Introduction
This is a blog post which provides a critical evaluation and marketing recommendation on the Red Baron Pizza. The procedure of evaluating the product will include an application of the marketing mix and other variables relevant to the qualities and features of the frozen pizza. This will use the tools and techniques of marketing and they will be applied in order to identify whether it is a good product to buy or not. Ultimately, the research will culminate in the presentation of a recommendation on whether the product is ideal or not.
Product Description
Red Baron Pizza is a product of Schwan Food Company, based in Marshall, Minnesota. Red Baron Pizza sold $597 million in pizzas throughout the United States in the year 2015. This makes it the second most popular frozen pizza brand in the country.
Red Baron Pizza is popular throughout the major supermarkets throughout the United States. Its producers, Schwan Food is an employee owned company that has focused on branding and positioning the pizza with a personal touch. The Red Baron brand is popular and has some 15 different sub-brands. This include various exotic flavors that differentiate the various brands and products that are in the range. There are some specialized versions that are only available in some shops and for certain consumers. However, in all the brands, there are some 5 popular brands that are sold to a wide range of consumers in many popular shops. This include the Fire Baked Pepperoni Pizza which is very popular.
The Red Baron Brand
Red Baron is known for the brand image of a Baron who stands with his spectacles on the box. This is complemented with the slogan “Premium Quality”. This is to present a sense of antiquity and high quality that is based on time-tested values since most people will associate a baron with success in business, property ownership and trade.
Red Baron Logo
The logo is on all the products and this is known throughout the United States. It is embossed on all the brands and all the pizzas they sell. Therefore, this is a unique mark and a unique embossment that makes it different from all other frozen pizza brands on the market. The Red Baron logo also offers a kind of anachronistic image to the consumer. It is an innovative product but the premium nature of the packaging blends time-tested views of quality with the product.
Marketing Analysis
The conduct of marketing analysis is to be done through the utilization of the 4Ps which are:
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Product
The Red Baron frozen pizzas are not just ordinary pizzas. Many frozen pizzas are plain and a buyer is expected to put toppings on it to make it look good. However, the quality of the Red Baron lies in the fact that it has several pepperoni fillings and features that are added to it. This makes the brand delicious and catchy to the eye.
There is a thin crust at the bottom. This makes it filling when eaten. This is because the crust is slightly crunchy and when baked, it becomes goldish and the quality is extremely high. In place of the thinness, there is a general high quality filling which is made up of a thick layer of cheese and a wide array of flavors carefully chosen that is not easily available to the ordinary man. Hence, they utilize their experience and competency to put together something nice, decent and unique.
The cheese is accompanied by other decent toppings that make the product a high quality one that can be chewed and swallowed in a pleasant manner. The sauce and cheese is delicious. And the mouth-watering elements are extremely unique and distinct. This makes it a product of choice for most consumers.
The product range include single pizzas for a single serving. However, most of the products are made up of large family-sized pizzas that target larger families of 4 – 6 and provides a good alternative to a cooked meal.
Price
The Red Baron goes for $3 on the average at Walmart. This is a similar price that other competitors offer. This is because the price is generally kept low to ensure that consumers from all categories can acquire them. The price of the Red Baron is generally lower than other competitors. This is because they have many promotions and activities that gets consumers to purchase their products and give their products a try.
Furthermore, there are numerous print coupons they offer online which can be redeemed online to add up to the pricing strategy of the pizza brand. This pizza is usually a coupon for $1 which goes for the first pizzas a consumer purchases. They can be printed out and presented at a point of sale for redemption purposes.
However, other cheaper brands of frozen pizza exist. This makes it sometimes a bit difficult to justify the need to pay a dollar extra for Red Baron. However, in most cases, a few cents do not make much of a difference to a consumer.
Place
Red Baron Pizzas are sold in over 50,000 stores nationwide. Red Baron is part of the Schwan Food Company’s range of products. Schwan Foods has about 12 other products that are popular and have a nationwide appeal. Schwan Foods enters contractual agreements with major supermarkets to present their products. And these are part of the larger appeal and a larger body of products they sell. Thus, they are able to get leverage and sell through many supermarkets and home stores in America.
Red Baron Pizzas are placed in special fridges throughout stores. These fridges are branded and makes it easier for the consumer to locate the products. Thus, a person who is in a habit of eating frozen pizzas will not struggle to find a point where he can pick up a Red Baron Pizza without issues. These fridges are kept at a low temperature, keeping the pizzas fresh for a longer period of time.
The downside of their positioning is that they are placed at points where other pizzas are also offered for sale. This is in contrast with other brands which might offer lower prices and might be better known.
Promotion
Schwan Food has a strategy of promoting its products in a collective manner. Thus, Red Baron Pizzas are promoted as part of their general portfolio. This is done through normal media commercials and other outlets. Red Baron has a range of adverts which lasts for the normal period of about 2 minutes. They often target families and other eating settings where they present their consumers as classy and exceptional. There are shorter infomercials which are just 30 seconds and show the frozen pizza in a positive manner and gets consumers to appreciate its worth.
Red Baron Pizza also targets consumers directly through signage and other obvious depictions and pictures that are put in strategic locations in malls and shops. These are close to points where consumers make purchasing decisions. Given that the prices are low – just about $3 and consumers can just make a quick decision to buy one for a quick meal or to be kept in the fridge for the future, these signage arrangements work well.
Other forms of promotion include tailgate raffles which attract consumers and give them a strong desire to purchase their products. The Red Baron Pizza offers giveaways that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to consumers who are encouraged to purchase and build a brand affinity with the frozen picture afterwards.
Physical Evidence of Purchase
The Red Baron Pizza package is perhaps one of the most colorful in America. It features a lot of nice images and pictures that make it really appealing to the ordinary consumer. There are also various pointers and features that are positive like the advertising of other brands in the range. This makes it appealing and nice. The boxes are huge and do not give way to leakage.
The products are also drawn on the box or package. This is because the product is displayed to show the consumer what he is getting and this makes it easier for consumers to make choices when they are at the point of purchase.
Customer Experience
A customer buying a Red Baron pizza is likely to get a classic taste of a crunchy and fresh pizza. This is something that has an end value that is of a higher quality and full of richness and an exotic and demanding taste.
Thrillist gave an independent review and stated that Red Baron Pizza is like a firm mattress which is soft and has a physical integrity. There is a general sense of a crunchy caramelization which is classy and of a higher level. The cheese is also well blended into the product and it has a high quality. There are many diverse brands to choose from and the meat included in the pizza is savory.
There is also a general sense that the nutritional value is extremely positive. This is because the carb levels are well trimmed and they constantly innovate to present better versions of their products that help consumers to manage their weight and maintain a high quality of life.
The Red Baron Pizza is a far more superior alternative to normal pizza served from a restaurant. This is because pizzerias and other restaurants sell their pizzas at an extremely high price relative to the price of the frozen pizza. And with the cost of the frozen pizza, it presents a better value for money. The preparation of Red Baron Pizza is rapid. It can be prepared in as little as 3 minutes of a well prepared oven. This means it has a shorter turnaround time when compared to a pizza order. It is convenient and can be picked up at a supermarket when a consumer goes to get normal groceries.
In terms of preparation, Red Baron Pizza can be cooked in an oven at a temperature of 450 degrees Fahrenheit. This takes a few minutes and a normal consumer will spend just about $1 in electricity bills to get this done. This comes with an overall cost of just about $4 per pizza. And in relation to normal restaurant pizzas, the Red Baron is just a fraction and appears to be homemade. The general headache of not being able to understand and appreciate the way pizzas are done is eliminated by the standard-form of pizzas that the Red Baron Pizzas present. Instead of getting a consumer to struggle and suffer to get a pizza prepared that might not taste like the restaurant pizza, Red Baron frozen pizza gives a consumer a better alternative and a consumer can prepare it according to the standard-form of pizzas with very little or no expertise. It is convenient and tastes wonderful.
The downside is that the Red Baron Pizza lacks the Servicescape that eating in a restaurant presents. This is because restaurants are more convenient and prepared to offer an experience that adds up to the consumption process. Hence, the process is a bit homogenous and a person can often consume it at home. However, in reality, this might be an option for everyday consumptions and a normal meal that a consumer might want to eat in a given day with a family or in a group.
Recommendation
Red Baron Pizza is recommended to a wide range of consumers who might want to have a general everyday experience with their frozen pizza. This is because Red Baron satisfies all the basic elements of a frozen pizza. It however goes the extra mile to include important elements and features like well-produced and enhanced materials that are of a classy nature. The mixtures and the combinations of cheese and meet makes it a product of choice. Consumers can get the best from the pepperoni that comes with the Red Baron Pizza. It is affordable and they have many options for the ordinary consumer who wants to cut down on cost and cannot spend more than necessary on a piece of frozen pizza. Red Baron offers a standard-form of pizza that a restaurant will prepare and sell at several times the price. It is easy to prepare and can be conveniently picked up form a shop in a normal shopping. The time for preparation is shorter than the waiting time for a pizza order and it is cooked with far less heat.
References
Gentile, D. (2015, June 4). Ranking the Best Frozen Pizzas. Retrieved from Thrillist: https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/the-best-frozen-pizza-digiorno-freschetta-and-more-thrillist-nation
Porter, M. (2012). Competitive Strategy. New York: Free Press.
Statista. (2016, June 9). Sales of the leading frozen pizza brands of the United States in 2016 (in million U.S. dollars). Retrieved from Statista: http://www.statista.com/statistics/189650/top-frozen-pizza-brands-in-the-united-states/
.
