NRN editor and restaurant marketing expert Jennings breaks down what you should be watching in the industry this week. Connect with her on the latest marketing trends and news at @livetodineout and [email protected].
In its biggest brand news in more than 50 years, Pizza Hut debuted its new menu Wednesday, along with its “Flavor of Now” marketing push, which will include a series of TV ads, debuting Sunday, that go back to the birthplace of pizza for a first taste.
Pizza Hut asked a group of aging villagers from an Old World town in Sorrento, Italy, what they thought of the revamp’s exotic new flavors, from Peruvian cherry peppers to a honey Sriracha crust.
Their amusingly cold reception sends a message Pizza Hut hopes a younger and hipper audience will clearly receive: It’s time for something new.
Shorter spots show Old World opinions on contemporary trends, like selfies.
More television commercials are coming that will further explore the Italian villagers’ views on modern innovations, including Pizza Hut’s new mobile app, which company officials say will bring the new brand identity to life.
The company said the app interface will be more interactive and make it more fun for guests to customize their pies “2 billion different ways,” or to choose from some of the new signature pies, such as the Sweet Sriracha Dynamite, featuring honey Sriracha sauce, grilled chicken, sliced jalapenos, pineapple, Peruvian cherry peppers, and a drizzle of honey Sriracha over a honey Sriracha crust.
The TV ads were developed by Deutsch LA, the same advertising agency that worked with sister brand Taco Bell on its ad campaign for its national launch of breakfast earlier this year. Those commercials gave a first taste to men named Ronald McDonald, a jab at its quick-service breakfast competitor.
Pizza Hut officials declined to comment further on the marketing push this week, but parent Yum! Brands Inc. is clearly looking to make Pizza Hut cool again, in the same way it has revived Taco Bell, another legacy brand that has passed the 50-year marker.
Also much like Taco Bell, Pizza Hut has been quietly working on social media efforts to convey a more community-focused message that the new menu is anything but boring, bland or normal.
Over the past few weeks, Pizza Hut has been literally spreading that message in those very towns: Boring, Md.; Bland, Mo.; and Normal, Ill.
Social efforts
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In the small Maryland town of Boring, for example, where people are the “salt of the earth,” the company brought a surprise to an otherwise uneventful bingo night: famed sportscaster Dick Vitale, who took the mic and said “It’s bingo, baby!” He also brought pizza and cheerleaders.
In Bland, Pizza Hut hosted a youth Fall Ball baseball tournament, bringing actress and recording artist Kat Graham of “The Vampire Diaries” to sing the national anthem and baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith to toss out the first pitch.
Pizza Hut also donated $10,000 for new bleachers and other field improvements. Unsurprisingly, they also brought pizza.
On Wednesday, the tour caps off in Normal, where Pizza Hut plans to make some not-so-normal deliveries that will feature contortionists bringing the new Hot and Twisted pizza to residents.
Such videos evoke a similar community campaign that went viral by Taco Bell, which brought a taco-dispensing food truck to the small Alaskan town of Bethel in 2012.
Other pizza competitors, including Domino’s, have successfully reworked their pizza, publicly admitting that what was old may not be so new anymore.
Carrie Walsh, Dallas-based Pizza Hut’s chief marketing officer, told the New York Times that the Pizza Hut revamp was nothing less than “reinventing the pizza category,” after a year of consumer research indicating that diners wanted more adventure.
The new menu also has a more comprehensive new look, with new pizza boxes, uniforms, colors and a website.
Fast Company said this is Pizza Hut’s fourth logo update in 15 years, and that the new branding colors will swap some of the bright red for a sleeker black.
The question remains whether curry- and ginger-flavored crusts or a drizzle of Buffalo sauce will help Pizza Hut turn around eight consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines.
It may take time to see results, Walsh told the New York Times: “I see us talking about flavor for a long time coming.”
This article has been updated to reflect the timing of the TV spot launch.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout
