Introduction
The Dannon Company is US subsidiary of the Danone Company that was founded in Spain by Isaac Carasso in 1919. Isaac Carasso created an innovative yogurt product using ingredients obtained from Paris, which were used to treat intestinal disorders. Isaac’s son, Daniel went on to found Danone in Paris and after Isaac’s death in 1939, he immigrated to the United States seeking a safe-haven after World War II (Marquis, 2010).
In 1942, Carasso founded Dannon Milk Products, Inc., changing the name from Danone to Dannon in order to sound more “American”. During this time, the market for yogurt in the United States was almost non-existent. Carasso had two successful breakthroughs, first in 1947, introducing “fruit on the bottom” yogurt and in 1955 with low-fat yogurt, all appealing to health enthusiasts (Marquis, 2010).
Over the next several decades, structural and product changes took Dannon is several different directions. In the 1980’s Dannon had 17 different product lines and had received FDA approval for a new sugar free sweetener which allowed for the most successful product launch to date, “Dannon Light”. In 1994, the company focused on rebranding their products, focusing on the overall health benefits of everything they produced (Marquis, 2010).
Although the United States had had yogurt products available for over 60 years, research concluded that yogurt was not a core component to the American diet and the biggest potential for growth for Danone, rested within the United States. In 2009, Dannon was number two behind Yoplait in yogurt sales, and Dannon was participating in a comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility platform that had very little public marketing behind it. Dannon’s Senior Director of Public Relations, Michael Neuwirth pondered whether communicating the CSR efforts of Dannon would take sales beyond that of the competition