Vivian Milroy Callaway (photo on page 216), vice president for the Center for Learning and Experimentation at General Mills, retells the story for the “indulgent, delicious, and gooey” Warm Delights™. She summarizes, “When you want something that is truly innovative, you have to look at the rules you have been assuming in your category and break them all!” The creators of Betty Crocker Warm Delights stress that if the marketing decisions had been based on the history of the cake category, a smaller, struggling business would have resulted. The team challenged the assumptions of accumulated cake category business experience. Today Warm Delights is a roaring success.

Questions
1. What is the competitive set of desserts in which Warm Delights is located?
2. (a) Who is the target market?
(b) What is the point of difference in regard to the positioning for Warm Delights?
(c) What are the potential opportunities and hindrances of the target market and positioning?
3. (a) What marketing research did Vivian Callaway execute?
(b) What were the critical questions for which she sought research and expert advice?
(c) How did this affect the product’s marketing mix price, promotion, packaging, and distribution decisions?
4. (a) What initial promotional plan directed to consumers in the target market did Callaway use?
(b) Why did this make sense to Callaway and her team when Warm Delights was launched?
5. If you were a consultant to Vivian Callaway, what product changes would you recommend to increase sales of Warm Delights?