The Intern Alumni Program: I'll Take a Large Anti-Marketing Ad with Cheese & Pepperoni, Please

Sometimes our interns refuse to go away, and honestly, that's freaking awesome. Our former intern, Ashly, actually started this piece over the summer - then reminded me about nine times since that I kept forgetting to post it. --George

Pizza is a serious slice of American culture. According to pizzaware.com, about 93% of Americans eat some form of it at least once a month. The gooey goodness is currently a $35 billion dollar industry that continues to grow each year, and its marketing tactics are everywhere.

I admit it. I’m guilty of shouting, “Get the door, it’s Domino’s!” when the delivery girl comes with a steaming hand-tossed crust topped with pepperoni and green peppers. I’ve even probably done a little “Papa’s in the house!” dance when the pizza boy shows up with a spicy Italian specialty. Can you blame me? I’m a college student. Pizza ads always manage to find me. I am assaulted by the “Oh, Big Papa” jingle and that tacky gold Camaro on a daily basis.

You've probably noticed that recently Domino's gave their pizza, as well as their advertising strategy, a delicious makeover. Two successful branding ingredients I can appreciate. The franchise took a fresh approach to anti-competition advertising through a deconstruction of the food marketing industry.

Domino’s first TV spots exploited the inner workings of a focus group and noted that many other companies choose to ignore negative feedback they receive from such research endeavors. This kicked off their completely new recipe along with a recentered effort to instill a sense of trust in the consumer. Domino’s listens to you, so why cook that frozen pizza you don't even like? They can deliver the fresh, warm pizza you’ve been waiting for. It’s your pizza formed from your opinions. Of course, you will like it.

This reverse-psychology campaign is positioned to make the consumer feel involved and intelligent; therefore, reinforcing confidence in their brand choice. Domino’s more directly attacked its largest competitor, Papa John’s, in its puffery awareness ads. They publicized a lawsuit Papa John’s was involved in regarding the puffery in their slogan. Domino’s educated consumers on the definition of puffery (see ad below), revealed Papa John’s did no research to conclude they were the “best,” and plastered the legal documents all over the Internet.

Domino’s was not even involved in this lawsuit. Pizza Hut was, but I guess they didn't see the marketing opportunity. Domino's used it as a way to showcase the newly positive results from their own consumer research. These ads also gave freshly enlightened consumers fuel to feel confident in attacking other brands for using puffery. The central puffery awareness spot ends with a Domino’s chef revealing results of a taste test grinning, “Our pizza tastes better and that’s not puffery, that’s proven.”

A campaign that revolves around exposing traditional marketing tactics is relatively new for the food industry. However, it has been executed elsewhere. The Dove Real Beauty campaign and thetruth.com ads (check out their Shards o’ Glass Pops ads) are just a few examples.

Critics are actually referring to Domino’s latest tactic as the “Real Beauty” campaign, a tongue-in-cheek reference to Dove’s award-winner. Domino’s uses TV spots to reveal the secrets of food styling for print and television ads. Their YouTube channel offers a more detailed look at torching pepperoni edges and bolting pizzas to tables in order to get the perfect cheese pull.

The mission of this particular campaign is to generate a sentiment that Domino’s pizza doesn’t need to be retouched or plastic in order to make your mouth water like the competitor’s pizza. I have to admit, when I first saw this commercial I flashed to the disappointment of once opening a box of Papa John’s. I felt betrayed by the toppings on the delectable print ad that caused me to order it in the first place. Let's just say, sausage is not supposed to look like animal droppings.

This “Real Beauty” campaign has a contest attached to it, which lets consumers submit real pictures of their Domino’s pizza. The winners will be compensated and their photos used in Domino’s advertisements. No more marketing tricks for these guys. They are going all natural. This epitomizes Domino’s 2010 marketing strategy.

Domino's looks like the better brand by shining a light on the fraudulent-type advertising competitors use. Now this strategy is supposed to build stronger brand loyalty by allowing consumers more control over the communicative relationship they share with the franchise. Has it worked? Well, the photo contest has thousands of entries. I can appreciate advertising that works. However, I don't think it's spectacular. I assume consumers feel they possess a better understanding of marketing tricks and have developed a stronger trust that Domino's won't be pulling a fast one on them. But as far as I'm concerned, Domino's has done just that. It seems smart. The anti-advertising sentiment is a scheme in itself. It's all marketing, but people are still falling for it.

When the hype is over, there will just be another reason to change the pizza and resurrect the brand. The real proof is in the pizza. The taste has changed, but not dramatically. They brushed a little garlic and herb butter on the less baked crust to battle the popular "cardboard crust" complaint and gave the sauce a little kick with red pepper and of course, more garlic. The next time they change their recipe, it will be because the crust is too doughy, the sauce too spicy, and it's the number one cause of bad breath. As the taste of this campaign gets stale, so will the consumer sentiment.

You may continue salivating if you click here to find out more information about Domino’s latest campaign, or you could just order a pizza for the office.

--Ashly Oehrl, Ad Hungry Former Intern

Recently from the Intern Sweatshop: 3 Ways Video Games Outplay Other Brands

Also from the Intern Alumni Program: Sex Sells in Thailand. Kinda.

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I'm sorry.

by M.M. McDermott

Not me, personally. I mean, sure, we haven't posted in a week, but it's been busy as hell around here. And that's a good thing.

Regardless, I'm excited to finally get around to sharing a great PR article. A dude named Peter Bregman nails the psychology of the apology and its ramifications for business. In short: Customers are more willing to forgive if you're willing to ask for it.

There are few verities in this world. One of the surest is that people make mistakes. And companies are full of people. So if my social calculus serves me, companies are full of mistakes. Usually they're pretty small. Usually.

Like an instance of crappy customer service. A missed appointment. Or a botched pizza order:



Amateur, but honest. Unpolished, but undeniably sincere. Now that's the way one business not only fixes a screw-up, but turns it into an opportunity to humanize the company.

Really, that's what it's all about. Accepting that we make mistakes and owning up to them. And I've got four simple suggestions to help. As someone who messes up all the time, I've tried them all, and they work. Unless you've killed someone or pissed away little old ladies' life savings in a Ponzi scheme:

1. You gotta mean it. It's mind boggling how something so commonsensical and morally obvious is botched on a regular basis by major companies. If you mail in your mea culpa, you run the risk of doing more damage than you would doing nothing at all. People are perceptive animals. We can smell the difference between hubris and humbleness.

2. Ditch the rhetoric. Forget the spin and the sizzle. Just come out with it: I was wrong. Say it in plain English (unless you speak a different language). If you need to, use a sock and some bungee cord to gag the lawyers. And for the love of all that's holy, don't turn an apology into a parade of excuses. People generally care more about why you're sorry than why you did it.

3. Make it right. Apologies are nice, but reconciliation is better. Giving away free stuff, cutting a check, or even demonstrating an intense (and expensive) commitment to not making the same mistake again can make a difference. People want to see you suffer a bit because they've suffered. Give them blood.

4. Don't over apologize. It'll start to annoy people. My wife will attest to that. Be sorry, and be done with it. Customers will generally let you know if they expect more.

Now go mess something up and practice.

Also in the Apologies Gone Wild department: A-Roid copyrights "young and stupid."

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