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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 [email protected]
718.499.4690 415.794.8170
