Saxonville is a $1.5 billion sausage company that wants to expand its Italian sausage brand Vivio nationally. Market research found that female household shoppers prefer Italian sausage for quick family meals. Focus groups revealed customers see Vivio as generic and prefer an authentic Italian name over Saxonville. Two potential positioning strategies emerged: "Family Connection" emphasizing togetherness or "Clever Cooking" focusing on ease and versatility. The target market is identified as women aged 20-50 from middle-to-high income households who are heavy, medium or light Italian sausage users. Alternatives include keeping Vivio, adopting a new name like "Perfetto" paired with either strategy, or expanding Vivio's existing family positioning into

1. EXPLORING THE SAXONVILLE’S ITALIAN SAUSAGE OPPORTUNITY

2. SAXONVILLE’S
BACKGROUND

3. • A 70-years old private family business headquartered in Saxonville, Ohio.
• Produces a variety of fresh pork sausage products
• In 2005, the revenue was approximately $ 1.5 billion
• Branded product line of Saxonville:
1. Bratwurst
2. Breakfast Sausage
3. Italian Sausage(Vivio)
4. Additional Stored-products
About The Company

4. COMPANY’S PRODUCTS
Product Market Revenue
Bratwurst No growth 70%
Breakfast Sausage Decline 20%
Italian Sausage Vivio Growth 5%
Revenue Distribution
Demographic Distribution
Vivio is available in just 16% of the nation’s large supermarkets
Bratwurst and breakfast products are sold throughout the United
States although the products have very little distribution in the
Northeastern markets

5. BACKGROUND
OF
SAXONVILLE’S

6. Saxonville first entered the Italian sausage market in 2002 in the Northeast.
Brand positioned as Authentic Italian Heritage
Brand supported only with base trade spending as no market research
carried yet.It is growing along other Italian brands due to pulling.
Comparably priced with other competitive brands

7. CONCLUTION
• Ann Banks should stick with Vivio name. While Vivio hasn’t been a
huge success to sausage market, change their name won’t give a
huge effect because many customer has aware with the Vivio name.
By changing name, it will confuse or alienate the few loyal
customers the brand actually has.
Tactics For Promotion?

8. Research and Evaluation Work on Vivio
It was a four step process :
Planning New Research on the Target Customer
Building On Learning From Focus Groups
Building Positioning Concepts
Additional Research For the
Final Verdict

9. Insights of planning of new research on the target customers
.

10. • Female heads-of-household are primary purchasers of Italian sausage.
• Heavy users used Italian sausage use three + times a month.
• Mean Italian sausage usage constituted two times every six weeks.
• Heaviest usage is among consumers aged 20–50 years.

11. Learnings from the focus groups

12. Used as meal-maker and ingredient.Serves the purpose of quick meal
A Family dinner meal and everyone enjoys passionately
On the brand name issue: Neither Vivio nor Saxonville Italian Sausage preferred
-Many other Italian generic names possible
-Saxonville Italian sausage as more “German-seeming”heritage.
Three types of consumers:
-Heavy Users(once every weeks with seasonal variations)
-Medium Users(once every two weeks)
-Light Users(once every three weeks)

13. Family Pleasing
And
Easy To Do

14. What positioning concepts were built?

15. • 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
Defining Proper ConceptsPositioning

16. Possible Brand Positioning Territories
FAMILY CONNECTION
CLEVER COOKING
CONFIDENCE
APPRECIATION
QUICK AND EASY
TRADITION

17. Family Connection
• Discover a crowd-pleasing favorite that brings the family
together
• Vivio - It welcomes you in
• The perfect blend of fresh herbs and spices, with
irresistible aroma and taste will draw people together
over a great and enjoyable meal
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
Voting Results In Brand Positioning Territories

18. FAMILY CONNECTION CLEVER COOKING

19. 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
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

20. Possible Segmenting Dimension
• 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

21. 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

22. STRENGTH WEAKNESS
• National distribution network of
other sausages within portfolio
• Strong Brand Recognition
• No comprehensive Advertising
Campaign
• Vivio confined to core geography
• Possible cannibalism within portfolio
OPORTUNITY THREAT
• No national competitors
• Category showing nation wide
growth
• Pre-existence of 29 national brands
• Nation wide distribution of frozen
product
SWOT ANALYSIS

23. 4P Analysis

24. Price
• Pricing in medium level
• Discount for the early stages of the national product launch
• Currently Vivio Italian sausage priced at 20% higher from store
brand’s price
Product
High quality with strong flavours
Representative of Italian Authenticity
Packaging based on grass-root marketing levels

25. Place
-Distribution channels already in existence from
national distribution of other portfolio products
-100% available in nation’s supermarkets
Promotion
Advertising
Personal selling
Sales promotion
Publicity
Interactive media

26. Alternatives

27. Alternative 1
Keep “Vivio” name
Family Connection Strategy
Alternative 2
Cons
Failure to Change Name
Easy to Replicate Strategy
Pros
Brand Loyalty
Established Market
Core Values of Customers
Quantitative and Qualitative Testing
Perfecto Italian Sausage by Saxonville
Clever Cooking” Strategy
Pros
Authentic Italian Appeal
Capture Brand Loyalty
Product Versatility
Healthy and Convenient Option
Cons
Broad Target Market
Cannibalization of Other Products

28. Alternative 3
Family Connection Strategy
Expand Market
Promotional Tactics
Pros:
Family Connection Benefits
National Expansion
New Packaging
Cons
Short-Term Loss of Revenues due to Expansion
Risk of Expansion Failure
Profit Projections Not Guaranteed

29. Insights of additional research for the final verdict

31. Recommended Brand Name
Must have Italain Origin, say perfetto salsiccia
To avoid German-seeking food type thinking
Seek emotional benefits and win confidence
Italian Brand message conveyed
Retaining customer loyality

32. These slides were created by
DEVANSH SHARMA
3rd year Undergraduate
IIT Kanpur
Under the guidance of
SAMEER MATHUR
Prof. Marketing
IIM , Lucknow
(www.iiminternship.com)