Case study of Saxonville Sausage operations and management

Saxonville Sausage

Ann Banks should make the primary recommendation to perform market repositioning for the Vivio Brand. The brand already has a dedicated consumer following. What is necessary is to go out and capture more market share from the other six major brands of sausage nationwide. Also, the target market needs to be convinced that the product can be used more widely, more often and in more situations than they were previously.

The above is based upon what the company has learned about their product that they had just "lobbed" out there. Now, the "pitch" will be based upon a meticulous marketing campaign in order to reposition market the product to other people. In the marketing research, the company learned that their targeted purchasers were in the range of 20-50 years old. They were working women (working outside the home) who put great emphasis upon family and convenience. They said that they could use the sausage three times a month. The demographics additionally comprised surprisingly a of number of children along with research into income and education levels (Moore, 2007, 4). Apart from and additionally to, it will be necessary to promote a feeling that brand loyalty towards Vivio should be an important criterion. Additionally, to adequately reposition the product, Saxonville needs to explore the amount of price sensitivity (used of store brand vs. private label) and also the frequency of dinner preparations everyday. The knowledge of such factors are important in targeting the audience and catering to that audiences specific needs.

In sausage marketing research, there is a consensus that brands succeed due to their positioning in order to capitalize upon their unique characteristics that in one or more aspects, rivals find it hard to emulate, hence their competitive advantages. The competitive advantage provides a basis for the outperforming of competitors because of the value that sausage firms are able to present to the customer. In spite of having a strong base of capital base and also a large presence. Unfortunately, the basic situation at Saxonville Sausage is below the national average. This is more so when we view it from the perspective that the sales volumes in the branded products (bratwurst, breakfast sausage) have remained flat two years. The problem the company has of stagnant sales volumes has additionally been compounded by the fact that little or no growth is expected in the short-term. The ranking of the Saxonville company in position six out of eight in the wake of performing a double digit decline in revenue would indicate a continuing slow downward trend in business (ibid., 1-4).

The methodology of research was determined on the basis of its capacity to provide a systematic and organized series of steps that insures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem. This also included its ability to provide shared basis of analysis and helps to promote reliability and validity (accuracy and consistency) on linking it's the products of Saxonville to the core values of their target customers. The marketing research highlighted a number of facts about the perceptions and the demographics of the target customer groups. This concerned the position of Saxonville products in the ethnic Italian market and the loop holes that the company could exploit to increase its revenues from sales of its products. additionally to the above, the values held dear by the customers with family connections and clever cooking emerging at the top of the table on the values and attributes held dear by Saxonville's target customers. The key findings with regard to women's "ideals" of family life indicated that very high percentage of women valued family connections and clever cooking as the most important aspects of a fun filled family set-up. These were also revealed as the core product attributes that are revered by a woman as performing a good job and being a successful homemaker (ibid.).

On the very basis of the analysis of the marketing research results presented by Banks and her team, this would recommend a positioning strategy that would encapsulate the development and maintenance of sustained value added attributes to be derived from the brands. These would revolve upon the core beliefs, key consumer values and attitudes held very dear by target customers (ibid.).