products. Like its parent company, Dannon thrives in the yogurt industry distributing various forms of yogurt products around the world, ranging from its Staples or Fruit Blends, to Light and Fit (a low calorie yogurt), Kids, and its most recent and most successful launch, Activia (a probiotic cultured yogurt). In spite of the worldwide popularity of yogurt products, Dannon discovered that it is not a core part of the American diet compared to their European counterpart, as demonstrated by the 2007 yogurt consumption statistics. With Dannon’s recent goal to grow the yogurt category and its relevance to the American market, its executives saw this opportunity as a high-potential growth. Thus, by the end of 2009 being at the strategic crossroads to become the U.S. market’s leading distributor of yogurt in the domestic sector, Dannon’ senior director of public relations, Michael Neuwirth, wondered if the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) might have a role in this venture. To study the perspectives of the company’s stakeholders regarding the idea,
References: Battacharya, C.B. (2009, November 20). Corporate social responsibility: It 's all about marketing. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/20/corporate-social-responsibility-leadership-citizenship-marketing.html Brandlogic. (2012). 2012 sustainability leadership report: Measuring perception vs. reality for 100 prominent global brands. Retrieved from http://www.sustainabilityleadershipreport. com/downloads/2012Sustainability_leadership_report.pdf Marquis, C., Shah, P., Tolleson, A., & Thomason., B. (2011, Spetember 28). The Dannon Company: Marketing and corporate social responsibility (a). Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA, 9-410-121, 1-23. Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/ cbmp/asset/19189805 Marquis, C. & Thomason., B. (2011, Spetember 28). The Dannon Company: Marketing and corporate social responsibility (b). Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA, 9-412-047, 1-7. Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/asset/19189807 The Dannon Company, Inc. (2007). 2007 corporate social responsibility and sustainable development overview. Retrieved from http://www.dannon.com/pdf/ 2007DannonCSROverview.pdf