A Case Study based on Saxonville Sausage Company and it's brand positioning conflicts. Analysed by: Rahul Nk 3rd yr MME NIT Trichy

1. Saxonville Sausage
Company
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES

2. Saxonville’s
Background

3. 70 year old privately held family
business
HQ in Saxonville,Ohio
2005 revenues approximately $1.5
Billion

4. Products
Bratwurst
70%
Breakfast Sausage
20%
Italian Sausage
Vivio
5%
Store brand products
5%

5. Sausage’s Market Situation :
• Both bratwurst and breakfast
categories had been flat
nationwide since 2004.
• Saxonville’s breakfast sausage had
underperformed the market

6. 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.

7. Objective
of the
case

8. 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.

9. Who are
the
Players?

10. 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

11. Initial
product
research

12. • 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

13. Current
Market
Positioning

14. Regional
Competitive
Brands
Authentic
Italian
heritage
Freshly and
locally made
Italian name
with locally
grown angle

15. 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

16. 10 Years of market research results
Annual business plans
Year-end reports
Project Score
Pre Market
Research

17. Target Customers: Female Head of
Household
Exhibit
1
Pre Market
Research
Competitive Analysis: No national players,29
local/regional brands
Purchase trends: Dinner time eating
occasion, peak
volume Oct to Feb

18. Challenges
and
opportunities
in developing
a National
Italian
Sausage
Brand

19. Local Brands playing their ‘Home Grown’
heritage
Challenges
Distributing outside the Core geography

20. Competitors are frozen producers, not fresh
Opportunities

21. Market
Research
Methodolog
y

22. 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

23. Attitude
and Usage

24. 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

25. Understanding
behaviors
and needs
of target
customers
Respondents
103 Female Heads of
household screened based
on demographic, behavior
and geographic
considerations
Outcome
Perceptual Maps

26. Evidence: Exhibit
5

27. Evidence: Exhibit
5

28. Mea
l
Solutio

29. 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

30. Family Connection
Good food, sharing and
enjoying themselves
Magnet that pulls everyone
in
Evidence: Exhibit
6

31. Clever Cooking
Making a recipe her own
way
Adds a little zest to the
dishes
Evidence: Exhibit
6

32. Confidence
Whatever she makes will
taste good
Sure-fire thing that enables
her to “pull it off”
Evidence: Exhibit
6

33. Appreciation
“What’s for dinner ?
Evidence: Exhibit
6

34. Quick and Easy
Delicious and wholesome
meal in less than 30
minutes
Quick homemade meal
Evidence: Exhibit
6

35. Tradition
To bring back those old
good memories
Main ingredient in a
number of her mother’s
recipes
Evidence: Exhibit
6

36. Identifying
the “Brand
ladder “

37. 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

38. 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

39. Evidence: Exhibit
8

40. Evidence: Exhibit
9

41. 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

42. Quantitative
testing –
Monadic
testing
Respondents
Tested 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
!

43. Evidence: Exhibit
11

44. Let’s
Analyze !

45. Family Connection
Advantage
s
• 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

46. Clever Cooking
Advantage
s
• 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

47. 57.
5
105
Evidence: Exhibit
11

48. 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

49. 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

50. Introducin
g
VIVIO
Simply 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!!

51. 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

52. 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/Mig
ht buy it
segment
respondents

53. Slides Created
by
Rahul Nk
3rd Yr MME
NIT Trichy
As a part of Internship done under the guidance of
Prof.Sammer Mathur
(www.iiminternship.com
)
(www.Buddingmarkets.co
m)