Pizza Hut tries to recapture ‘vibrant’ vibe with digital push

The restaurant chain is working on a series of digital initiatives that it says will put “localised content” at the heart of its brand building activity on social networks, in-store and online.

Facebook, Twitter and Google+ location-based promotions will launch in the coming months that serve fans restaurant-specific content including targeted discounts and promotions. Activity featuring comedian and TV personality Paddy McGuinness will also run across the brand’s social media channels later this year as part of a wider advertising push to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

The business is also planning to run more mobile adverts in an effort to increase traffic to its Facebook page and revamped site. The site was relaunched last month to provide a content-heavy, more personalised customer experience and it is hoped the mobile adverts  can help convert those visitors into paying customers.

Victoria Clarke, head of digital marketing at Pizza Hut Restaurants, says the digital drive intends to demonstrate the brand’s sense of “fun” and “vibrancy”, which she claims has been absent from activity since 2011. The company is hoping the push lays the groundwork for upcoming brand building initiatives that will look to showcase the restaurant brand in a “new light” after it was offloaded by owner Yum! To Rutland Partners last year.  

Clarke adds: “The Pizza Hut brand is going through a lot of change at the moment and we’re using digital as the primary outlet to communicate those developments to customers. By focusing on content and putting CRM at the heart of what we do, we feel we can stand apart from rivals. Domino’s are fantastic at what they do online, but its not the right approach for us. Their proposition is built around direct response and ecommerce, whereas ours is slight trickier because we’re trying to get visitors to come into our restaurants and not order online.”

The digital drive, developed in partnership with Amaze, is supported by activity from the brand’s “Hut Loves” online community which offers members bespoke promotions at their local restaurant or their favourite pizzas.

Last December, the business announced it was reducing spend on TV advertising to invest more on its digtal actvity in a attempt to increase its share of the restaurant market. It says that because visits to its restaurants are “relatively low” in the UK it must turn its attention to using digital channels to boost sales and target existing customers with promotions.