The purpose of this report is to analyze the four components of the marketing mix of the Barilla brand “The Italian Food Company Since 1877”. Pietro Barilla founded the parent company more than 125 years ago. Since it's founding, the privately held company has been run by four generations of the Barilla family, including up to the present day in Perma, Italy. The parent company has 27 factories, 15 of which are in Italy.Barilla sells it's products in about 100 countries, running 25 plants and marketing operations throughout Europe, South America, Australia, Mexico and the United States. This means that they have to understand who the customer is, location, the particular product in which he/she is interested, his/her buying habits and his/her financial conditions.
The most appropriate variables used to identify the right segment for Barilla belong to different market segmentation variables.Demographic segmentation: Age: under 40 / Education: elementary to graduate / average income / Occupation: student, professional Cultural segmentation: social class: middle class / family life cycle: young to older Geographic segmentation: size of city: big cities and metropolitan areas Psychological segmentation: personality: health conscious or not Taking all these factors into account, it makes it easy for Barilla to target their market. When a person is over 40, it may be difficult to ask him/her to change their eating habits.This leaves the door open for Barilla to target people under the age of 40. Another important characteristic of Barilla's target is it's education level. The education is considered relevant because it is necessary to understand the nutritional benefits of pasta Barilla.
Barilla can select it's ideal customer above described because it is an overall effective target. Barilla has been able to differentiate themselves by promoting family. Barilla believes that the dinner table is much more than a place to eat. It's the belief that food and relationships are better when they are shared.
Through their pasta and sauces, they want to bring Americans the best that Italy’s culinary traditions have to offer by promoting Italian food, art and culture. In doing this they are targeting the young, middle aged and older folks. After segmenting the market into clusters, Barilla must decide on a specific marketing mix by choosing a specific product, price, placement and promotion for it's specific target. Pietro, the founder of Barilla opened his very first pasta operation in Parma Italy in 1877 and slowly evolved into what is known as today’s international ambassador of Italian Cuisine.
Barilla has many products to choose from; Classic blue box pasta, Whole grain pasta and Pasta Plus: They all come in different shapes and sizes. ? Spaghetti: Long, thin form of pasta. It is the most popular and available through the western world. ? Penne: this pasta has a cylindrical shape and their ends are usually cut diagnolly. ? Rigatoni: this pasta is moderately extended.
Much shorter than spaghetti and hollow. The few mentioned products are both shopping and specialty products because you can’t find it at your local seven eleven or Walgreens store.You have to go to a regular grocery store such as Albertson’s or Von’s to buy it and it’s usually priced higher than most of the other brands within the store. The Barilla product can be easily spotted because of the colors they use to box their products.
The classic blue box speaks for itself. The Plus pasta is packaged in a bright yellow box, while the Whole grain pasta is boxed in an orange box and this makes it easier for the consumer to find, rather than having to scan up and down the shelf to find your favorite product. When it comes to pricing, Barilla falls a bit on the higher side.After a trip to a few grocery stores, I found that Barilla pasta is at a cost of $2. 19 a package, whereas, Ronzoni is $1.
79 (pkg) and Anthony at $1. 99 (pkg). That’s an overage of . 20 cents plus more than the other pastas.
When it comes to pasta sauces, Barilla is priced at $3. 70 per jar, Ragu $2. 79, Classico $3. 49 and lastly Prego $2. 99, again, priced higher than the rest of the brands. In comparison, they all seem to have the same ingredients, but Barilla has more of a variety that is geared towards those who are trying to eat healthy.
If Barilla chooses to increase the price of their product, they might be at risk of losing some of their consumers or gaining new ones. In today’s economy, it is best that they leave the prices as is. Barilla is definitely sold in the right outlets. Their main point of sale is through grocery stores worldwide.
When Barilla set up their first North American manufacturing plant in Ames, Iowa, they partnered up with Jacobson Companies. Jacobson provided the transportation management support initially required for Barilla to begin North America operations, and continued to support that effort.Jacobson was challenged to deliver packing and warehousing services and exceeded Barilla’s expectations in both. Jacobson Packaging provides secondary packaging for Barilla. At the Des Moines, Iowa location, specialized customer packaging for store displays and club packaging such as multi-packs with assorted products is provided as well as, full service packaging options which include package and pallet design, materials sourcing, and labor for all secondary packaging efforts. Jacobson Warehouse provides services for Barilla 24/7.
Anything from management, labor, warehousing, return of goods, and inbound and outbound scheduling or freight. Barilla utilizes all avenues to advertise. You can find them in your weekly coupons, daytime commercials, or as a pop up on the internet. In 2011, as part of it’s ongoing commitment to bringing families together, Barilla join Family Circle, which is a dedicated to offering moms of teens advice and recipes. They have used celebrities in their commercials which is a big sale for a lot of people, depending on their loyalty as well as partner with Meals on Wheels to raise money.
Barilla has done a great job at integrating with it’s customers and are truly committed to family and want to inspire everyone to share in values that have guided them for well over a century – a love of life, a devotion to quality, and a respect for tradition. Promotional Mix The promotional mix consists of a blend of sales promotion, advertising and public relation tools. As previously mentioned, Barilla has partnered up with Family Circle and Meals on Wheels which are both known all across the United States. Sales Promotion -good for building awareness with the consumer which Barilla has exceled in.In parterning up with Meals on Wheels, they boost their sales by asking people to donate towards the cause.
Public Relations - the company's image might seem more credible as it is seen through a third party such as the tv, magazines, internet etc. Again, this is an area that Barilla has used to their advantage. Barilla does an excellent job in providing a product that serves the needs of all of it's customers. When researching the product I found that they utilize the Pull Strategy. They are not afraid to spend money on advertising and it's paid off for them.
