HomeResearch & Knowledgeback to HomeMarketingback to Research & KnowledgeBenefulback to Marketing

Case Study

Beneful

By Kamran Kashani and Susan Sjöblom

6 pages

May 2016

Reference: IMD-5-0720

Beneful “complete dog food” was a new brand launched by Purina PetCare, USA. The decision was a controversial one. A number of senior executives believed the company had already too many brands in pet food. Purina management knew it had problems in the medium segment of the dry dog food category. In the high-end, super premium segment both the Purina One and Pro Plan brands were performing well. The company also had a strong presence in the low segment with its Dog Chow range. However, there was a large, potentially profitable segment in the middle in which it was not present. Mars, a major competitor, dominated this segment with the Pedigree brand. To make matters worse, Procter and Gamble (P&G) had successfully shifted a newly purchased high-end brand to compete in the middle segment. Initially, Purina tried to stretch its low-end Dog Chow brand into the medium segment but with little success. But Beneful’s innovative segmentation, uncovered through consumer research, allowed Purina to create a unique positioning and value proposition that made the new brand succeed against formidable competitors. The case highlights the power of strategic marketing built on keen market and competitor analysis and deep consumer insights.

Learning Objective

How to understand and drive successful marketing innovation/renovation

Keywords

Marketing Innovation, Renovation, Marketing, Brand Portfolio

Settings

Northern America
Nestlé, Nestlé Purina Petcare, Consumer Goods, Pet Food

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

IMD case studies are distributed through case clearing houses. In order to browse the collection and purchase copies please visit the links below.

The Case Centre

Cranfield University

Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]

Harvard Business School Publishing

60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]

Asia Pacific Case Center

NUCB Business School

1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]

IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Keep reading

Article

Keep an eye on marketing if you want to avoid a car crash - Su-Mei ThompsonI by IMD

As campaign disasters at Apple, Bud Light, and Jaguar demonstrate, boards shy away from marketing oversight at their peril.

Strategy Marketing

By Su-Mei Thompson

in I by IMD

28 January 2025

Case Study

Sea2see: Seastainable vision

Entrepreneurship Family Business General Management Global Business Marketing Sustainability

By Benoit F. Leleux and Thomas Brochier

Book Chapter

Brand strategies

As with most business opportunities, branding is essential to pioneering in sustainability. Only with branding can a company resist commoditization and obtain a premium price to compensate for the upfront investment and risk in making a major chan...

Branding Strategy Sustainability Marketing

By Goutam Challagalla and Frédéric Dalsace

in Binder, Julia Katharina (Ed.); Haanaes, Knut Bjarne (Ed.) / Leading the sustainable business transformation: A playbook from IMD, pp. 127-136 / Hoboken: Wiley, 2025

Book Chapter

Nonmarket strategy

The Swiss start-up Planted makes plant-based meat substitutes with remarkable environmental benefits. Its “beef” requires 97% less CO2 and 81% less water than meat from cows, while its “chicken,” also from pea protein, involves 77% less CO2 and 81...

Strategy Marketing Sustainability

By Michael Yaziji and David Bach

in Binder, Julia Katharina (Ed.); Haanaes, Knut Bjarne (Ed.) / Leading the sustainable business transformation: A playbook from IMD, pp. 151-165 / Hoboken: Wiley, 2025

Article

Consumers love local brands. That's good news for family businesses

Consumer preferences are increasingly favoring brands with a strong local identity. The reasons for this trend include environmental concerns and challenges in our fast-paced, interconnected world. Global crises -- such as the COVID-19 pandemic, c...

Family Business Marketing Strategy

By Philipp Jaufenthaler, Andreas Kallmuenzer, Sascha Kraus and Alfredo De Massis

in FamilyBusiness.org

28 October 2024

Article

Marketing to women: Four tips for avoiding pitfalls

More than 80% of purchases are made by women. But reaching, interacting with, and converting female consumers is a challenge for most companies. You can get through the maze of marketing to women by using these four guidelines.

Marketing

By Jenny Darroch

in I by IMD

17 October 2024

Case Study

Should Unilever pivot from being purpose-led?

Strategy Marketing Purpose Sustainability Diversity and Equity and Inclusion

By Goutam Challagalla and Samaja Penumaka

Article

Euro 2024 Sponsorship - Chinese Brands

Leading Chinese companies are preparing to take advantage of exposure and opportunities as top sponsors and suppliers to the UEFA EURO 2024 Men’s Soccer Tournament (Euro 24) — played by European teams thousands of kilometers away from China. 

Competitiveness Innovation Strategy China Future Readiness Marketing

By Mark J. Greeven and Howard H. Yu

in I by IMD

5 June 2024

Article

A marketing playbook for sustainable products

Marketing campaigns for sustainable offerings often fail, leaving businesses with products that do not sell. How can companies reach customers more effectively?

Sustainability Strategy Marketing

By Goutam Challagalla and Frédéric Dalsace

in I by IMD

7 May 2024

Case Study

Nespresso: Strategy reset for growth: The youth market (Abridged)

Nespresso, the global leading brand in portioned coffee, is facing an existential threat. The company’s current market base, which consists primarily of aging consumers, is likely to decline in the medium to long term. To compensate for the certai...

Marketing Strategy Sustainability

By Kamran Kashani and Goutam Challagalla

Sea2see: Seastainable vision

By Benoit F. Leleux and Thomas Brochier
Case reference: IMD-7-2564 ©2024

Summary

BARCELONA, JANUARY 2023. What started in 2016 as a humble entrepreneurial attempt to contribute to a more sustainable future had turned into a solid eyewear brand present in major Western markets. François van den Abeele was even more excited by the rapid development of the Sea2see Foundation, which he set up in Ghana. But success brought its own new questions and issues. From the start, he had relied on the superb craftmanship and dedication of an Italian frame manufacturer. Over time that relationship had turned into a mutual dependency: He was now one of its major clients but, reciprocally, had developed a key supplier risk. What if something happened to that relationship? Should he develop a broader set of suppliers and, if so, how could that be done without antagonizing a great working relationship? Recycling very much set the stage for the brand’s sustainability claims, but it also took massive amounts of time to manage. As other companies started to develop their own fishing net recycling supply chains, did it still make sense to invest so much time in the upstream phase or should he pour his energy into his beloved brand? Finally, maybe it was also time to revisit the growth/profitability dilemma and open up the capital to increase the speed of growth, all for the benefit of the environment as impact fed on scale.

Reference IMD-7-2564

Organization Sea2see

Industry Consumer Goods, Optical Products

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Entrepreneurship

Family Business

General Management

Global Business

Marketing

Sustainability

Browse all topics

Brand strategies

By Goutam Challagalla and Frédéric Dalsace
in Binder, Julia Katharina (Ed.); Haanaes, Knut Bjarne (Ed.) / Leading the sustainable business transformation: A playbook from IMD, pp. 127-136 / Hoboken: Wiley, 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Branding

Strategy

Sustainability

Marketing

Browse all topics

Nonmarket strategy

By Michael Yaziji and David Bach
in Binder, Julia Katharina (Ed.); Haanaes, Knut Bjarne (Ed.) / Leading the sustainable business transformation: A playbook from IMD, pp. 151-165 / Hoboken: Wiley, 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Strategy

Marketing

Sustainability

Browse all topics

Consumers love local brands. That's good news for family businesses

By Philipp Jaufenthaler Andreas Kallmuenzer Sascha Kraus and Alfredo De Massis
in FamilyBusiness.org 28 October 2024

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Marketing

Strategy

Browse all topics

Should Unilever pivot from being purpose-led?

By Goutam Challagalla and Samaja Penumaka
Case reference: IMD-7-2578 ©2024

Summary

The case study delves into strategic transformation and leadership transitions at Unilever since 2009. Unilever has been an industry leader of business sustainability. Paul Polman was a pioneer who introduced the idea that, by addressing social and environmental problems, a company can unlock new growth opportunities. Polman launched a 10-year Sustainable Living Plan with three objectives: to enhance health and well-being, livelihoods and environmental sustainability. Alan Jope followed in Polman’s path and launched a novel plan for the new decade called The Unilever Compass, focused on sustainability. Unilever took a strategic turn during Jope’s tenure and asked the brands to use their products to solve social issues. He called this “purpose-led branding,” which confused investors. They believed social branding would take the company’s focus away from growth. Tensions were high at Unilever and resulted in a change in leadership. The company wants to focus on growth, which raises questions about the future of corporate sustainability at Unilever.

Reference IMD-7-2578

Organization Unilever

Industry Consumer Goods

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Strategy

Marketing

Purpose

Sustainability

Diversity and Equity and Inclusion