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Saxonville Sausage Company
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES
Saxonville’sBackground
70 year old privately held family business
HQ in Saxonville,Ohio2005 revenues approximately $1.5 Billion
Pro
du
cts
Bratwurst 70%
Breakfast Sausage20%
Italian Sausage Vivio
5%
Store brand products 5%
Sausage’s Market Situation :
• Both bratwurst and breakfast categories had been flat nationwide since 2004.•Saxonville’s breakfast sausage had underperformed the market
Sausage’s Market Situation :
• Italian sausage showing growth across producers in retail market.9% growth in 2004 and 15% growth in 2005.
• Vivio had matched level of growth. However, Vivio was available in just 16% of Nation’s Large supermarkets.
Objective of the case
Well-thought-out Brand positioning plan to move
Saxonville’s Italian Sausage to National Category leader
and make it the one that every grocery account in the
U.S will want to carry.
Who are the Players?
Ann Banks New Product Marketing Director at Saxonville Sausage Company
Steve Sears Vice President of Marketing, Saxonville Sausage Company
Laura Bishop Director of Market Research
Liz Keller Top brand consultant and a professional from a market research company
Initial product research
• Entered the market in 2002 in the Northeast• Worried that people wouldn’t buy an Italian
Product from a ‘German Heritage Company’• Price comparable to other regional Italian
Sausages• For 1st Six Months went on Deal every other
Month + In store sampling
Brand Familiarity
Saxonville
Current Market
Positioning
Regional Competitive
Brands
Authentic Italian
heritage
Freshly and locally made
Italian name with locally grown angle
Supported brand with base trade spending
Major supermarkets request Vivio to stay competitive
Vivio growing along with Italian sausage category
Brand has faced multiple facings
10 Years of market research results
Annual business plans
Year-end reports
Project Score
Pre Market Research
Target Customers: Female Head of Household
Exhibit 1Pre Market Research
Competitive Analysis: No national players,29 local/regional brands
Purchase trends: Dinner time eating occasion, peak
volume Oct to Feb
Challenges and
opportunities in developing
a National Italian
Sausage Brand
Local Brands playing their ‘Home Grown’ heritage
Challenges
Distributing outside the Core geography
Competitors are frozen producers, not fresh
Opportunities
Market Research
Methodology
Understanding behaviors and needs of target customers
Building on Learning from the focus groups
Developing into actual concepts and customer prioritization
Monadic testing
Qualitative
Quantitative
Attitude and Usage
Female heads-of-heads are target customers
Heavy users used Italian sausage three + times a month
Mean Italian sausage usage two times every six weeks
Heaviest usage among consumers aged 20-50 years
Evidence: Exhibit 3
Understanding behaviors and needs of target
customers
Respondents
103 Female Heads of household screened based on demographic, behavior
and geographic considerations
Outcome
Perceptual Maps
Evidence: Exhibit 5
Evidence: Exhibit 5
Meal
Solution
Building on Learning from the
focus groups
Respondents
103 Female Heads of household screened based on demographic, behavior
and geographic considerations
Outcome
Potential territories for positioning the brand
Family Connection
Good food, sharing and enjoying themselves
Magnet that pulls everyone in
Evidence: Exhibit 6
Clever Cooking
Making a recipe her own way
Adds a little zest to the dishes
Evidence: Exhibit 6
Confidence
Whatever she makes will taste good
Sure-fire thing that enables her to “pull it off”
Evidence: Exhibit 6
Appreciation
“What’s for dinner ?
Evidence: Exhibit 6
Quick and Easy
Delicious and wholesome meal in less than 30 minutes
Quick homemade meal
Evidence: Exhibit 6
Tradition
To bring back those old good memories
Main ingredient in a number of her mother’s recipes
Evidence: Exhibit 6
Identifying the “Brand
ladder “
VALUE
EMOTIONAL BENIFIT
FUNCTIONAL BENEFIT
ATTRIBUTES
Job well done
Varying with theme
Quick and Easy
Above average of solids to fats
Great Taste
Good color and Texture
Customer prioritizatio
n
Respondents
Consumers were exposed to four mock concepts and
asked to selectively prioritize their three
favorites
Outcome
“Clever cooking” received highest total votes, with “Family
connection” receiving the most first-place votes
Evidence: Exhibit 8
Evidence: Exhibit 9
Present Constraints
Tactic should be realizable by the slated date for the
Brand’s early launch
Management isn’t willing to discount the product’s
price
Quantitative testing –Monadic testing
RespondentsTested the “Family
Connection” concept with 250 target customers and “Clever Cooking” with 256
target customers answered a series of questions about the
concepts, including their likelihood to purchase.
Outcome
Both concepts were viable !
Evidence: Exhibit 11
Let’s Analyze !
Family Connection
Advantages
• Closest to target customer’s core values• Goes with the brand “Italian” implies “family”• Received the most first place votes• Saxonville perceived as a family brand
Disadvantages
• Fear of Cannibalization of other brands• More common and less durable
Clever Cooking
Advantages
• Distinctive and Durable• Easier to provide tactical support• No fear of cannibalization of other brands• 1st place in purchase intention
Disadvantages
• Distracts away from the main target market• Puts the company’s name on leverage
57.5 105
Evidence: Exhibit 11
Clever Cooking
Inferences
• Even though Definitely/Probably would buy % is more for “Family connection”, Definitely would buy % is more for “Clever cooking”
• Since providing tactical support is easier for “Clever Cooking” the constraint of realization of tactics before the slated date can be avoided.
• To satisfy the Probably buy segment, Family approves recipes can be included in the package
Evidence: Exhibit 11 & 8
Name: Vivio Italian Sausage
Inferences
Even though “Saxonville Italian Sausage” did receive a lot of votes, the company can go with the same name as Vivio • Was on deal every month during it’s sales• Consumers already recognize Saxonville by its
moniker• The sales in demographic where Saxoville
Bratwurst was distributed won’t be affected
Evidence: Exhibit 4
Introducing
VIVIOSimply Add your own personal
touch to create meals that make any day a little special
Each variety of Vivio comes with “Family approved” one dish recipes for
a wholesome real meal in minutes!!
VIVIO
Product• Flavors – Sweet “Oriental” style,
gourmet cheese and smoked flavors,macorni & cheese falvor
• Different forms: Uncooked pre-sliced “disks”,mini-patties,mini-links, and precooked “meatballs”,”salami” slices and “disks”
• Maximize the product visibility window
Evidence: Exhibit 2
Increases Creativity Value
In-case differentiatio
n
VIVIO
Sales and Promotion
• Price comparable with other Italian Sausage brands
• In-store sampling
• Running more frequent BOGO’s
Existing product
positioning
Increases % of
Probably/Might buy it
segment respondents
Slides Created by
Rahul Nk3rd Yr MMENIT Trichy
As a part of Internship done under the guidance of
Prof.Sammer Mathur(www.iiminternship.com)(www.Buddingmarkets.com)