For Pizza Hut chief marketing officer Lindsay Morgan, the Yum Brands-owned pizza chain’s marketing story practically writes itself: it’s a brand that’s solidly rooted in nostalgia for its original red-roofed, Hut-style restaurants with stained glass lamps and iconic red cups. Morgan’s job is to update that strong emotional connection for the 2024 Pizza Hut customer, while keeping true to the playful brand message.
Morgan has been the CMO for Pizza Hut for three years, and before that, led brand communications for the company for four years. She has a total of nearly two decades of marketing experience.
“Pizza Hut is a brand that a lot of people have an emotional connection with,” Morgan said. “Our brand is seen as nostalgic and sometimes that means dated or legacy, so the question is, ‘how do we take those memories and tap into them in a cool new way? How do we introduce our brand in a way that's fun and fresh for the next generation and build their love for Pizza Hut so we can be at timeless for generations to come?’”
One example Morgan gave is the company’s limited-edition augmented reality pizza boxes that launched in 2021 as a nostalgic-but-updated nod to the arcades that used to be found in the old Pizza Hut restaurants. More recently, last summer, the company launched limited-edition “Hut Hats” as part of its merch line, that were meant to evoke the Tiffany-style lamps of the Hut restaurants.
Nostalgia is not the only lever Morgan and her marketing team can pull. In fact, she emphasized that brands should be flexible and not only appeal to the nostalgia-loving millennial, but also the parent who’s just trying to feed their kids and does not really need to buy a funny bucket hat right now.
“If I’m a mom, then I might be motivated by ease and price, or maybe I’m craving food innovation and comfort,” Morgan said. “Customers can be really different, and your brand can be all different kinds of things at the same time. Whether it’s value, taste or innovation, winning brands are finding ways to be multi-dimensional and hit on many things in different ways.”
The Pizza Hut marketing team tries to hit upon every conceivable potential customer, including, recently, late-night eaters. The brand started extending its hours into late-night last fall, tapping into a younger demographic of college-aged kids who might be up for some pizza past the normal dinner hour.
Though Morgan emphasized wearing many different hats in the marketing sector, strong brands should still have a cohesive voice no matter who they’re targeting. For Pizza Hut, that voice is playful and creative. One of Morgan’s most recent marketing wins was the Valentine’s Day “Goodbye Pies” promotion that allowed customers to send breakup pizzas to soon-to-be ex-lovers ahead of Valentine’s Day. The promotion was meant to showcase Pizza Hut’s new Hot Honey pizza LTO and was a creative departure from the typical romantic (and often heart-shaped) QSR promotions in February.
“I think whenever you have the customers’ needs at the forefront, it makes marketing a lot easier,” Morgan said.
Contact Joanna Fantozzi at [email protected]