Saxonville sausage company case study

SAXONVILLE SAUSAGE

COMPANY By Mausumi Mohanta

SAXONVILLE’S BACKGROUND

A 70-year-old Company,

Family business Headquartered in Saxonville, Ohio.

In 2005, the revenue approximately $ 1.5 billion.

Produced a variety of pork sausage products: fresh

sausage as opposed to smoked or semi-dried

COMPANY PRODUCT

The business consisted of branded products:

Product Market Revenues

Bratwurst Flat – No Growth 70%

Breakfast Sausage Decline revenues 20%

Italian Sausage

“Vivio”

Growth 5%

Store brand products - 5%

70%

20%

5% 5%

Revenue Percentage Contribution

Bratwurst

Breakfast sausage

Italian sausage

"Vivio"

BACKGROUND OF SAXONVILLE’S ITALIAN

SAUSAGE BUSINESS

Vivio entered the Italian sausage market in 2002.

“Italian” name to cover up the ‘German heritage’.

Vivio was priced comparably to other regional

Italian sausages.

Current positioning of Vivio is “Vivio fresh

Italian sausage” and has an Italian flag in one

corner.

CURRENT SITUATION OF

SAXONVILLE SAUSAGE

One of their product (Bratwurst) sales decreased

and Vivio’s sales were rising.

Improved marketing research program to

minimize risk for sales program during launching

of products.

Repositioning Italian Sausage product or launch

with new brand.

PRODUCT

• Undifferentiated product

• No clear positioning

• Italian name to create consistency

PRICE

• In line with competition

• Inconsistent with Saxonville pricing strategy (15 % premium)

PLACE

• 16% of national supermarkets

• Mainly Eastern part of US

PROMOTION

• Discounted price during the launching period

• No communication

VIVIO : CURRENT MARKETING

SITUATION

ISSUES !!

ISSUES

Determine Brand Name

Vivio or

New Name

Determine Brand Positioning

Family Connection

Clever Cooking

Determine Tactic For Promotion

Research

the Italian Opportunity

The Key Players:

Ann Banks – Marketing Director at Saxonville

Sausage Company

Laura Bishop – The Director Of Market

Research

Liz Keller – Top Brand Consultant

PROJECT SCORE

Ann Banks formed a multifunctional task force,

“Project Score”, included 10 collegues from the

R&D, packaging and graphics, marketing, and

sales departments.

To Find the ideal name for Saxonville’s line of

Italian sausage.

Four Steps to do POSITIONING work.

POSITIONING

Qualitative Research

Sequential round of Customer Session

Refining the new learning

Monadic testing

Research to determine

the Product name and

Brand Positioning

STEP ONE : PLANNING NEW RESEARCH

ON THE TARGET CUSTOMER

Phase I : To confirm some of the basic

information presented in the Attitude and

Usage data.

STEP ONE : PLANNING NEW RESEARCH

ON THE TARGET CUSTOMER

Phase II :

To understand current behaviors

Triggers to purchase, and unmet needs

To get a clear understanding of product

benefit

Attributes and ideals

To develope a solid feel for core value and

role

STEP TWO : BUILDING ON LEARNING

FROM THE FOCUS GROUPS

Ann and Bishop studied consumers behaviors

from the focus group, developed a synopsis of the

learning and sent it to Project Score.

6 potential bases for positioning :

Family Connection

Clever Cooking

Confidence

Appreciation

Quick and Easy

Tradition

STEP THREE : BUILDING POSITIONING

CONCEPTS

“Family Connection” and “Clever Cooking”

received the highest total votes.

81% of respondents - “Family Connection”.

72% of respondents - “Clever Cooking”.

The group embed their ideas to a manageable list

of R&D, graphics and sales tactics.

STEP FOUR : ADDITIONAL RESEARCH

DELIVERS A VERDICT – OR TWO

“Family Connection” - scored better , receiving

the most first-place votes.

Discuss how advertising look and feel, packaging,

product attribute, name, considering sub-

branding.

Picking the winner from the two final concepts.

Determine

Brand Name

WHY BY SAXONVILLE? WHY VIVIO ?

Well established in Atlantic areas

Cost of reintroduction of new brand?

Necessity?

Italian Name

Placed 7th out of 20 choices of Brand Names

How much value does moving from 7th to 1st add?

Italian family message is still conveyed

Nationwide recognition and

popularity

Signifies quality/credibility

for an unknown brand

Preferable placement with

retailers

Brand name – Vivio by Saxonville

PRODUCT

RECOMMENDED BRAND NAME :

VIVIO

WHY ??

Vivio brand awarness

Put Company’s Brand (Saxonville)

to leverage the product’s brand

To retain customer loyalty

Attract new customer

Determine

Brand Positioning

EMOTIONAL

BENEFITS

Family happiness

CONSUMER BENEFIT

More time for the mother,

make meal that everybody loves

FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS

Creativity, ease of use, quickness

PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES

Nutritious, short cooking time, ingredient for other meals

PRODUCT BENEFITS

FA

MIL

Y C

ON

NE

CT

ION

PROs:

- Recalled by the Italian brand: opportunity to make it stronger

- Emotional bound not yet exploited

- Consistent with Saxonville moniker: “The Family Company

- Aspirational value

1° concept choice

CONs:

- Already implied

copiable

- Unrealistic idea

CL

EV

ER

CO

OK

ING

PROs:

- Add more value to the general family concept

- Easier tactical application

- 1° choice in “buying intent” test

CONs:

- Loss of focus on the original target

- Every sausage is “easy and fast”

- Less aspirational

POSITIONING ALTERNATIVES

PEOPLE’S CHOICE

RECOMMENDED BRAND POSITIONING :

CLEVER COOKING

Create difference among competitors

Create new brand experience

Tendency to buy is higher than another

positioning (exhibit 11)

Match to market segment (exhibit 5)

Fulfill all elements of brand laddering (exhibit 7)

WHY ??

Determine

Tactic For Promotion

CURRENT MARKET CONSIDERATIONS

Behavior Considerations

Vivio loyalist

Competitive brand

Degree of price sensitivity

Frequency of every day dinner preparation

Use of other product within company

CURRENT MARKET CONSIDERATIONS

Geographic Considerations

Currently in strong Italian sausage markets

Strong Bratwurst markets where Saxonville well

developed

Strong Saxonville markets where Italian sausage

is distributed

Strong Saxonville markets where Vivio is

distributed

Customer Analysis

TARGET MARKET

Working out of the home and working at home

Head of household: female and male

Age: 20-50

Household income level: middle and high

Consumer group: heavy, medium, and light users

Loyalist and competitive users

POSSIBLE SEGMENTING DIMENSION

Customer Attributes :

Working out of the home, part or full time vs

working at home as a homemaker

Head of household: female vs male

Age: <10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, >50

Household income level: low, middle, or high

Consumer group: heavy, medium, or light users

Loyalist vs competitive users

POSITIONING

Wholesome meals with fresh ingredients

Desire to please entire family with single dish

Quick meal preparation without sacrificing

nutritional quality

Family dinner facilitating feelings of

togetherness

REVENUE CALCULATION

Vivio was only available in just 16% of supermarkets,

our target is to reach 100% supermarkets

FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS

Base Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Sweet Sausage $3,714,499.00 $9,576,442.73 $10,725,615.86 $12,012,689.77

Hot Sausage $18,858,587.00 $48,619,794.61 $54,454,169.96 $60,988,670.36

Mild Sausage $42,414,884.00 $109,350,872.81 $122,472,977.55 $137,169,734.86

Mild Sausage

(55oz) $2,829,047.00 $7,293,636.80 $8,168,873.21 $9,149,138.00

Totals $67,817,017.00 $174,840,746.95 $195,821,636.59 $219,320,232.98

% of Revenue 5% 10% 12% 13%

Clever Cooking

Simply add your own personal touch to

create meals that make any day a little

special

Vivio – Creative meals in minutes!

Comes with recipes everyone is sure to

love, unleash you creativity to create a

wholesome real meal in minutes

CONCLUSION

These Slides were prepared

By

Mausumi Mohanta

As a part of an internship

done under the guidance of

Prof. Sameer Mathur