The Best Comes in Blue
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BARILLA CAMPAIGN THE BEST COMES IN BLUE Claire Casalaspi, Molly Greenwald, Liza McGraw, Anna Petke, and Hannah Plantz SECTION 1: Pre-Campaign Secondary Research Brand Name/Company Name: Barilla Pasta How long has the product existed: Barilla was founded by Pietro Barilla in 1877. It began as a small bakery on a small, vendor road in Par- ma, Italy. Barilla is known to be associated with the Italy’s finest food. Parma is home to the acclaimed Culatello cut of cured ham and Parmigiano cheese, also known as “parmesan” (Buckley, 2019). Where is your product sold (Limited or mass distribution): • Barilla is an international brand with mass distribution (Marketline, 2019). • Largest markets are Italy and the United States (Marketline, 2019). • Barilla began exporting spaghetti and fettuccine to America in 1996 and within three years the brand had overtaken Mueller’s to become the No. 1 pasta seller in America (Orr, 2002). • Barilla was the first pasta-maker to market their products across large retailers and food-service companies across America such as Wal-Mart and Costco (Orr, 2002). What is the cost of your product: • Barilla single 16 oz box: $1.28 (Walmart, 2019). • As I observed in many grocery stores, it depends on the retailer (McGraw, personal observation, 2019). Main competitors and their costs: • Ronzoni • Single 16 oz box: $1.06 (Walmart, 2019). • 9.4% U.S households buy and used this brand as a first choice (Conley, 2013). • They make $126 million in revenue (Buckley, 2019). • Closest competitor (Orr, 2013). • Store brands • Great Value single 16 oz box: $1.00 (Walmart, 2019). • Food Lion single 16 oz box: $0.99 (Food Lion, 2019). • 26.6% of U.S households chose store brands first when buying noodles (Conley, 2013). • Mueller’s • Single 16 oz box: $1.32 (Walmart, 2019). • 12.8% of U.S households buy this brand as their first choice (Conley, 2013). • They make $106 million in revenue (Buckley, 2019). • Buitoni • Single 9 oz ravioli pack: $3.88 (Walmart, 2019). • 6.3% of U.S households buy and use this brand as a first choice (Conley, 2013). • They make $427 million in revenue (Buckley, 2019). (Buckley, 2019). Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your brand? Swot analysis with explanations and visuals: Strengths • Strong market and brand position (Marketline, 2019). • Market leader in the pasta business in multiple countries including the United States. • Best-selling brand in the U.S (Marketline, 2019). • 32.4% of households saying they use it the most. • Wide geographical presence (Marketline, 2019). • Barilla exports its product to more than 100 countries. • Attention to changing preferences and values in the market. • Introduced gluten-free, veggie, and whole grain options and is committed to sustainable farming practices, etc (“How Barilla is adapting,” 2019). • It owns about a dozen food brands. • These include high-end Voiello pasta and Wasabrod, the world’s largest producer of Scandinavian crispbread (Buckley, 2019). • Does not do animal testing. • Barilla does not fund or support any animal testing and instead use a broad range of non- animal testings (“Our Position”, 2019). • Barilla has a brand ambassador. • Roger Federer is the brand ambassador for Barilla. He is a very well known athlete and embodies similar values to those that Barilla wish to convey with their customers. This will greatly help their goal to promote healthy living and eating (Barilla, 2019). Weaknesses • Privately-held company with limited layers of management (Marketline, 2019). • Decisions are made by few members and could be detrimental to the company; lacks the wider perspective that a public limited company’s management provides to make business decisions. • Not mandated to disclose financial and operational activities as a private company; lack of transparency can be an obstacle to generating goodwill for the company. • Project Management (EMBA Pro, 2019). • Focuses too much on internal delivery rather than also considering external stakeholders. This is vital in order to maintain good public relations. Opportunities • Growth in the global bakery and sauce market (Marketline, 2019). • Hectic lifestyle, increasing demand for sugar free bakery products, preferences for organic and natural goods, changing eating patterns, and a growing young population all represent opportunities (Marketline, 2019). • Projected growth is 19% by 2021 for bakery and cereal market and 22% by 2021 for the market for sauces. • To capitalize on their mission to help make the planet a better place (“Good for you, Good for the planet”). • Emphasis on inclusion and diversity (“How Barilla is adapting,” 2019). Threats • Intense competition (Marketline, 2019). • Company operates in a highly competitive industry and competes with other companies with a global presence such as Nestle. • Strict regulation (Marketline, 2019). • Food products are highly regulated; brand has to deal with changing food-related regulations administrations like the FDA in the US. • Selling to U.S. American consumers. • They tend to be price-conscious about food, making it hard to persuade Americans to pay more even if the quality is better (Orr, 2002). How does your product compare in terms of shelf space with the competition? Explanations and visuals if applicable: • Barilla spends a lot of money buying shelf space in supermarkets and the sales staff must visit stores weekly to make sure that Barilla’s blue boxes get the block of shelf space that catches shoppers’ eyes (Orr, 2002). • Grocery stores in Harrisonburg, VA • Barilla is the dominant brand in terms of shelf space, with boxes on the top, middle and bottom shelves and products spaced laterally throughout the aisle. • At Kroger, Barilla has four separate shelving sections for traditional, artisan, gluten free, and health-conscious pastas (whole grain, red lentil, etc) (Greenwald, personal observation, 2019). • It’s also the only pasta brand with an endcap display in addition to its location in the pasta aisle at Kroger (Greenwald, personal observation, 2019). • At Food Lion, it has just as many boxes as their store brand but more boxes than other competitors such as Muellers (McGraw, personal observation, 2019). • At Walmart, it is further down the pasta aisle but it takes up the most space in comparison to Mueller’s and Great Value (Casalaspi, personal observation, 2019). • Also at Walmart, they will place the same type of noodle shape of different brand next to each other, i.e. Rotini of Great Value next to Rotini of Barilla (Casalaspi, personal observation, 2019). • Walmart also puts Barilla’s various pasta options at the end of the pasta section (protein pasta, chickpea pasta, and microwave pasta) on the bottom shelves so it is a little harder to find (Casalaspi, personal observation, 2019). Example 1: Kroger Example 2: Food Lion Example 3: Walmart Who buys the product and why? Can be more than 1 group, be specific: • Barilla consumers are generally middle and upper middle age; 35-44 and 45-54 year olds buy the brand most. They come from households with incomes of 100K or more, have college and advanced degrees, and have children (“Barilla Consumer Insights,” 2019). • College dining halls and healthcare retail operations: Barilla is an “instantly recognizable name and unsurpassed quality of the world’s leading Italian pasta” (Barilla, 2019). • Popular because of the various amounts of meals you can prepare with Barilla. They also find Barilla comforting and a healthy option. • Foodservice companies place an emphasis on utilizing brands that are easily recognizable and high high quality. • Barilla is popular for these consumers because the shape holds and it “cooks consistently, and stands up to the rigors of cooking in large quantities.” • Students living away from home (Barilla, 2019): • The importance of the blue box- they trust this box because it is something they have seen a plethora of times throughout their life. • Emphasis on brands that are high in quality and the brand. • “This generation is very brand-savvy.” Infographic from (“Barilla Consumer Insights,” 2019). What is the main feature that differentiates your product and why: • One important thing that separates Barilla from its competitors is that Barilla leads the pasta indus- try in a variety of markets, which is a huge advantage to be present in over 100 countries and be labeled as “number 1” for many of its different products (Barilla, 2019). • World leader (volume share) on the pasta market. • Leader in Europe (value share) on the sauce market. • Leader in Italy (volume share) on the bakery market. • Leader in France (volume share) on the bread market. Personal Impressions of the strengths and weaknesses of the product. Each group member: • Anna: I think that the strength of this product is that the cost is reasonable and the brand has a good reputation. I think the weakness may be that there are so many different pasta brands that if a consumer goes into the store to buy pasta without knowledge of the brand and its purpose, they will chose another brand based on cost or packaging. • Hannah: I think that the packaging of Barilla is very well known so while in stores picking out a brand, the box stands out against other pasta brands. However the weakness with this is that some may not realize that they are buying Barilla if they are solely basing it off the box. This may make it harder to advertise if more people are aware of the packaging than the company name. Their website is also very put together and has a cleaner look than their competitors. • Molly: Alongside competitors in the pasta aisle, Barilla stands out because of its dark blue, simple packaging that catches your eye; it also looks higher end and gives off a more authentic vibe. They also have a variety of pastas, including gluten-free, plant-based and high protein options that appeal to health-minded shoppers.