Selling Pizza with Potholes

With a little soul-searching and maybe a bit of outside help, most brands can get some sense of how they stack up against the competition in major industry categories. But that doesn’t mean those big categories are the only ways to set yourself apart.

Take pizza, for example. Pizza places can compete on things like taste, price and variety. Domino’s has worked to remain competitive in those categories, but has also recently established a new competitive niche with a buzzworthy marketing strategy to get the word out.

The Ingenious Strategy

The pizza chain is determined to ensure orders are delivered with no complications from outside elements. Domino’s is taking on public infrastructure by partnering with American cities and towns to fix their potholes – and spray painting the Domino’s logo on the repairs. The “Paving For Pizza” initiative hopes to ease the ride for carryout and delivery orders. Domino’s is also providing free “Carryout Insurance.” If damage occurs to carryout orders, customers can return the order for a free new order.

Dominos is not the first fast food chain to try this pothole marketing tactic, but it has attracted positive publicity for its efforts. Despite only paving about 50 potholes, the brand is getting a lot of coverage and is even starting a conversation on challenges in modern American infrastructure.

Other companies have found success by taking a big picture look at the entire customer experience and coming up with creative ways to improve specific elements within it. It’s why Sephora has in-store Beauty Workshops for customers to learn beauty techniques and many McDonald’s locations have PlayPlaces to give parents a break.