CPGmatters: New Focus on Seasonal Promotions Boosts Sales for Barilla America

Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the monthly e-zine, CPGmatters.

By studying seasonal purchasing patterns with unprecedented focus and granularity, Barilla has come up with ways to more effectively promote its pasta products throughout the year, boosting unplanned purchases, stretching the variety of products that shoppers pick up, and enhancing profit margins for the U.S. arm of the Italian pasta giant.

"Shopping for pasta and sauce tend to be very habitual," Craig Geiger, director of category development and shopper insights for Barilla America, told CPGmatters. "But influencing specific cuts and varieties can be very important at retail because pasta is a category where consumers demonstrate high autonomy to make decision in the store. That means variety is really important. If you can marry that fact with a season approach, we think there are incremental opportunities for driving sales and share of basket."

Research via GfK, Smart Revenue and Nielsen helped Barilla understand its customers better and come up with that approach. Barilla’s research identified five basic seasonal orientations for pasta purchases throughout the year:

Back to School: During this period, moms shopping for pasta tend more than other times to favor kid-friendly shapes such as elbows, wheels and rotini, for use in basic tummy-warming entrees such as macaroni and cheese.

Pre-Holiday Nesting: Many American households typically hunker down into a routine they’ll follow for the next several months. Effective promotions tend to favor heartier pastas such as rigatoni and more robust sauces such as vodka sauce.

Holiday Entertaining: There is more customer preference for bankable pastas and heavier cuts such as lasagna and manicotti, Mr. Geiger said, and fancier types of pasta that lend themselves to entertaining and big meals.

Post-Holiday Wellness: As Americans buy more exercise equipment and diet soft drinks during this season, they also are turning more and more to Barilla’s "better-for-you" varieties of pasta, such as Whole Grain and Veggie. Such purchases peak during this period.

Summer Leisure: Family meals tend to be more casual; outdoor activities are more frequent; fresh ingredients and different flavors are more welcome. Pasta salads and cuts such as elbow macaroni and tri-color rotini are in greatest demand. Added Mr. Geiger, "So you also see fresh produce, salad dressings and pestos more often become part of the shopping basket along with pastas."

More and more, Mr. Geiger and his associates are harnessing this understanding in tangible promotional strategies and tactics. For example, last year Barilla launched a "Color Your Summer" promotion in which pasta for salads was featured along with giveaways of summer accessories such as wine glasses.

"This research has changed our planning process for everything from advertising to social media," he said. "And we’re also finding that retailers also are getting more and more eager to take advantage of the seasonal opportunities that we’re showing them are there."

• New Focus on Seasonal Promotions Boosts Sales for Barilla America – CPGmatters