Domino’s Pizza: ‘We have a much clearer brand identity than many of our fast food rivals’
Having just launched a new campaign that utilises Snapchat lenses and gif creation website Giphy, Domino’s head of digital Nick Dutch says it has seen success by staying true to its brand while many of its rivals have lost sense of their identity.
The new TV and digital marketing campaign, created by Iris, uses face-swapping technology and gifs to show the joy of a Domino’s pizza arriving. The activity includes more than 40 gifs, many taken from the TV ad, which are available for the public to share and utilise GIPHY’s gif building tools.
The campaign is supported by Snapchat activation. Domino’s is using Snapchat lenses to let users imitate the TV ad by “boggling” their mouth to show their reactions to a pizza. It also utilises Spotify’s ‘Sponsored Sessions’ format offering half an hour of ad-free listening in exchange for users who fully watch advertising content.
Dutch told Marketing Week: “Snapchat is great for us as it has a very precise and niche audience of 18-24 year olds, which is one of our core audiences. People can genuinely interact on Snapchat in ways you cannot execute on a Facebook or Instagram – it’s a truly disparate platform. We will measure success on Snapchat by shares and views, but the beauty of using it is we’re still in that exploratory phase.”
Success at Domino’s
Earlier this month, Domino’s Pizza posted pre-tax profits of £73.2m for 2015, up from £62.1m in 2014. Its online orders grew 29% for the year, while orders on its app shot up more than 41% with 11.5 million people downloading the app in total.
Dutch said Domino’s success is down to it having a “much clearer identity” than its rivals. He added that while it has a strategy on health, it won’t stray too far away from its core focus.
He explained: “We have got a much clearer identity and consistent sense of brand and self than most of our rivals. Our success is born out of a huge focus on digital innovation and ecommerce.
“We have a point of view on health and it will be a new frontier for everyone but we have done well the last four years by focusing on the things our customers truly care about. Getting food out quick and hot, brand advertising that is engaging and making it easier for people to order.”
Last year, Domino’s opened its doors for a behind-the-scenes documentary – A Slice of Life on Channel 4 – that focused on many of its franchisees. Dutch said it reinforced the fondness the British public share for the brand.
“Of course it was a risk as we were giving up editorial control so there’s an element of ‘oh my god’. But on the flipside, it made us realise we are a brand the public are genuinely fond of. There was a real gain to telling our franchise business story on the television medium.”
Approach to new channels
With the rise of VR, many brands are committing to advertising on the platform. However Dutch says Domino’s has a much more patient approach to digital advertising and new channels.
He concluded: “We want to make sure we utilise both traditional mass market platforms but also put significant investment in digital. For the latter, we take a pragmatic approach and wait for new digital platforms to become established.
“Snapchat has been around for five years and we’re only just using it now and we need to prove there’s a relevant reason for us to exist on it. We get an idea first and go on the channel second – not the other way around.”
