Restaging the Barilla Brand in the...

Restaging the Barilla Brand in the U.S.

Presented by

Hy Mariampolski, Ph.D.QualiData Research Inc.

toMRIA

March 8, 2006

Brands sometimes become injured

• They run out of steam, become tired• They are not keeping up with the

changing customer values and behaviors

• Devoted users move on to something else

• Technology changes and they get stuck with an “old” image

• Bad news hits - FDA, consumer fads• Parent company changes

Outline of a Strategy for Repairing Injured Brands

Find out - understand what is going on at a cultural levelCheck in with your most devoted usersDig deeply - early memories, sensory measuresGain a complete picture of the target using triangulated research approaches Reconnect the brand with its heritage

• Pasta was becoming a commodity

• Look-alike brands

• Price wars

Barilla was facing marketing problems in early 2003

Italian food was losing its cachet

• Chains were promoting bottomless gorging

The typical heavy user…

The dark cloud on the horizon…

• The Atkins anti-carb fad was implicating pasta for obesity

Barilla needed to…

• Reverse the image of its products• Make the brand stand out on crowded

shelves• Get Ideas

– How to extend the line – How to associate the brand with other long-

term trends - the preoccupation with health and fitness

– Leverage the equity of being Italy’s #1 brand vs. other imports and domestic brands

Solutions Needed

Distinguish the brand in an injured category

Respond to needs for innovative foods

Decide how to leverage the brand’s Italian-ness

Food Culture - The Guiding Concept

• What we enjoy eating is tied to cultural habits

- Linked to availability, tradition, self-image, cultural transference

- A meal becomes delicious and desirable within a set of ideas about what’s “good to eat”

• Digging down to the source provides insights into meal preference formation

- Early childhood memories - Early usage

Food Culture - The Guiding Concept

• Understanding food culture helps marketers develop and position products that speak to consumers’ideals, emotions and fantasies

- Habits and customs • What consumers perceive and

believe about Italy and its cuisine influence what they buy, cook and eat

What’s Italian?

Italian means different things to different people…

Italian means different things to different people…

Italian Sensibility is Highly Segmented

Armani, Versace, Missoni, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Gucci

Celebrity Chef of the moment

Owning a Maserati, Ferrari or Lamborghini

Fashionistas

Opera - Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Palladio, Botticelli, Bernini, Modigliani, De Chirico, neorealismoFellini, Pasolini

Northern Italian and Coastal CuisinesParma ProsciuttoBarolo

Owning a home in TuscanyDinner at your favorite place in Bellagio

Italianistas

Venetian gondoliers, Roman Coliseum, Tower of Pisa, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci,

Fettucine Alfredo, Spaghetti MarinaraLasagna, RavioliCapucino

Sunday morning in St. Peter’sDinner at Bellagioin Las Vegas

Average Consumers

Icons - ArtifactsFoodFantasySegment

Triangulation

• Look at the same topic through various approaches– Reveal multiple

layers of consumer perceptions

– Connect the dots

Our Plan:

Get ideas from consumers who are intimately tied to Italian-ness and try to “sell” those ideas to the

general market

Methods Used

Media content analysisSemiotic analysis of ads, articles and

reviews in consumer magazines that addressed Italian style, cuisine, travel and culture– Semiotics interprets implicit or hidden meanings and

messages.– Magazines included: Travel & Leisure, Gourmet,

Martha Stewart Living, Food & Wine, La Cucina Italiana, Vogue, Bazaar and Elle

Methods Used

Expert depth interviewsProfessionals whose careers are based

on cultural familiarity/affinity toward Italy

– Italian celebrity chef

– Marketing director for a major Italian clothing brand

– Author and food editor specializing in Italian food

– Restaurant critic for a major metropolitan newspaper

– Italian Studies Professor

Methods Used

Life History interviewsLeading-edge Consumers – Early

Adopters– Travel, language study, consumption of Italian arts

and culture. – Mix of Americans with and without Italian heritage. – Depth psychological interviews 3-4 hours– Early memories– Projective techniques - collages and sensory

stimuli

Methods Used

Ethnographic home visitsShopping, Dinner preparations and

meal consumption – Informed consumers in New York and San

Francisco– What makes meals Italian and why

Methods Used

Street intercept interviewsMainstream consumers

– Visiting the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City and the North Beach Italian neighborhood in San Francisco

Methods Used

Extended Creativity GroupsMainstream consumers

– Evaluate hypothesized communication routes – Copy and imagery derived from insights generated

by the earlier phases of the study– Image boards representing different ways of

positioning Italian-ness

Our findings…

• Evoking modernity and innovation while maintaining authenticity towards timelessness and tradition

Effective Communication Routes

• When antiquity is linked to modernity, the message is that the featured ingredients and cuisine are authentic to their roots in Italy

“Italy is about history, tradition. There’s a lot of beauty in the countryside, in the geography and among the people.”

Effective Communication Routes

Effective Communication Routes

A Relaxed and Convivial Style of Eating

Not only the sensory aspects of the cuisine, but also the manner in which meals are consumedSocializing in a relaxed context with friends and family

“I would describe an Italian experience as being laid back, easy

going and full of life.”

The Best Ingredients– Italian-ness implies

attention to components and ingredients

– Only the best is good enough

– Making meals Italian also requires use of particular ingredients, including olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, cheese

Effective Communication Routes

Effective Communication Routes

Making meals Italianalso requires an emphasison simplicity and naturalness

- A limited range of ingredients, in which flavors and textures are distinctive, suggest that the food is authentically Italian

“Good Italian food pronounces the flavors. You taste all the ingredients.”

Italian cuisine is versatileMeals are quick and easy to prepareMade from simple, easily available and affordable ingredientsSuitable for serving to family as well as guestsEnjoyed by Americans from all ethnic backgrounds

“I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like Italian food.With Italian food you can never go wrong.”

Rational Benefits for Consumers

But, there was one idea that clearly won out over all the others…

Regional Discovery

Regional Discovery is THE one idea that encompasses all positive aspects of Italian cuisine

– Emphasizes varied local and regional foods - rather than undifferentiated Italian Food

– Provokes curiosity – Engages consumers to look at

Italian foods in a new, fresh way – Brings the brand forward in

competition vs. other ethnic cuisines

• Consumers want to try authentic but unfamiliar dishes

• Barilla gains credibility for:– Mealtime adventures– Lighter fare – Northern and coastal cuisines – fit with

healthy diets– The best ingredients perceived as originating “close

to the source”

• Barilla gains permission to:– Introduce novel ingredients within authentic palette– Introduce pastas made with alternative grains

Regional Discovery

Regional Discovery

Opens options for promotional imagery– A range of locations, not

only Venetian gondoliers– Mountain landscapes and

seaside towns– Rolling hills and Palladian

piazzas– Modern urban landscapes

and ancient villages– A broader palette of colors

and moods

Regional Discovery

Barilla’s has credibility to be the ultimate authorityon Italian cuisine

– Family heritage– HQ in Parma - Italy’s food

capitol– Ingredients– Ways of cooking– Regional specialties

Results

Award-winning Barilla Plus line

ResultsFood and Travel Magazine Feature Articles and Advertising Supplements

Results

Branded web site, Academia Barilla, academiabarilla.com re-introduces and educates Americans about unique regional Italian cuisines

“The mission of Academia Barilla is to protect, develop and promote the art of Italian cooking.”

What we learned

1. Reconnecting a brand with its heritage is a strategy for repairing injured brands

2. Authenticity and simplicity are important to contemporary shoppers

3. Understanding food culture is valuable - We eat our myths and beliefs

4. Enjoying foods is more than a sensory experience - it involves more than taste and flavor

5. Triangulated research approaches help us gain a complete picture of the target

Regional Discovery

Learn more about QualiData’s creative, gold-standard research

approaches

Thank You, Grazie

Hy Mariampolski, Ph.D.Managing Director

QualiData Research Inc.hy@qualidataresearch.comwww.qualidataresearch.com

718.499.4690 415.794.8170