07 September 2010

Alas, all good things must end.

Oh no they didn't.

Domino's has had a great run, but I think the latest spot is a huge miss

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Recall that this all began when Domino's became enlightened through focus groups that consumers weren't ordering because they thought the pizza tasted like cardboard. Since then, Domino's admitted the problem, vowed to change, claimed to have fixed it, and has made its mission to convince the world that things are better.

They've stopped at nothing to prove themselves....signs on lawns, knocks on doors, and the latest stunt, which involved asking consumers to send in their own Domino's pizza pictures, which would be used in place of carefully lit and masterfully constructed beauty shots.

I love the idea, but caution that it's two completely separate promises - two promises that probably ought not be linked in the first place. First, that the pizza tastes better and second, that it looks as beautiful when it arrives in a box at your house as it does in TV advertising. Both promises are terrific, if true, but the second far more difficult to operationalize, thus far more likely to fail.

A re-engineered recipe can be managed; relying on thousands of hourly pizza cooks to box it up just right, inspect whether the cheese has properly browned and bubbled and the toppings are evenly placed, then relying on thousands of delivery drivers who work off tips to balance the same box properly on their passenger seat and delicately carry it to the door.....you get the picture.

The latest spot features a photo that appears testament to the later point, but frankly I question why they'd choose to feature it, much less use it as an opportunity to slap themselves on their own wrist?

This sort of feels like a runaway strategy train. Domino's focus needs to remain on the task it set out to achieve - make the pizza TASTE better and convince everyone it does.

Since when did food that tastes good also have to look good? In fact, the opposite is all too often true and no appologizes are necessary. This is pizza we're talking about, afterall.

I fear Domino's runs the risk of undoing all the good it's done with this latest act. If the objective is to extend the price point and you need a reason why, forget customer pictures; why not dig up some positive feedback about the flavor?

To be clear, I'm a big fan of the campaign, but can't help call this execution OFF STRATEGY.

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