Campbell’s Soups- Brand Concept Map

Campbell’s Soups rings familiar in almost everyone’s ears as people of all ages interact with the brand

through different experiences. I developed a brand concept map, an aggregation of the brand maps

created by four participants to provide a better understanding of Campbell’s customers. (Exhibit 1-3)

Challenges

While conducting the research to create the brand concept map, I had limited access to a diverse group

of interviewees and therefore, the perspective was only from undergraduate students’ point of views. I

tried to vary the interviewees in a different way by getting a mix of both positive and negative users of

the brand and a mix of people who prefer home-cooked meals and others who value convenience more.

After compiling the results, I discovered that I did not include cards to categorize items such as products

or soup flavours and this may have confused some interviewees. In addition, some associations I

recorded contained more facts about the products than feelings. As a result, some participants

misunderstood the exercise and created core associations of specific soup flavours rather than of brand

values. To resolve this issue, I decided to group these products under a more general heading. The

associations made between feelings and soup flavours were still valuable information, so those were

factored into the summarized brand map to show bonds between associations, such as chicken noodle

soup to childhood and vegetable soup to brothy.

Overview of customer perception

The Campbell’s Soup brand brings back many childhood memories of home, where one participant even

mentioned collecting the red labels with her family. It seemed to bring warmth and comfort, especially

when moms prepared it for a sick day at home. Using Campbell’s for sick days is still a habit for young

adults, as an easy comfort meal is desired when they have no energy to cook. Chicken noodle soup is

Campbell’s iconic soup and it brought both negative and positive feelings for the interviewees. It

connected well with childhood and comfort, but was considered too salty and without enough

ingredients.

Surprisingly, all interviewees connected Campbell’s with Andy Warhol’s piece of art composed of

Campbell’s 32 flavours of soup. This seemed to bring back a strong memory of the age of pop art.

Considering the elicitation stage, I assumed people would associate the brand with more recipe usage

and complimentary foods, but my hypothesis was proven inaccurate. The soups are often eaten out of

convenience and as a last alternative. Therefore, it is not well associated with other food except to pair

with crackers and is usually eaten on its own.

Implications for Bob Woodward

For a potential new product in the simple meals category, it will be important to vary the flavours and

textures as has been done with Campbell’s Soups. Some participants preferred soups brothy and some

preferred soups rich and hearty. Offering a variety would allow for the largest market to be captured, as

preferences in this category are very individual and not easily changed. Campbell’s consumers also

considered value as priority, given the appreciation for the low prices of soup but the desire for more

ingredients. Therefore, it is recommended that products remain affordable and have substantial, filling

ingredients.

As children grow up remembering Campbell’s Soup as a comfort food provided by their moms, other

brand extensions should continue to enable moms to provide this comfort food to children at the same

convenience and low price. Products should be quick to prepare, with portions substantial enough to

provide a complete meal. Campbell’s marketing plan can focus on the value proposition for moms who

want to help their children feel better on their sick days, even if it is just with comfort food.

Conclusion

Campbell’s brand concept map with its core values of convenience, tastiness, childhood, and product

demonstrate areas that must be considered in developing new products. Campbell’s should choose to

remain consistent with its current associations to capture more purchases from its current market or

can choose to break some associations to reach other markets. Enhanced research through interviewing

a more diverse population and performing more complex analysis will reach to greater understanding of

Campbell and better aid in Bob Woodward’s decision-making process.

Exhibit 1- Aggregated brand concept map

Exhibit 2- Participant brand maps

Exhibit 3- Analysis of associations

Brand Associations

Frequency of

Mention

Number of

Inter-

connections

Frequency of

First-Order

Mention

Ratio of First-

Order

Mention %

Subordinate

Connections

Super-

ordinate

Connections

chicken noodle 4 11 2 50% 4 7

salty 4 7 2 50% 4 3

crackers 4 5 1 25% 5 -

Andy Warhol 4 4 3 75% 4 -

childhood 3 6 2 67% 3 3

Chunky's 3 6 - 0% 3 3

convenient 3 5 1 33% 3 2

few ingredients/brothy 3 4 1 33% 3 1

on sale 3 3 1 33% 3 -

on the go 2 9 1 50% 3 6

tasty 2 6 1 50% 2 4

veggie soup 2 6 - 0% 2 4

warm 2 6 - 0% 3 3

simple 2 5 - 0% 1 4

complimentary foods 2 4 1 50% 2 2

sick 2 4 1 50% 2 2

last alternative 2 3 2 100% 2 1

add ingredients 2 2 - 0% 2 -

busy 2 2 - 0% 2 -

fast 2 2 - 0% 2 -

low quality 2 2 1 50% 2 -

unhealthy 2 2 - 0% 2 -

at camp 1 2 - 0% 1 1

cheap 1 2 - 0% 1 1

cheese crackers 1 1 - 0% 1 -

clam chowder 1 1 - 0% 1 -

cream of mushroom 1 1 - 0% 1 -

nostalgic 1 1 - 0% 1 -

reducing salt 1 1 - 0% 1 -

coloured = items that met aggregation rules from the reading

bold = core brand associations

italics = first-order brand associations

Core Associations First-Order Associations