Author: Alessandra Casagrande
Date of Publication: 01/03/2023
The case Campbell’s Soup
Campbell Soup is a well-known American brand that has been around for over a century. However, the company faced a major challenge in the 1980s when the sales of its flagship product, the spaghetti sauce Prego, began to decline due to its competitor Ragu. In response, Campbell's turned to marketing expert Howard Moskowitz with the goal of increasingsales of their product.
Who was Howard Moskowitz?
Moskowitz was a pioneer in the field of sensory marketing, which involves using consumer feedback and data to develop new products or improve existing ones. He was known for his innovative approach to product development. In particular, it involved testing multiple variations of a product to find the ones that would appeal to the largest number of consumers.
Innovative approach to product development
In the case of Campbell Soup, Moskowitz was tasked with finding a way to increase sales of the company's spaghetti sauce. Actually, he used his innovative approach to product development. For example, he tested dozens of different variations of Prego's sauce, adjusting the levels of sweetness, acidity, and other factors. In the end, he eventually found that there were three distinct clusters of consumer preferences when it came to pasta sauce. Specifically, there were people who preferred plain sauce, people who preferred spicy flavor, and people who preferred an extra chunky sauce. Therefore, instead of trying to develop a single product that would appeal to everyone, Moskowitz recommended that Campbell's create a range of soups that would cater to different tastes.
The new Chunky sauce
At that time no company was producing a chunky sauce. The company then decided to take the opportunity by launching a line of sauces called "Chunky" . In fact, these were thicker and more filling than traditional condensed sauces. But the success of the Chunky line was a turning point for Campbell's who was able to regain its position as a leading player in the sauce market.
Anticipate the customer
Moskowitz's work with Campbell's also had broader implications for the field of marketing. He demonstrated that it was possible to use data and consumer feedback to develop products that would appeal to specific segments of the market. This approach was later adopted by other companies, and today, it's a common practice in the food industry and beyond.
The lessons from these cases are clear: consumers do not always know how to say what they want, especially if what they want does not yet exist. To succeed in the market, companies need to anticipate the customer, offering products that even he didn’t know he wanted. So, Howard Moskowitz's approach to product development is a powerful tool for achieving this goal, and it has revolutionized the field of marketing.
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