Domino’s Brilliant New Ad Campaign
To truly succeed in marketing requires a willingness to take risks and tread where few have tread before. Domino’s newest ad campaign is a prime example of this technique. After facing a whole host of negative feedback, the company has decided to re-design their pizza, “from the crust up,” and they’re telling the world about it.
In fact, Dominos recently launched a $75 million ad campaign to support the changes. The campaign outlines the negative feedback, displaying some truly harsh criticism from customers, including comments like “Domino’s pizza crust, to me, tastes like cardboard.”
But, Dominos says they’re so sure about their new recipe that they’re not afraid to tell the whole truth.
In fact, they’re so certain the pizza will be a success, they’re offering a money back guarantee on their latest offer (2 medium pizzas for $5.99 apiece). If you don’t like it, you get all your money back – period.
This campaign is gutsy, and a smart move for Dominos, a company who’s faced some seriously bad PR in the past (remember that YouTube video of Dominos employees engaged in horribly unsanitary kitchen practices?). In addition, the company will use social media to promote the new campaign, and recently launched an “Oh Yes We Did” section on their website that features a live Twitter feed showing what people think of the new pizza.
Generally I’m not a fan of chain pizza, and Dominos is no exception, but with this ad campaign, I’m convinced enough to give the new pie a shot. After all, I can’t lose with a money back guarantee! 
And I’m sure millions of other Americans share my feelings, which should mean good things for Dominos’ bottom line. Of course, if the pizza sucks, people won’t come back (and they’ll get their $ back), so this is definitely a risk. The campaign success relies, of course, on the pizza actually being better. Additionally, they risk alienating past customers who actually liked their pizza … but, like I said, great marketing requires risk-taking.
This face-your-criticisms-head-on tactic is the wave of the future. Social media means everything is out in the open these days, both good and bad. It’s impossible to hide the negativity, so the best strategy for companies to adopt is to face them, directly. Acknowledging and addressing these issues garners respect … and positive PR, to boot. Cheers to Dominos for taking this to the next level – I hope their new pizza is as good as their strategy.
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Joanna Carides January 7th
I’ve been reading a lot lately about Domino’s negative customer satisfaction. This direct action and openness is the way to go. Bravo to Domino for taking the risk. Great blog post.
Scott Moroney January 8th
I agree. The transparency that new media (I hate that phrase, but it is necessary until we all understand it) brings is a plus for consumers. The point we are at now as marketers is to take the mechanics and hype of it and turn that into effective campaigns and revenue for clients…or ourselves if we are the client. Thanks for the post.
Rebecca January 8th
Although I agree that the strategy is gutsy and obviously already successful since it did hook my family into trying it, we didn’t like the pizza at all. In fact, we liked the old Dominos much better. While we aren’t going to take advantage of the money-back guarantee (we did eat most of the pizza, after all), we won’t be going back. The flip-side of a smart social media strategy is that people are more likely to to keep the conversation going whether is it positive or not…
Hannah Sentenac January 8th
Thanks for the comments, all!
Rebecca, that’s really interesting to know! I have yet to try it. That’s definitely one of the major risks they took with this campaign … if too many people feel the way you do, they’re in hot water. But, without risks, there’s no success. It’ll be really fascinating to see how this strategy affects business for them!
Hannah Sentenac March 3rd
An interesting follow-up to this story! Looks like the strategy has paid off for Dominos after all: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/03/03/2010-03-03_a_recipe_for_success.html
pbkahler April 14th
I was somewhat excited to try the new revamped recipie (i loved dominoes as a kid-twenty years ago !) THIS ”PIZZA” IS NASTY it’s like taking boring pizza and covering it in garlic salt. I love garlic, but in the sauce is the way to do this ———– crappppp i hated it! I seriously will get my $$$ back tomorrow when i return the less than half eaten “pie” dont bother unless your a fan of Chef Boyardie ccccccu uckh hach !!!!
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