Berlucchi. Designing market development strategies

The Executive Committee of Guido Berlucchi & Co. SpA is to convene on one spring day in 2007 for the first of a series of formal meetings with a specific agenda: to formulate a three-year strategic marketing plan. Three children of the current President (one of the company’s founders) sit on this committee and also serve on the Board of Directors. Their respective roles are CEO and Vice President of Production & Operations, Vice President of Marketing & Communication, and Vice President of Sales. Berlucchi is one of Italy’s leading spumante producers. After years of outstanding success, the company finds itself facing a mature market, with competition becoming more intense, distribution more complex and con-sumers more sophisticated. The Executive Committee is convinced that the strategy that generated the com-pany’s growth in its first 40 years needs to be revitalised in order to open up a new development path for Ber-lucchi in the years to come. Three strategic options are on the table, each with a different aim, market context, and plan of action. The case provides all the data available to the Executive Committee members as they set out to draw up a market development plan for the successive three-year period.The aim of this case study is to get students to draw up a strategic marketing plan with a three year time hori-zon. Specifically, participants will have to conduct market analysis in order to identify potential opportunities and to evaluate Berlucchi’s competitive positioning. Ultimately, students will select the most appropriate stra-tegic option in light of the growth objectives and market opportunities that emerged from their analysis. The case gives extensive data on the market, the company, and the competition, enabling participants to do in-depth analysis on various levels: the global market, the Italian market, and individual distribution channels. Students should choose from the three options based on the results of their analysis, since the case does not give indications on the costs or investments that the different alternatives entail.