Pizza Hut continues momentum in Australia with new marketing campaign via The Monkeys
Pizza Hut is breaking new ground in marketing its brand in Australia, committing to a range of creative digital campaigns, developed by The Monkeys, that mark a departure from advertising strategies used previously. This coincides with Pizza Hut’s launch today of the Personal Pan Pizza, a quality pizza-for-one offering geared to the lucrative lunchtime market.
Says Phil Reed, new CEO, Pizza Hut: “It’s an exciting time for Pizza Hut in Australia – we’re just scratching the surface of the many creative ways we can position such a trusted brand in the digital media landscape.”
The Personal Pan Pizza launch is being supported with contextual messaging across digital media in transit and other environments, social media platforms and publisher-created content. In one digital campaign launched this week – a first for Pizza Hut globally – the brand has partnered with file-transfer platform WeTransfer to place Pizza Hut messaging across the platform.
In a new twist to the convention of sharing pizza with others, and to capture people’s attention, Pizza Hut has developed a media strategy focussed on the insight that people often share both media experiences and pizza, they might enjoy both more if they don’t have to share. The campaign uses messaging within transit environments reading – “You might have to share this seat, but you don’t have to share this pizza”.
Says Reed: “The Personal Pan Pizza
hints at the way forward for our brand – the coming together of great product innovation with digital marketing smarts. Sharing will always be the preferred option for pizza but with Personal Pan we have flipped convention. The media plan brings a new spin to pizza consumption and we’re looking forward to seeing its impact in the market.”
Within months of appointing new CEO Phil Reed, recent Pizza Hut Australia financial indicators are reflecting a significant uplift in comparative growth in same store sales and transactions.
In a food and restaurant industry career spanning more than 20 years, Reed has worked as a turnaround specialist across Europe and Asia with quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands including McDonald’s, Burger King, Dairy Queen, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
Moving to Australia after transforming Pizza Hut in the Philippines to the best-performing network in the Asia Pacific, Reed joins CFO George van Wyk, CMO Chet Patel, general counsel and chief corporate affairs officer Joanne Moss, and chief franchise partnership officer Glenn Jarrett in a rejuvenated Pizza Hut Australia executive team.
Pizza Hut Australia’s momentum stems partly from a dedicated effort across the business to improve customer experience, a sharpened focus on innovation in product development and a fresh, novel marketing strategy.
Says Reed: “Initiatives such as making dough freshly throughout the day and better targeting of bundles and coupon offers have seen significant increases in new customers, word-of-mouth advocacy from existing customers and returning customers, according to Pizza Hut’s own data. Our aim is to stay relevant
Says Moss on the franchise network: “In a year that marks Pizza Hut’s 60th year of operations, a priority for the new executive team has been strengthening relations with franchisees, to both ensure alignment around Pizza Hut’s commercial, brand and product strategy and drive a more entrepreneurial mindset across the franchise network.”
Key initiatives for enhanced franchisee engagement include setting up an improved franchisee advisory council to serve as a forum for collaboration and discussion, introducing new recognition and reward structures for franchisee performance, and boosting training in workplace safety, operational management and employment standards.
Pizza Hut’s 60th anniversary celebrations this year have marked a change in the engagement culture between franchisees and staff from the Restaurant Support Centre (head office). The executive, leadership team and the majority of office staff were assigned to stores within the network to support franchisees in their activation of the “18,000 free pizzas” campaign to celebrate the milestone anniversary.
Says Moss: “The commitment shown towards franchisees has contributed directly to the improved performance seen across the Pizza Hut business in recent months. The link between engaged, supported and empowered franchisees and a positive brand and customer experience is very clear to us and we will continue to strengthen our relationship with the network.
“As we drive the business forward, improving dialogue with franchisees and elevating training and development across the franchisee network are key priorities. We’re now starting to see the results of that in financial performance and vastly improved customer satisfaction metrics.”
Acquired by private equity group Allegro Funds in 2016, Pizza Hut Australia operates 292 stores in Australia.
Creative: The Monkeys
Media: Initiative
20 Comments
It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but it probably didn’t need a mention in campaign mag.
Why would you PR this?
I reckon this one deserves our best heckling. I call upon the Campaign Brief community to troll the shit out of this pan fried turd of press release.
There’s got to be more to this, surely in a week or two they’ll release the real piece of ‘extra cheesy’ work.
Congratulations on making shitloads of cash guys. I wouldn’t give a f@ck about the product if I was rolling in cash either. Respect. Pizza Hut marketing guy. You should be fired.
@honest question
In my opinion, the monkeys are of the best agencies in oz, capable of tremendous work – this isn’t it. And so, in my opinion it does the agency more harm than good.
OMG……………………
Is this what a monkey jumping a shark looks like?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guCeEZiLYfY
Agency writes 16 paragraph press release to showcase one generic retail radio ad.
I reckon The Monkeys are trolling us. Part 2 is coming soon.
On reading this there is not a word from The Monkeys. Not the agency PRing it, it’s the client. The agency are probably cringing too.
ps. “The Personal Pan Pizza hints at the way forward for our brand”. Pretty sure you could get these in the 80s.
Its obvious the client has PR’d this and not the agency.
The comments above are restoring my faith in quality control. The Monkeys are so horribly over rated and their obvious cost cutting to turn a profit makes me wonder how they get their clients to actually approve this rubbish. The Monkeys are trolling the whole industry.
Sorry to get super literal, but even the strategy is shit.
You don’t have to share your medium or large pizza either – you just buy the one that suits your hunger, or you buy one specifically to share. It’s based on a non-insight.
These are just small, insubstantial, unsatisfying pizzas. And the real truth is, you won’t have to share anything from Pizza Hut because it’s toxic and inedible.
In the Monkey’s defence thought, all of us have to do this sort of shit from time to time to keep the lights on. And sometimes the client PRs the work, to our horror. Hands up if that hasn’t happened to you?
Can You Turn All McDonald’s in the Netherlands into Pizza Huts?
Soon!!! I am starving;)
I think the personal pan is going to go well. People don’t want to waste half a pizza at lunch
Anyone going to spare a thought for poor Ricki having to post this…
Forward thinking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ElWEr288ak
The unfunniest funny-man ad ever.
http://www.campaignbrief.com/2018/03/iga-launches-new-thats-the-spi.html