Domino's Should Apologize

      Everybody knows the rule. When you do something wrong, you say you are sorry. As a society we love to scold but we also love to forgive. And the simple act of just “saying” sorry goes a long way in righting many wrongs.

      But how, when and why you say you are sorry also matters.

      Say it too often and nobody will believe you anymore. Detroit has been begging for forgiveness for decades.

      Say it with advertising instead of PR and it looks phony. JetBlue ran full-page ads saying it was embarrassed and sorry for holding passengers over six hours with no water on runways during an ice storm. Yeah, right.

      Say it when you don’t have to and you create guilt where it may not have existed before. Domino’s current ads do just that. Domino’s goes out of its way to portray its guilt and lack of action for decades. And in the process mocks the stupidity of its customer base.

      At its site, Pizza Turnaround Domino’s proudly asks and answers: “Did we actually face our critics and reinvent our pizza from the crust up? OH YES WE DID.”

      And I say, OH NO YOU DIDN’T! The lack of brand and customer respect is astonishing.

      In a display of contradictions,  Domino’s admits it has been producing a horrible product for the past 40 years, devoid of flavor, taste, aroma and even “real” ingredients. Yet, they also brag about the obvious success of the brand.

      Domino’s is the world’s #2 pizza chain with sales of $1.4 billion and almost 9,000 locations in more than 60 countries (5,000 of which are in the United States.) It must be some kind of miracle that a company could sell $1.4 billion worth of such a disguising product given the stiff competition. Somebody obviously liked the pizza.

      When a brand faces a crisis, there is no doubt that an immediate public apology is best. During a crisis the flood of negative stories need to be countered with the sincere voice of the brand giving an open, honest, direct apology. Tiger Woods should have immediately apologized to his fans, his sponsors, and his wife. His silence cemented his guilt and lack of remorse.

      Currently Domino’s is facing no immediate crisis on taste. There are no cardboard pizza protests or processed cheese boycotts in the headlines.

      Winning the “taste” battle isn’t always even important. Many leading brands don’t win any taste challenges. McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Starbucks to name a few.

      Of course back in the spring of 2009, Domino’s did face a very real crisis when two idiots working in a North Carolina store posted vile and juvenile sandwich shenanigans on YouTube. Domino’s did the right thing by striking back with a message from CEO Patrick Doyle. It would have been better if his message was not pre-recorded, if Patrick had more television presence and if Domino’s had released it sooner. But hey, they tried.

      But in this case, Domino’s took decades of customer criticism presented a federal case against itself creating its own media firestorm.

      It reminds me of the commercials that launched New Coke. In the ads, Coca-Cola announced that the “Real Thing,” the most powerful brand in the world, wasn’t actually very tasty. So Coca-Cola was discontinuing it in favor of New Coke. Nobody said that the people running companies were always very smart. New Coke has gone down in history as one of the worst management decisions ever.

      Well, “New” Domino’s might be a similar case. The worst thing you can do to an iconic brand is enact radical change. New Coke and the disastrous Tropicana repackaging show us that change (even positive change) is most often greeted with anger and resentment by the public and especially by loyal fans.

      Consumers don’t want different. Customers don’t want to be surprised. As Holiday Inn used to say, “the best surprise is no surprise.” That is what strong brands deliver. No surprises. The same thing, the same look, time after time.

      That doesn’t mean that a brand has to remain exactly the same forever. But it does mean that brands need to change very, very slowly and subtly. Coca-Cola has changed its original formula several times, but nobody notices. UPS has updated it logo several times, but nobody notices.

      Sure, Domino’s needed to work on its quality, consistency, flavor and taste. But not all at once. Even worse than doing it all at once is the fact that Domino’s launched a massive television campaign and internet site to promote that the pizza has really sucked all these years.

      Why was Domino’s successful in the first place? From watching the current ads, you would think it was because they got lucky and had stupid customers who had no taste in pizza and who were too lazy to look up another pizza place’s phone number. Wrong.

      Domino’s was successful because it pioneered a new category in the mind. Domino’s focus on “delivery” allowed it to do delivery faster and cheaper than the competition. Domino’s burned its delivery focus into the mind with its simple and specific “30 minutes or its free” slogan.

      The reality is that Domino’s real competition is not Pizza Hut or Papa John’s. The real competition of all the chains are the local pizzerias that still make up the bulk of the pizza market, only 35% of the market belongs to the big national brands. How are local brands different? Local brands emphasis local flavors and tastes.

      You build a brand by being the opposite of the competition. To build an international chain, Domino’s pizza needed to a simple taste that everyone would enjoy. So Domino’s was rather bland on purpose.

        And the truth is that many customers actually prefer a bland experience. It’s why kids like McDonald’s hamburgers, they are bland. And it’s why McDonald’s is the world’s largest restaurant chain.

      What Domino’s is currently doing to one of the world’s greatest brands is criminal. Domino’s definitely owes us all an apology, but not for the taste of its pizza. Domino’s needs to apologize for its foolish brand strategy.

Comments

[Atlanta Marketing Agency]

Hi Laura, I agree. I also believe that Domino’s should focus on the pizza and less on expanding their menu of offerings… After all they are Domino’s Pizza. The last time I ate at Domino’s I tried their Philly Cheese-steak sandwich. I ordered it with an open mind… but came to the conclusion that I should stick with Philly Connection for that type of food. Who by the way doesn’t serve pizza.

[Sean McNamara]

Sorry Laura but I couldn't disagree more with your stance. The campaign was developed by Crispin Porter and Bogusky for those who were wondering. Domino's campaign is a perfect example of building a relationship with their customers. While other chains like McDonald's show no transparency, Dominoes is showing that they actually care about what people think. And instead of lying to us and claiming their products are made with decent ingredients, they are actually DOING what they claim and making their product with better ingredients. What's not to like about a company actively trying to make their product better? Read "Baked In" I think you will have a better understanding of their marketing strategy.

[buy nintendo dsi r4]

We are great fan of dominos. The quality provided by the dominos is just outstanding.

[graham]

i would like to see how the recipe for there pizza has changed over the years. the cardboard position didnt occur overnight. dominos should take their customer back to the beginning. tell the brand story, talk about the original recipe (if they must). they dont have the time, meaning the customers attention span, to convince people of how great the new pizza is. confused minds do not buy.

[Lawyer Marketing]

great

[Marketingchief.wordpress.com]

Laura,

I agree that pointing out negatives in part of your brand line doesn't make sense. If their pizza is so bad and they had to change EVERYTHING, how does that extend to the ingredients they put in their sandwiches?

I also think that Pepsi's "Throwback" campaign is laced with some of the same problems.

Cheers.

[1day1brand]

Sorry Laura,

Yeah, this may be some foodie equivalent of greenwashing but it did a pretty good job of changing my perceptions 180 degrees. Something that (If I recall correctly) is a pretty risky thing to try with a brand.

All the best,

@aXle
www.distility.com

[Stephen Denny]

Laura, let me agree with many here. The hurled conclusions you've presented in the above rant leave me scratching my head.

Dominos wasn't facing a crisis. No controversy over their quality. They simply decided to make a better product - and tell you about it. Like Starbucks shutting down for a day to retrain their staffs across the country, they brought our attention to their attention to quality. As #2 nationwide, they didn't have a problem - they just had a mission to surpass expectations.

Dominos is a giant. They compete against other giants as well as small, artisan shops. They can't beat the artisans at premium quality because that's not the business they're in - they are in the business of supply chain optimization, not pepperoni. This shouldn't be a shock to anyone either.

This is excellent work. Good for Dominos. Good on their CEO for doing what good CEO's do.

Go talk to the man and ask him the rationale behind the campaign, the degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction over quality that led to this initiative. You'll learn a lot.

Regards,
S. Denny
@Note_to_CMO

[Anxiety And Depression]

why? what happen? why domino's need to Apologize

[Christine]

I agree in general, but the line, "Sure, Domino’s needed to work on its quality, consistency, flavor and taste. But not all at once." is the dumbest thing I've ever read.

[Philip Franckel Lawyer Advertising Blog]

Hi Laura,

I thoroughly enjoyed your article and completely agree. The people at Domino's should have read your books!

I am working on trying to start the next pizza franchise with a very strong brand. I have been saying for the last six months that Domino's marketing and brand strategy is atrocious and the worst in the industry. I've said everything you wrote your article, and much more, but people have thought I'm crazy because Domino's is so successful. Now I can show that you agree with me.

I know a few easy marketing changes, without changing the product, that would substantially increase Domino's brand awareness and revenue. However, I'm using my ideas for my own brand.

[Stone Age Brands]

Check out what Washington Post said about Domino's strategy. Another employee, who appears near tears, reads another review: " 'The sauce tastes like ketchup.' " This is a way to win customers?

Domino's is stupid to apologize for cardboard pizza, because they're admitting to failure. We'll do better is the same as "we're number 2, because we try harder"-Avis, is just a desperate marketing attempt to draw sympathy and attention away from competitors.

Nobody likes a loser who whines about being a loser (as far as losing in bad taste). Listerine admitted to tasting terrible, but used it to their advantage, "the taste you love to hate." Consumers like when brands confess a disadvantage, but never act defeated or make yourself look as if you're lower than the competition. Act like the underdog, like Listerine did against Scope which tasted better, because the majority roots for the underdog when they can make fun at their own bad taste.

Selling sub sandwiches was their downfall, not cardboard pizza taste. Brand extension! People who can afford Domino's like in low income neighborhoods, penny pinchers and ordering for cheap parties, or children (beggars can't be choosy) should be their focus.

Customers who enjoyed the cardboard taste don't want to change that flavor. In the consumer mind, better pizza is an expensive pizza, like a cheap brand made into a luxury brand- it must cost more money is the perception. Domino's is cheap pizza category (cheap price-cheap taste).

Papa John's owns the better flavor category. Domino's owns the cheap category.

What Domino's should admit for a marketing stunt, is that "we may not be the best tasting pizza on the planet, but we won't apologize for being the best cheapest pizza on the planet. Staying cheap is why our customers like us."

http://stoneagebrands.blogspot.com

[Scott]

"Domino's should apologize." "Harry Reid should resign." "Somebody other than me should do something because I say so."

Enough already.

[Robert Beadle]

I agree that Domino's went wrong with this campaign. You can see my thoughts in detail on my most recent blog post, "Domino’s Strikes Out with New Cardboard Pizza Ad."

I approached it from the angle of "never restate the negative"

http://www.robertbeadle.com/2010/01/11/domino%E2%80%99s-strikes-out-with-new-cardboard-pizza-ad/

[twitter.com/patmcgraw]

This is a campaign. They found new ingredients at a lower price and someone was bright enough to say "Hey, how about this angle..."

Has anyone tasted the 'new improved product' yet?

"Dartastic #newpizza just tastes like they took their old one and slathered Papa John's garlic butter all over the crust. Kinda icky."

Reviews I have seen on pizzaturnaround have been mixed - and for some reason I don't trust any positive reviews. (Wonder why?)

Saddest part of all this - the majority of Twitter comments on their site are about the 'amazing use of social media'.

Hmmm, mouth watering!

[Heather]

I agree with your point on branding - Domino's shouldn't be insulting its long-time customers, and they're obviously copying Papa John's with their emphasis on better ingredients.

However, have you tried the new Domino's pizza? They put garlic butter on the crust - it's simply amazing!!!

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=704759738]

Hi Laura! Word is bomb! it's a tough one though. It would be interesting to know the rational behind this change. I highly doubt it is because of consumer complaints. a more plausible reason would be so they can take on premium brands like Papa John's who cleverly flanked them in their positioning strategy. that i can believe. and this marketing angle would make sense that it came from non-brand centric folk.

[Jeff]

Laura, I agree.

Domino's situation was also compounded by the fact that they went to sandwiches, wings and pasta bowls and not on pizza innovation.

If they wanted to attack a premium pizza market, a better way to go would be to launch a new brand touting premium ingredients, just like McDonald's did with their nugget-to-chicken selects trade-up.

That way, dedicated customers can have their old standard and new customers can try the premium version without the baggage.

[Michelle Moore]

Amen, for most of this... There is, though, a "conspiracy theory" about the New Coke debacle. With sugar prices soaring after several bad hurricane seasons in the Caribbean, some of us who actually embraced ORIGINAL Coke for its flavor noticed that Coke Classic was NOT the original formula, (which was made with sugar, not corn syrup). There was speculation that Coca-cola didn't want to upset the status quo and just change their formula, so a deliberately bad-tasting New Coke was introduced so people would love going back to Coke Classic, which was quietly sporting corn syrup sweeteners instead of sugar.

What's amusing about this is that Pepsi has launched "Throwback" Pepsi, made with sugar. Dr. Pepper, which was once a PepsiCo brand but is now a Coca-Cola brand, produces a sugar-made version here in Texas called Dublin Dr. Pepper that people pay primo bucks for. It's odd that Coke can't take a lesson from its own subsidiary and make REAL OLD COKE WITH SUGAR for those of us who have never liked the drink since the New Coke catastrophe and might b willing to pay 50 cents a can more to get THE REAL THING... sometimes it is about the taste.