Pizza hut Digital Strategy
Background
In 2014, my team, imagiCal, was contracted by Pizza Hut through the National Student Advertising Competition to help the iconic American pizza brand capture a younger audience and increase digital mobile ordering to 75% of its total sales by the end of 2015. The campaign was geographically confined to the United States of America, and "younger audience" was furthered defined as people between the ages of 18 and 34, also referred to as millennials in our executions.
Even though Pizza Hut has been a household name for decades, its sales had been declining for the last decade, especially in the domestic US market. The brand was losing traction with younger customers, and pizza-lovers across the country were beginning to opt for its competitors or artisan pizza options. We were tasked to reverse the trend and put Pizza Hut back to the top of consumers' minds.
Research
To better understand the pizza industry, the Pizza Hut brand, and the campaign's target customers, my team conducted secondary research, a web survey (n = 1500), 55 in-depth general population interviews, 26 pizza store manager interviews, 20 focus groups, 63 order simulations, and 31 taste tests. The research helped us size the market and quantify our objectives:
The research also gave us three key insights that ultimately drove all of our strategies and campaign executions:
68% of millennials place pizza orders with friends, rather than alone
70% of millennials rank taste as the most important factor for pizza brands
Pizza Hut's current brand perception among millennials is old and unhealthy
After analyzing survey and interview results, we were able to more precisely segment the millennial demographic into three distinct personas that we would target separately through different features and executions:
With the research findings in mind, we concluded that people, millennials especially, are drawn to experiences that transform something ordinary, like ordering pizza, to something extraordinary - fun, memorable, frictionless and energizing. To help Pizza Hut achieve its goal, we made a new tagline, app features, UI/UX design recommendations and PR events proposals. The specific executions that I'd like to highlight belong in the app features and PR events categories.
app Features
1. Split Pay
With survey results showing that most millennials order pizzas in groups, we decided that it's crucial to implement a split pay feature on the app. Split pay makes the ordering process more social and frictionless. It allows customers to easily add friends during the checkout process and automatically splits the bill and charges each party separately. The feature saves customers from the stress of having to front a large party bill and the hassle of sorting out cash with their friends.
Check out the mock feature user flow below:
2. Now Button
Once customers discover their favorite combination on they tend to order it on a regular basis. With this in mind, the Now button was created for those times when a customer’s favorite pizza order needs to be put in “right now.” This feature allows one of three preset pizzas to be ordered in seconds - just one swipe to open, a tap to adjust quantity, and a push to confirm their order “Now.” The Now button breaks down ordering barriers, appealing to millennials craving for immediacy.
See a quick video mock up below:
PR Events
1. Light Saber War
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was scheduled to release in December, timing it perfectly with our campaign. We thought the Star Wars movies attracted the audience Pizza Hut wanted to see and aligned well with our new vision for Pizza Hut's brand - young and energetic. With “Light Side” and “Dark Side” pizzas (differentiated through toppings and flavor combinations), available only through digital orders, customers choose their favorites and track which side has more orders with an online tracker. Upon ending this promotional period Pizza Hut and Star Wars will reveal an exclusive clip featuring the winning side.
Check out a video mock of this game below:
