Pilsbury Case Study

1. Pilsbury Cookie
Challenge
Group -7
• Parul
• Rishov
• Manpreet
• Sidhanth

2. Quick
Overview :
General Mills
General Mills,
Headquartered in
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
Sixth largest food
manufacturers in
the world
Iconic Brand Line
includes: Betty
Crocker, Pillsbury,
Green Giant and
Cheerio's
Distribution through
Walmart, Costco
2006 Statistics
•69% total sales in USA
•16% International
•Food Service

3. Quick Overview :
General Mills
(Canada)
1954, Second Largest Division in International
Segment, Market leader in Canada (500+ Million
Annual Sales)
4 Units- Breakfast , Baked Goods, Meals , Snacks –
12 further subdivisions
Unique Products for Canadian Market – Oatmeal,
Crisp Maple Nut Cereal and Pizza Pops Snacks
Refrigerated Baked Goods- straight from
refrigerator to Oven
• Cookies, Breads and Sweet goods
• Packaged in Pressurized cans, chubs and sealed trays
• 85% market share of Pillsbury in RBG
Product Chub Ready to bake Seasonal
Price 3 5 Premium
Place Major Grocery
Retailer
Major Grocery
Retailer
Major Grocery
Retailer
Promotion Not Specific Not Specific Festivals

4. Pillsbury
Refrigerated
Cookies
Pillsbury Doughboy
Doughboy a hit in advertising
sector
Targeted mother’s in 30 -40
Years who are busy
New Advertisements of USD
500,000. Adaptation of USA
adv. For Canada
Regular Price from 2.99 to 4.99 USD
Featured price from 1.99 to 2.99 USD
Two formats – Chub and Ready to bake
Chub- Separate the dough, Form cookies , Place in oven to bake
Ready-to-bake – remove the cookies from packaging, bake
Most Profitable in RBG Category
62% of the total volume

5. Unsatisfactory Performance of
RBG
• Volume remained 1% in 2004-
2006. Short term goal to improve
volume growth
• Household penetration decreased
to 24%. Long term goal to improve
overall penetration in RBG category
Low Brand
Budget
Wrong
Target
Markets
Advertising
not tailored
for Canada

6. Qualitative and
Quantative Survey’s
results
• Both users and Lapsed Users
preferred refrigerated Baking
cookie dough as convenient
• Scratch baking is dominant in
Canada
• Sharing and giving make Cookies
Special
• Happy Moments – Baking
Experience
• Pillsbury integral sense of magic
– Shared Secret
60%24%
16%
Canada Usage - 4180 Sample Size
Scratch User
Refrigerated User
Baking Mix User
32%
54%
49%
USA Usage – 3380 Sample Size
Scratch User
Refrigerated User
Baking Mix User
• Users- Who bought Pillsbury in last 12 months
• Lapsed Users- purchased about an year ago
• Non – Users- Never Bought Pillsbury

7. Findings of Survey – Purchase Drivers
Questions Findings Implications
Canada vs US Market (Usage of Product) Scratch baking more popular in Canada
People in Canada like baking things on their own
from Scratch. They want to experience the entire
process. (45%)
Product Proposition needs to be re-evaluated. Ease and
convenience is not a buying factor for Canadian
population
Like the brand, Like the flavours More liked in USA compare to Canada Advertising is not tailored for Canadian Customer
New Product in USA is not meeting taste requirements of
Canadian Consumers
Similar to Home Made Cookie Only 31% Canada Customer thought its similar Preference and needs are not considered and USA
product is directly leveraged for Canada
High Quality Cookie Dough RBG Cookie is not a substitute for made from
Scratch Goods
Nutritional and Health benefits ignored while advertising

8. Findings of Survey – Purchase Drivers
Questions Findings Implications
Makes Right amount of Cookies Customers are not satisfied with amount of cookies
in pack (23%)
Canadian families may be bigger than USA Families
hence demographics needs to be considered
Helps you create happy home Never focused on the value. Survey results depicts
the same
Customer Attitudes, Behaviour Information is
required

9. Findings of
Survey –
Users
Questions Findings Implications
So easy you can make it
in a spur
User and Lapse users agreed (85%+)
Non Users also agree (50%)
Convenience is already being
promoted. No further action is
required
Easy to make cookies
Good when in hurry
Easy to clean
Non user’s are not convinced about
benefits
Advertise more benefits then
convenience
I use dough in my own
recipes
All don’t’ agree Brand Awareness is required in
addition to usage
There are recipes on
package that I use
None Agrees Print recipes on package to create
awareness

10. •Stop Leverage US Campaigns and
consider Canada as separate market
•Only if products are preferred in both
the markets equally – same
campaigns can be used
•Consumer Centric instead of Product
Centric Campaigns required
Campaigns
for Canada
Market
•By Targeting Mother’s only , GMCC
restricted their market by a huge
margin
•Kids, teens, Younger demographics
are also required to be targeted
Target
Markets
Recommendations
•Targeting kids can be done via creating fun
and interesting advertisements
•Mother’s would purchase what kids like.
Emotional benefit needs to be targeted.
•Multipurpose usage, Nutritious Food,
Healthy factors are required to be
promoted
Promotions
•Products can be offered specifically for
Canadian market with recipe’s being
customized
•Cooking Shows – projecting new products
will also add to attracting more audience.
Products
for
Canadian
Markets

11. Thank you