The case of Invernizzi (Kraft Italia)

After a number of years of advertising efforts aimed at sustaining the brand Invernizzi, in 2000 Kraft decided to focus its marketing efforts on sales growth. Its portfolio is composed of four different categories of fresh cheese; three of them are traditional Italian products (Mozzarella, Crescenza and Gorgonzola) and one ("Giravolte") is a ready to cook cheese that, after its launch in 1998, achieved remarkable results. The brand Invernizzi (born at the beginning of the last century) has a good reputation in Italy especially among the baby boom generation. However from mid-1990s (like other classic brands) it started to suffer increasing competition arising from private labels and low priced products. Italian consumers continue to expect quality, innovation and service but they are paying more and more attention to price. In this situation Kraft marketing management is wondering how much the company should invest in new products (like Giravolte) and what should be, in the portfolio, the role of the classic products that are still leading their markets.