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

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