Pizza Hut’s Brand Invitation includes Grocerant Mix & Match Bundling

What chain restaurant brand is doing everything right in the minds-eye of the consumer currently? Yes, it is once again Pizza Hut.  Exhilarated at the on-going miscues by Papa John’s, Pizza Hut has stepped up edifying it’s relationship with the NFL and continues to expand fresh food offering for consumers according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

So, when Pizza Hut released a new value menu that included a selection of items that go well beyond pizza, or even the current set of brand offerings Johnson knew they were continuing the good work.

Leveraging one of Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of food marketing PRICE more than the others with the chain’s new $5 Lineup.  The new items priced at $5 apiece when customers order two or more. And while that menu includes a medium one-topping pizza or eight Wingstreet Wings, it also features new Crafted by Cinnabon Mini Rolls and the Ultimate Hershey’s Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Other items on the menu included Stuffed Garlic Knots, Tuscani Pasta, a double order of breadsticks and a four-pack of 20-ounce beverages. “There’s an incredible variety of food in this lineup,” Marianne Radley, chief brand officer for Pizza Hut in the U.S., said in a statement.

While much of the restaurant sector is capitulating year over year customer counts the team at Foodservice Solutions® believes that Pizza Hut will drive incremental customer counts at its more than 7,500 domestic locations. Price is a key component in Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s but so is PORTABILITY and as we all know Pizza Hut Delivers. 

The launch of Pizza Hut’s new value menu follows the chain’s recent updates to its Hut Rewards loyalty program that offers points for every dollar spent on food. The recently introduced Cinnabon Mini Rolls include 10 miniature cinnamon rolls topped with Cinnabon’s cream cheese frosting all can be delivered.  Are your sales trending up? Are your customer counts trending up?  Are you integrating the FIVE P’s?

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

March Madness and Pizza Hut Pie Top IIs

Talk about doing all the right things Pizza Hut is doing just that according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  In fact Pizza Hut has found the fuel to drive new electricity to drive top line sales and bottom line profits according to Johnson.

In the minds-eye of Johnson, there is one dominating element that will power success within retail and foodservice over the coming years and that is partnerships and as the Official Pizza of the NCAA March Madness and the Final Four Pizza Hut will drive branded relevance to new levels in 2018.

Johnson calls partnerships the new electricity that new electricity is partnerships specifically strategic partnerships.   The new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh food, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, clothing, shoes, plates, cups  digital hand held marketing of which Pizza Hut is doing with this partnership.

Retailers the ilk of Pizza Hut to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable in some form.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Pizza Hut did not stop with the March Madness they also partnered with famed sneaker designer, the Shoe Surgeon, on a second iteration of the first-and-only shoe ever created that orders pizza at the push of a button. Talk about the ability to create buzz, garner attention, all while creating customer brand relevance. 

This year not only do the Pie Top IIs order pizza, but this year’s version—comes in two colorways (red and wheat)—also pauses live TV. Yes, a button inside the tongue of the other shoe will pause the game so March Madness fans do not have to miss a minute of the action.

The technology highlights the Pizza Hut special offer for this year’s tournament—two topping medium pizzas for $5.99 each when you order two or more. Thus the fresh food component!

Zipporah Allen, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut  stated “This year, the Pie Tops II were created to showcase our focus on giving customers the best delivery experience while making sure that tournament fans can feed their pizza craving without missing a moment of the action,” .. “It’s called March Madness for a reason. We don’t want anyone to miss a play while answering the door to get their pizza.”

In addition to the new color scheme and ordering/pause capabilities built into the tongue, the shoes have plenty of unique features, including:

·         Extreme marinara splash

·         Cheese grater mesh

·         Branded Pizza Hut lace tags

·         Extra “cheese pull” laces

·         Branded inner soles

·         Mixed material upper—patent, suede, nubuck and gum

Success does leave clue and an integrated branded platform can work for any company.  Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.