Pizza Hut Delivery Campaign

Having worked at Pizza Hut as a teenager, I hold the company in high regard. I had a wonderful time working there and made a (relative to being a teenager) fortune in tips- often doubling my hourly rate. Sure, I sold my self-respect like a cheap side of horse meat, manipulated customers' heartstrings like a cheeky fiddler, and became childrens' hero to secure a fiscal bonus at the end of each meal- but it was a great work/reward environment and I sorely miss the bunch who worked there.

Thus, whenever Pizza Hut brings out a new advert the old memories come flooding back like free-refill Pepsi to an over-excited fat kid's party. Generally, without being unfairly harsh, the adverts are dreadful- they're never truly wrong, in most ways- they're just so cripplingly bland, unimaginative, and safe that they make absolutely no impact on the consumer. I can't think of an enjoyable Pizza Hut advert since the days of "Pizza Hut-Hut-Hut!" to the tune of 'Hot Hot Hot!' by Buster Poindexter (which must have been a marketing epiphany when someone first registered the similarity between lyrics and company name).[Also perhaps this gem too: Gareth Southgate at Pizza Hut circa 1996]  However, the new advert is not for the "family-safe" Pizza Hut in-restaurant diners, it's for their delivery service- certainly a very different audience. [see diagram below]

Pizza Hut Restaurant's Key Demographic

Pizza Hut Delivery's Key Demographic

Pizza Hut Delivery is a franchise owned by Yum! which is embarking on an aggressive expansion campaign, and these new adverts are supported by Yum!'s investment themselves. Indeed, they've already invested around £20m to open 100 new delivery-only shops by 2014. With this in mind they're likely to make an impact on the consumer to have Pizza Hut as the first option they think of when thinking 'pizza'. Right now Dominoes is the front runner on pizza delivery and Pizza Hut Delivery will have to work hard to capture that mind share. The advert works on a slogan "Hut it!" and good old repetition [see We Buy Any Car- at your peril] - see the advert here: Pizza Hut "Hut It" Advert. Arguably they're looking to capitalise on contemporary music taste- I'd say that the feel and tempo isn't dissimilar to artists like Daft Punk and LMFAO (even down to the person with the box on their head- ooo snap!). You can pretty much sing "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" to the advert- which I guess is ironic considering that it's advertising pizza... ["Heavier, Fatter, Fattest, Stroke"?]

Ultimately McCann Erickson Manchester have put together a sound advert; it's fun, it's catchy, and it's memorable. The message is clear to the audience- 50% off- and it will certainly appeal to the likely demographic of late-teens/young adults. Their slogan 'Hut it' isn't too contrived and certainly beats Pizza Hut restaurants shamelessly generic "Gather 'round the good stuff", "Now You're Eating!", "Your Favorites. Your Pizza Hut",  "Make it great". This could well be the start of a Pizza Hut Delivery market takeover.

Buster Poindexter; lookin' suave, suave, suave!