Saxonville sausage company

Saxonville Sausage

Company

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

Brief Case Study

Presentation by

YASH SHARMA

IIT BHU

(during a summer internship

under

Prof. Sameer Mathur

IIM Lucknow)

What is

Saxonville Sausage

Company?

SAXONVILLE SAUSAGE COMPANY

Saxonville’s Background


A 70 year old, privately held family

business headquartered in

Saxonville, Ohio.



They produced a variety of pork

sausages, predominantly fresh as

opposed to smoked or semi-dried.


Some of its branded products:

„ Bratwurst (70% revenues)

„ Breakfast Sausage (20% revenues)

„ Italian Sausage

named Vivio (5% revenues)

„ Store brand (5% revenues)


What is the present

situation?



Bratwurst and breakfast sausages

are distributed throughout the

United States, except they had very

less distribution in north-east.

Present Situation


Sales of Bratwurst and breakfast

sausages had been flat since last two

years and little or no growth is

expected in short term.

Present Situation


„ Vivio, Italian sausage, the only

brand showing growth in its retail

market.

„ Available in just 16% of nation’s

large supermarkets.

Present Situation

What is the

“Italian Opportunity”

and

Who is

“Ann Banks”?



The Italian Opportunity is to

develop a national product under

the name Vivio or as a new brand.

Italian Opportunity

National


Ann Banks is the Product Marketing

Director at Saxonville Sausage

Company.

Steve Sears, Vice President of

Marketing assigned her the “Italian

Opportunity.

Ann Banks


Aim is to make the Italian Sausage

of the Company a National Category

Leader, so that every major grocery

in the U.S would want to carry it.

Aim

What is the

Background of the

Company’s

Italian Sausage

Business?



Laura Bishop

Laura Bishop, director of the

Market Research was partner with

Ann Banks on this project.


Bishop provided Banks with the

Company’s

„ Attitude and Usage research(2001)

„ Constantly updated, online market

database

Sources


Breakfast Category

Minutes of their Meeting

not enough spending to compete

bigger counterparts

eaten occasionally

fewer serve sausage for

breakfast


Bratwurst


fired ad-agency mid year

prepared at outdoor barbeques

need for new marketing plans


Vivio


market in north-east

great performance

Italian name

better company relations in east


Positioning of Vivio


no distinctive identity

competitor’s positioning

says “Vivio fresh Italian sausage”

Authentic Italian Locally grown

Freshly and locally made


Deficiencies in Vivio’s positioning


just trade base brand support

no market research yet

no spectacle positioning

APPROACH

Realizing the

“Italian opportunity”



Project Score

A multifunctional Task Force

„ Team of 10 colleagues from R&D,

packaging, graphics, marketing and

sales was formed

„ They were to provide input and

perspective in the investigation


To-Dos of Project Score

Develop Company’s brand of

Italian Sausage Nationally

Better positioning of the brand

Ideal name for the Brand

Reduce the risk of cannibalization

of other brands


Documents Presented

Ann Banks presented two

documents in the team meeting

One page

Summary of the

Company’s

sausage business

Vivio’s 2005 sales

performance


Salient Features(doc 1)

Saxonville Sausage Brands and

Market Facts

Saxonville Brats Breakfast Sausage Vivio Italian

Casual eating occasion Breakfast time eating occasion

Dinner time eating occasion

May-September November-March October-February

Annual TV ad support Print campaign ad No ad support

Key target- Adult Male FHH target FHH target

15% high SRP/comp. 5% high SRP/comp. Comparable SRP/comp

20%higher/store pdts. 12%higher/store pdts. 20%higher/store pdts.

1 national, 5 regional 3 national, 9 regional No national,29regional


Salient Features(doc 2)

Vivio 2005 Sales Performance

Italian Sausage Variety % Share

Vivio Italian Mild Sausage Link (24.41 oz) 57.06

Vivio Italian Hot Sausage Link (24.41 oz) 25.37

Vivio Italian Sweet Sausage Link (24.41 oz) 4.99

Vivio Italian Mild Sausage Link(55 oz) 3.80

Vivio Italian Sweet Sausage Ground ( 14 oz) 2.71

Vivio Italian Mild Sausage Ground (14 oz) 1.81

Vivio Italian Mix Sausage Link (55 oz) 1.66

Executing

the

Positioning Work



Four Step Process

Qualitative Research with Target Customers

Sequential Rounds of Consumer Sessions

Refining new learning into actual concepts and improving them

Concepts are put to monadic testing(Q’s regarding a single concept)


Expectations

Three Qualitative

Steps

Depth and help to surface ideas

One Quantitative

Step

Validate these ideas across a

broader population

Step One:

Planning New

Research on the

Target Customer



Pilot Groups

Getting reviews from Italian Sausage

Users

4 to 6 users in each group

Using branded or store-brand

products

Confirmed most of the A&U data


Liz Keller

Liz Keller is a top brand consultant

Keller, Bishop and Banks worked

together Phase II, to organize focus

groups, at selected locations.


Focus Groups

Selecting consumers for focus groups

Recruiting Screening Selecting


Criteria

Relevant data from

latest A&U study:

„ Female heads-of-household are primary

purchasers of Italian sausage.

„ Six out of the last 10 purchases given to a

particular brand is considered “a loyalist.”

„ Heavy users used Italian sausage three +

times a month.

„ Mean Italian sausage usage constituted two

times every six weeks.

„ Heaviest usage is among consumers aged

20‟50 years.

„ Age differentiation tends to manifest in 10

year increments.

Other potential

demographic

considerations:

„ Working out-of-the home, part- or full-

time vs. working at home as a homemaker

„ The number of children in the household

„ Ages of children in the household

„ Education level

„ Household income level


Criteria

Other potential

behavior

considerations:

„ Vivio loyalists

„ Competitive-brand Italian sausage loyalists

„ Uses/does not use private label and store

brands (degree of price sensitivity)

„ Uses/does not use Saxonville Brats

„ Uses/does not use Saxonville Breakfast

Sausage

„ Frequency of every-day dinner preparation

„ Use of other sausage products; bratwurst,

breakfast, kielbasa, etc.

Geographic

considerations:

„ Strong Italian sausage markets where

Vivio is distributed

„ Markets where Vivio is particularly

strong

„ Strong Bratwurst markets where

Saxonville is well developed

„ Strong Saxonville markets where Italian

sausage is distributed

„ Strong Saxonville markets where Vivio is

distributed

Step Two:

Building on Learning

from the

Focus Group



Interpretations

Emotional attributes

Heavy

Users

Light

Users

Medium

Users


Interpretations

Vivio: Brand and Brand Name


Interpretations

Linkage with Saxonville


Brand Positioning

Themes that resonated


Brand Positioning

Family Connection


Brand Positioning

Clever Cooking


Brand Positioning

Confidence


Brand Positioning

Step Three:

Building Positioning

Concepts



Brand Ladder diagram


For Italian Sausage

Brand values held by target customers

1. feeding her family good food

2. having time to do fun things with her children

3. getting everything done

4. using her creativity to come up with interesting meals

5. helping her children have happy memories

6. making home-cooked food they all will love

7. not being remembered just for doing laundry and nagging

8. bringing a sense of tradition to their lives

9. knowing about easy meals she can make quickly

10.gathering people together and facilitating their family experience

11.creating the kind of home she wants her family to have


Ideal Positioning

Concepts

Italian Sausage Brand

“Family Connection”

Delicious Italian Sausage

An irresistible taste and aroma draws people

together because some of life’s best times are

shared over a great meal.

The perfect blend of fresh herbs and natural

spices create a flavor that appeals to all ages.

IT WELCOMES YOU IN

“Clever Cooking”

Delicious Italian Sausage

A delicious way to express your creativity

with original meals everyone is sure to love.

Each variety to brand comes with a “family

approved” one-dish recipes for a wholesome

real meals in minutes. You’ll know they are

eating well - - all they’ll know is, they love it.

CREATIVE MEALS IN MINUTES

Step Four:

Additional Research

Delivers a Verdict

- or Two



Brand Positioning

Dilemma


Quantitative Analysis

Testing for Brand Positioning


Inheriting Italian

Heritage

Family(connection)image Stereotypes

Actions to be taken

for

Brand Positioning



Tasks

Advertising

Packaging

Product Attributes

Support for Positioning


Advertising

Annual Television advertising

support

Laura Vitale can be a potential

Brand spokesperson

Family connection positioning, the

affection amongst the family on Dinner

Table must be felt


Product Attributes

Emotional Connection

(to be considered while advertising)


Product Innovation

Different flavor varieties: spicy

mustard, sweet “Oriental” style,

gourmet cheese and smoked, marconi &

cheese, jalapeno pepper & cheese-

infused


Product Innovation

Kid friendly sausage pieces

Different forms: uncooked pre-sliced

“disks”, mini-patties, mini-links and

pre-cooked “meatballs”, “salami” slices

and “disks”

Frozen sausage pellet(both raw and

pre-cooked)


Packaging

Maximize product visibility window

Labels with “back-packed” recipes

Larger package size, Dinner shaped

trays

“Happy times” photos, Italian flag


Positioning Support

(in store)

Recipe cards

Cooking with Sausage graphics

Celebrity store appearance program

with on-site sampling

Refrigerated display units

Frequent product promotions


Cannibalization

Cannibalization refers to a reduction in sales

volume, sales revenue, or market share of

one product as a result of the introduction of

a new product by the same producer.

This situation is very unlikely to occur, as

from the Market Research it is evident that

product clashes will rarely occur. As the

product preferred time of the day, week and

seasons are different.


Cannibalization

Reducing Risks

• Adult(especially male) for Brats

• FHH(product for each age) for Vivio

• Summer-Spring(May-Sept) for Brats

• Winter(Oct-Feb) for Vivio

• Outdoor Barbeque (with beer) for Brats

• Family dinner get-together for Vivio


Brand Name

Though its Italian theme is contrary to

German theme of the Company, but it will

be projected as an Italian Brand, delivering

the best quality(even though it is coming

from German theme company)


Brand Name

Company should stick to the name Vivio.

Vivio, as the Brand Name is popular in most

parts of the country.

A sub-brand name or campaign will support

the product.

Vivio, Italy's Best

Italian Sausage from

Saxonville

“Together we have it all”


Saxonville sausage company

Marketing

saxonville sausage company

revenues italian sausage

revenues breakfast sausage

better company relations

italian opportunity

meeting market

breakfast sausages

present situation