06 / 08Brand Strategy / Market Analysis / Visual Communication

Capstone

Making the data something you can feel.

RolePerceptual Map & Visual System DesignerProjectBrand Strategy / Market Analysis / Visual Communication
Market
Gap
Mama Mia
Paglia
Johnsonville
Jimmy Dean
Local heritage
Astro mapThe market as a system of gravity.Distribution / emotional position / opportunity
At a glance

A collaborative academic case analysis that recommended a Family Connection position for Saxonville's Italian sausage. My individual contribution was translating the team's analysis into a perceptual map and supporting visual system.

Collaborative Academic Project2026Four weeks
Brief
Assess how Saxonville could grow Italian sausage while its bratwurst and breakfast categories were stagnant and no national brand led the Italian sausage category.
Role
Perceptual Map & Visual System Designer
Deliverables
Perceptual map, supporting visual system, visual mapping lenses, and presentation materials
Outcome
The team recommended Family Connection positioning with the line “It Welcomes You In.” The presentation reported concept-voting and purchase-intent findings in support of that recommendation. I presented my perceptual-map system and received positive instructor feedback for its distinctive visual interpretation.
Consumer insight

Research focused on female heads of household ages 25–50. The dinner decision maker wanted to feel she had “done well” by her family; Italian sausage could be easy to prepare, family pleasing, and a reason to gather around dinner.

Team recommendation

The team recommended Family Connection, with “It Welcomes You In” as its tagline, citing broad appeal, values fit, and open territory around family togetherness. In the 69-person concept vote, it received 37 first-place votes versus 9 for Clever Cooking. The presentation separately reported stated purchase intent of 81% for Family Connection versus 72% for Clever Cooking; these are study responses, not market performance.

My contribution

I translated the team's findings into a perceptual map and four visual lenses, making the competitive relationships and potential opportunity easier to understand. The map was presented as part of the case analysis.

capstone.strategyvisual research system
1/5
A SOCIAL FIELD STUDYCAPSTONE
emotionreachscale

ONE GAP / FOUR MAPS

capstone.strategy one market gap, mapped four ways.

01 / 05
Mapping the market opportunity

Data becomes
a landscape.

Four supporting mapping lenses, color, texture, orbit, and atmosphere, make the same competitive relationships understandable through different forms of visual thinking.

01 / 04 / One dataset, four visual languages

The same gap,
felt four ways.

Each landscape keeps the original relationships intact while changing the way a viewer enters the information. Color, texture, scale, atmosphere, labels, and position work together as translation, not decoration.

01 / Color mapWarmth becomes hue. Reach becomes scale.
Functional / coolEmotional / warmMama MiaPagliaLocal heritageMarket GapJohnsonvilleBob EvansJimmy DeanHillshireConAgra
Horizontal position = emotional warmthCircle size = distributionColor reinforces warmth
02 / Texture mapReach becomes density. Warmth becomes softness.
Mama Mia
Paglia
Local heritage
Market Gap
Johnsonville
Bob Evans
Jimmy Dean
Hillshire
ConAgra
Sparse texture = local reachDense texture = national reachSoft edges = emotional positioning
03 / Astro mapThe market behaves like a system of gravity.
Market
Gap
Mama Mia
Paglia
Local heritage
Johnsonville
Bob Evans
Jimmy Dean
Hillshire
ConAgra
Orbit distance = difference from the opportunityPlanet size = distributionGlow = emotional warmth
04 / Atmospheric layer mapA vertical, cinematic reading of the landscape.
National / widest distribution
Broad distribution
Regional distribution
Local / narrow distribution
Cool / functionalWarm / emotionalMama MiaPagliaLocal heritageMarket GapJohnsonvilleBob EvansJimmy DeanHillshireConAgra
Higher layer = wider distributionFurther right = greater emotional warmthShape + label preserve meaning without color
Perceptual map of the 2006 competitive landscape plotting distribution size against emotional positioning
05 / Original sourceThe map that
started it all.

The original perceptual map appears last as the source of truth. Every color, texture, orbit, and atmospheric layer above preserves these same competitive relationships.

End of projectLet's talk