The refrigerated-cookie product line of Pillsbury’s refrigerated baked goods (RBG) category is considered to be the sign of success for this grouping. However, the cookie segment’s annual volume growth over the past several years is virtually non-existent and household penetration is on the decline. In response to this, Ivan Guillen, the marketing manager for the RBG line has conducted consumer insight research, cookie and usage studies, and in-home discovery workshops to help develop a new marketing strategy that will increase purchase frequency and/or market penetration.
Even with the wealth of new information, Guillen is still unsure of what the brand message should be, how to communicate it, and who to target. Guillen’s research focused primarily on moms, which could be considered a flaw in his studies as he is unsure of who to target. He discovered that those who use Pillsbury’s RBG cookie-line do so because of the good feelings associated with sharing and giving, and also because Pillsbury’s “magic” ability to elevate a regular meal to an extraordinary one.
Although scratch baking was determined to be the dominant method of baking in Canada, the 26 moms who attended Guillen’s discovery workshop all agreed that a Pillsbury product was much better than buying a ready-made product, and satisfies the need for a simple, affordable way to please their children. Guillen could use needs segmentation to break up moms into groups of moms in order to increase purchase frequency.
Perhaps there are some moms that focus more on speed, and others who focus more on other aspects, like esthetic appeal. Guillen’s studies were too product focused in order for him to really make an impact. If he were to focus more on the consumer, he could create tailored advertisements that appeal to each segment all of which could take use of the recognizable Doughboy, who after 40 years still plays a key-role in brand recognition.
