Saxonville Sausage

Saxonville Sausage Company – Case Analysis

Problem Statement:

Saxonville Sausage Company, an Ohio based sausage distributor is looking to create a new brand for its Vivio Italian sausage products.  Saxonville first entered the Italian sausage market in 2002 in the Northeast, where they have seen tremendous growth.  As a result of the growth they have seen, Saxonville hired Ann Banks in 2002, as a new product marketing director and assigned Ann to asses the Italian sausage opportunity and to develop a national product.  

Situation Analysis:

Saxonville Sausage Company is faced with a tremendous opportunity within their Italian sausage line, Vivio. Until now, they have not spent time or resources to grow the brand beyond the Northeast. Vivio has been gaining market share throughout the Northeast, and Saxonville is in the process of trying to create a national brand of fresh Italian sausage.

As shown in Exhibit 1, Saxonville has many factors on their side including strong brand recognition nationwide with a lack of national competitors. There has also been tremendous growth throughout the Italian Sausage industry, portraying a strong desire for the products. Given all of the positive attributes regarding the opportunity, there are also some issues that Saxonville is facing. Two of the main issues are positioning and the current name, Vivio. Since Saxonville has never positioned the product effectively in the marketplace, they are basically starting from scratch, with very little knowledge of their consumers. Positioning is going to be imperative as they begin to market to a wider variety of consumers. The name of their Italian sausage line, Vivio is another potential issue or weakness for Saxonville. Many consumers are confused about the Italian name being associated with a German company.

Ann Banks, the new product marketing director, employed a four step process to derive the proper positioning for the Italian sausage product. As a result...