Elaboration of Target Markets

Where goods for the home were concerned, women represented a crucial market for frozen foods, precooked meals, and dry mixes. In 1947 Pillsbury hired the Leo Burnett Company to launch a new line of ready-to-use cake mixes aimed at this group. See cake mix. The ads repeated a simple message: just drop this mix in a bowl, add water, mix, and bake. But sales were slow. Motivational research revealed that the problem lay in the powdered eggs used in the mixes. So the manufacturers changed the package directions: “You add fresh eggs” or “You add fresh eggs and milk,” allowing women to feel more involved in baking, and the sale of cake mixes took off.