Case Notes/Answers
PILLSBURY COOKIE CHALLENGE by Allison Johnson
Natalie Mauro
Discussion Questions:
The following are questions that can be pre-assigned to students and discussed in class. In
addition to the case, the professor may want to include supplemental readings on market research,
consumer insights and/or segmentation.
1. What are the challenges that Ivan Guillen faces in his role as the marketing manager of the
RBG business?
2. What are consumer insights? What types of business challenges can benefit from consumer
insights? How are consumer insights obtained?
3. Given the key learnings from the usage and attitude study on pp. 6-7 of the case, what are the
corresponding implications for what actions the team should take?
4. Why did Guillen and his team conduct the in-home and discovery workshops?
5. Develop perceptual maps for the potential targets (users, lapsed users and non-users). What are
the implications from these maps?
6. What actions should Guillen and his team take?
, W11021
Teaching Note
PILLSBURY COOKIE CHALLENGE
CASE SYNOPSIS
The Canadian Pillsbury ready baked goods (RBG) cookie line is experiencing less than stellar
performance, and the marketing manager, Ivan Guillen, is under pressure to make strategic decisions that
will help turn around the segment. The marketing manager engages the help of the consumer insights team
to conduct market research studies that will shed light on consumers and their attitudes, behaviours and
preferences towards the products. The results from the market research studies are in, and the students,
assuming the role of the marketing manager, must filter through them to determine how this information
can be used to improve the performance of the cookie segment. More specifically, students will need to
determine where the greatest opportunities lie, who the team should target, what brand messaging is the
most relevant and what type of communication plan would be most effective.
KEY TOPICS AND CLASS USE
The case highlights a common problem faced by marketers – how to improve the performance of a
business. In addition to this aspect, the case focuses on how to attain and interpret consumer information.
The following topics are covered in the case:
1. Introduction to consumer insights and market research,
2. Customer segmentation and targeting, and
3. Brand positioning.
This case is best suited for an Introduction to Marketing course (either HBA or MBA level) or a course
that digs deeper into how firms can employ customer-oriented strategies, such as the Consumers and
Customers course.
PILLSBURY COOKIE CHALLENGE by Allison Johnson
Natalie Mauro
Discussion Questions:
The following are questions that can be pre-assigned to students and discussed in class. In
addition to the case, the professor may want to include supplemental readings on market research,
consumer insights and/or segmentation.
1. What are the challenges that Ivan Guillen faces in his role as the marketing manager of the
RBG business?
2. What are consumer insights? What types of business challenges can benefit from consumer
insights? How are consumer insights obtained?
3. Given the key learnings from the usage and attitude study on pp. 6-7 of the case, what are the
corresponding implications for what actions the team should take?
4. Why did Guillen and his team conduct the in-home and discovery workshops?
5. Develop perceptual maps for the potential targets (users, lapsed users and non-users). What are
the implications from these maps?
6. What actions should Guillen and his team take?
, W11021
Teaching Note
PILLSBURY COOKIE CHALLENGE
CASE SYNOPSIS
The Canadian Pillsbury ready baked goods (RBG) cookie line is experiencing less than stellar
performance, and the marketing manager, Ivan Guillen, is under pressure to make strategic decisions that
will help turn around the segment. The marketing manager engages the help of the consumer insights team
to conduct market research studies that will shed light on consumers and their attitudes, behaviours and
preferences towards the products. The results from the market research studies are in, and the students,
assuming the role of the marketing manager, must filter through them to determine how this information
can be used to improve the performance of the cookie segment. More specifically, students will need to
determine where the greatest opportunities lie, who the team should target, what brand messaging is the
most relevant and what type of communication plan would be most effective.
KEY TOPICS AND CLASS USE
The case highlights a common problem faced by marketers – how to improve the performance of a
business. In addition to this aspect, the case focuses on how to attain and interpret consumer information.
The following topics are covered in the case:
1. Introduction to consumer insights and market research,
2. Customer segmentation and targeting, and
3. Brand positioning.
This case is best suited for an Introduction to Marketing course (either HBA or MBA level) or a course
that digs deeper into how firms can employ customer-oriented strategies, such as the Consumers and
Customers course.
