{"id":3256,"date":"2013-01-17T10:10:53","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T15:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.amsterdamprinting.com\/?p=3256"},"modified":"2017-10-16T14:53:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T18:53:54","slug":"case-study-what-pizza-can-teach-us-about-branding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amsterdamprinting.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/17\/case-study-what-pizza-can-teach-us-about-branding\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: What Pizza Can Teach Us About Branding"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Domino’s Reinvented Itself Using a Underused Tactic<\/em><\/h3>\n

The history:<\/strong> According to the Domino\u2019s website, the Monaghan brothers bought \u201cDomiNick\u2019s\u201d in 1960 and renamed it Domino\u2019s in 1965. The company opened its 200th<\/sup> store in 1978 and its 5000th<\/sup> store in 1989. Its website launched in 1996, and by 2000, it \"domino'shad over 6500 outlets spread across the globe. It celebrated its 50th<\/sup> anniversary in 2010. Today, Domino\u2019s has over 9000 outlets across 60 countries.<\/p>\n

The challenge:<\/strong> Domino\u2019s faced a classic \u201cperception vs. reality\u201d issue. Domino\u2019s was often the butt of jokes, eliciting \u201ctastes like cardboard\u201d punch lines. Even its convenient \u201cdelivered in 30 minutes or less\u201d promise didn\u2019t help much. A consumer taste survey in 2009 had Domino\u2019s coming in dead last, tied with Chuck E. Cheese. As a result, Domino\u2019s announced its plan to reinvent itself in late 2009, starting with its pizza.<\/p>\n

The process:<\/strong> Domino\u2019s used something that\u2019s quite unusual in marketing and advertising: honesty. Domino\u2019s highlighted its own weaknesses and failures, with its affable CEO Patrick Doyle leading the charge. In fact, real people from inside the company — from the head chef, to marketing folks, to delivery drivers — became actively involved in the messaging that people began seeing in 2010, starting with the \u201cPizza Turnaround\u201d documentary that was posted on Domino\u2019s new Pizza Turnaround microsite<\/a>. We\u2019ve embedded it below.<\/p>\n

As Doyle says in the documentary, \u201cYou can either use negative comments to get you down, or you can use them to excite you and energize your process of making a better pizza. We did the latter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The messages in this documentary became the key messages in all media. The company recreated its pizza, conducted taste tests, reached out to critical consumers and documented them trying the new pizza, engaged consumers through social media using fun prompts like \u201cshow us your pizza,\u201d provided money-back guarantees, and, of course, unveiled its new catchy and pointed tagline: \u201cOh Yes We Did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Domino\u2019s spread these messages consistently across all channels: its corporate site and its microsites, its social media platforms, its radio and television commercials, its stores, and its print advertising. Over the last two-plus years, it\u2019s been almost impossible to miss the \u201cOh Yes We Did\u201d message or the CEO\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

The results. Did the brutally honest work? <\/strong>Sales would suggest yes. Bloomberg noted in an article from October 2011 (a little over a year-and-a-half after the re-branding efforts got under way) that \u201cDomino\u2019s shares have risen 75 percent this year [2011], compared with 15 percent for Papa John\u2019s International Inc. (PZZA) in Louisville, Kentucky, Bloomberg data show. Since the end of 2009, when Domino\u2019s announced its plans, the stock has gained 233 percent, compared with 37 percent for its rival.\u201d Domino\u2019s reported quarterly profit for its fiscal third quarter in 2012, exceeding Wall Street expectations. Judging from consumers\u2019 reactions on social media platforms, like Domino\u2019s Facebook page, the campaign has been well received overall.<\/p>\n

Marketing take-away.<\/strong> Brutal honesty can hurt. But, as we\u2019ve seen with Domino\u2019s, it can also pay off, simply because consumers don\u2019t expect it. Part of Domino\u2019s success with the \u201cOh yes we did\u201d campaign is that it showed the company\u2019s and its workers\u2019 humility. Another thing: people appreciate feel-good, comeback stories where the underdog or failing character finds his or her own inner strength and rises to the occasion. Domino\u2019s essentially did this to itself: it highlighted its weaknesses, humbly acknowledged that it needed to work on those weaknesses, and then proceeded to do just that as consumers cheered them on. Hollywood couldn\u2019t have scripted a better turnaround story.<\/p>\n

So how can you leverage this in your business?<\/em><\/strong> Do you need to launch a pricey \u201cmea culpa\u201d campaign about your company\u2019s weaknesses and failings? You don\u2019t have to do it at the same scale as Domino\u2019s, but you can certainly use some of the ideas from the Domino\u2019s playbook.<\/p>\n

First, ask yourself this question: Is there something about your product, service, or overall company — a \u201cweakness,\u201d for lack of a better word — that you\u2019re willing to invest some time and money into honestly addressing, changing, and fixing?<\/p>\n

If yes, outline a strategy, document the entire process, and share the experiences with your audience. Think video, articles, and social media:<\/p>\n