Since this is Brand Autopsy, I’m gonna put on my marketing coroner gloves and get to work probing what went wrong with this Pizza Inn print ad that ran in the Dallas Morning News on Super Bowl Sunday.
Background Information
Pizza Inn website
Nasdaq (PZZI)
$58.5 million sales (FY'03)
420 locations (concentrated in the southern half of the United States)
Key competitors include: Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Dominoes, among many other pizza chains
Click above to examine the Pizza Inn print ad.
An Open Letter to Pizza Lovers:
Today, on the biggest televised sporting event of the year, you’ll see action, excitement, and the thrills and spills of football at its best. But there’s one thing you won’t see this afternoon – a single commercial from Pizza Inn.
>> I’ll let the contrived “Pizza Lovers” opening slide by because this ad has many more fatal errors than that one. The first fatal error being that “open letter” advertising formats are best used when companies need to make an apology or to publicly admit guilt of some sort. Because of these strong “negative” associations with “open letter” advertising formats, I do not think Pizza Inn choose the right format to tell their positive story. Now, if this was a response ad to a “mad cow pepperoni scare,” then I would say the open letter format works. However, there is no “mad cow pepperoni scare” (at least not to my knowledge).
No, USA Today won’t be including us in the popularity polls tomorrow. No hot debates at the water cooler over which Pizza Inn ad was the funniest. And absolutely no one will be rating our advertising handiwork on Good Morning America or the Today Show.
>> Hmm … I reckon the copywriter didn’t expect a marketing gadfly with far too much free time to critique the ad on a fledging blog site.
Why? Like so many Davids among Goliaths in the ad world, we’ve got a great (really great) story to tell. What we don’t have is the big ad budget to tell it.
>> Why the excuses for not having an advertising budget? Starbucks and Krispy Kreme have both proven that a company doesn’t need traditional advertising to tell their story. The success of both companies proves that if a company creates a remarkable enough product and or experience, then it's story will be told by customers. Word-of-mouth advertising is not only cheaper than running a media schedule, it’s also perceived as being more meaningful since the story is being told by your best friend and not by an advertising agency.
You see, unlike the biggest pizza chains, Pizza Inn is less like a “chain” and a lot more like 420 family-owned restaurants. Each is owned by people who have a genuine passion for pizza and a commitment to their customers; people like Bob Craig in Mesquite and John Honeycutt in Duncanville. Seven days a week at 7 a.m., you’ll find both hard at work, making fresh dough … … … Even our large pizza – we call it The Real Large® -- is a full slice bigger than most of our friendly competitor’s large pizzas, which you’ll probably be seeing on TV this afternoon!
>> Did this copywriter also write for President Clinton? I could have sworn I heard this “everyday worker” story at his 1993 State of the Union speech. In fact, I think Bob Craig was sitting next to Hillary in the upper deck of the congressional hall. When did this stop being an ad and start being clichéd political speech?
>> I get the feeling that Pizza Inn is over-promising and will under-deliver on the "brand experience" that they are promising customers in this ad. Pizza Inn looks like a chain, smells like a chain, and tastes like a chain. Pizza Inn may be run by people who are genuinely passionate about pizza, but that doesn't escape the fact that every Pizza Inn location is the same -- 100% cookie-cutter approach to designing a dining experience.
>> The sly reference to Pizza Hut in the last sentence of this section is not needed or warranted. In my opinion, very unbecoming of the Pizza Inn brand.
All of us at Pizza Inn join in wishing you an exciting, thrills-filled Super Sunday. And if you should get the notion to order a hot, delicious pizza with a made-from-scratch crust and quality toppings, don’t forget about us. One bite and you’ll see – we put our money where our pizza is.
Sincerely,
Ronnie Parker
President and CEO, Pizza Inn
>> Nice closing. I like the soft sell approach, it feels somewhat genuine. But, why did this letter have to come from the President and CEO of Pizza Inn? If Pizza Inn is truly a 420 strong family-owned restaurant, then why not have this letter signed by the likes of Bob Craig and John Huneycutt or any one of the other 418 family owners?
>> You might not be able to read it, but the mice type below the Ronnie Parker signature is a one-day only coupon offer calling for customers to ask for the “Ronnie Special.” This is a case of CEO E.G.O. run amok. Why else would a company name a coupon offer after their CEO?
Okay, so I’ve probed and critiqued this ad into oblivion. But I’m not done yet. I do have ideas on how Pizza Inn could improve this ad.
First, ditch the “open letter” format.
Second, focus the ad on a black/white photo of Bob Craig hard at work making fresh dough with the early morning sun shining in through a window on his Pizza Inn restaurant.
Third, drop in some copy that tells the story. Maybe something like this...
"Pizza is my life. Nothing is more rewarding to me than seeing folks in Mesquite enjoy one my pizza pies. I am not alone with my passion. There are 419 others likes me – family owners of Pizza Inn restaurants – that share in my passion for making and serving great-tasting pizza. As you and your family and friends huddle up for a thrills-filled Super Sunday, I hope you get the urge to order a hot, delicious pizza with a made-from-scratch crust from my Pizza Inn."
Bob Craig
Pizza Lover and Proprietor of Pizza Inn, Mesquite
That is not the perfect ad. In fact, one could argue that the changes I recommend would cause Pizza Inn to further under-deliver on their brand promise. Nevertheless, it feels less contrived and more meaningful than the ad that Pizza Inn ran in the Dallas Morning News on Super Bowl Sunday.
{How and why did I get all worked up over a trivial Pizza Inn print ad? Damn, I need to get a life ... don't I?}
I think it's fairly telling that throughout your revision of the ad you kept refering to Pizza Hut. I guess its safe to say that even though the ad made an impression on you the brand certainly didn't
Posted by: Stephen Macklin | February 04, 2004 at 06:28 AM
Stephen... nice catch. I did "transpose" Pizza Hut for Pizza Inn about four times in the blog. Opps - done on mistake, not on purpose. You get the gold star marketer award for the day for noticing!
This Hut/Inn transposition just underscores that Pizza Inn has done nothing to be remarkable enough to me that I wouldn't confuse it with Pizza Hut.
{I have fixed the Hut/Inn transposition errors in the post.}
Posted by: johnmoore (unitedstates) | February 04, 2004 at 08:55 AM
Full disclosure: I do marketing creative for a living.
You almost have to wonder if the folks at Pizza Inn don't want a little confusion around the edges of their brand with Pizza Hut. They're certainly positioned to be closely listed in the yellow pages.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin | February 04, 2004 at 03:57 PM
I went to two Pizza inn in North Carolinna. One in Denver and the other in Cornelious. The one in Denver was a dirty filty place, bugs all over, food was not a fresh doug as you read but a of old dried bread with toppings that not even animals would eat. Mexican staff were not able to communicat with coustomers. I am a pizza lover and I went to Pizza inn in Cornelious a few miles away. Man what a zoo. Pizza and so called Japanies food to gather. Even worse at launch time they were switching breakfast to pizza to hamberger. If a Pizza inn reaturant can not support itself why drag a good name of a corporation and a good product to mud.
Posted by: David Seville | March 19, 2004 at 08:55 PM
Just reading through the comments on Pizza Inns' marketing strategy, and wow....hehe...i need to make a response to one of the comments which actually bothered me worse than the ad itself.
Response to post by David Seville:
How is ANYONE suppose to take this post seriously? You can't even spell "lunch time"...you called it "launch time"! most of us eat at lunch time....Really, before you decide to post something ANYWHERE, you should at least be able to spell LUNCH, HAMBURGER, RESTAURANT, CAROLINA, DOUGH, and many others.....and if you can't do that, buy a fucking spell checker or continue looking like the moron you are. By the way, you mentioned dragging a good corporation through the mud? Pizza Hut is no better, then again, "Bakas"(better look that one up...god forbid, it's JAPANESE....or "Japanies" as you said....*IF* that's even what you meant to attempt to spell)like YOU love frozen convenient food so the HUT probably suits you fine........
*RANTRANTRANT*
done.
Alicia
Posted by: Alicia | September 25, 2004 at 09:23 PM
Pizza Inn is my favorite pizza.I like it musch better than Pizza Hut,Dominos,Papa Johns, or Little Caesars.But the problem is I now live in San Antonio,Texas and there are no Pizza Inns located here.I wish someone would open one or maybe 10 or 12 in the san Antonio area.The thin crust at Pizza Inn is the best crust and I like their sausage pizza the best.
Posted by: Don | January 16, 2007 at 03:36 PM
Pizza Inn in Henderson, NC is by far the best and most consistent pizza buffet I have ever been to. True, there are nights where the buffet is a little slow and some pizzas tend to linger, but most of the time there are plenty of people to support a fresh and hot buffet all night! You can't beat the quality, variety, price, and especially service that these people provide. It is also family owned and operated, and has continually received awards for its quality and consistency. I highly recommend you try Pizza Inn of Henderson.
Posted by: Hunter | July 17, 2009 at 12:49 PM