HOW TO MAKE A BETTER TASTING COMPANY

In 2009, Domino's was tied for dead last with Chuck E. Cheese in a consumer taste test.  Their image was old and they were the butt of "tastes like cardboard" jokes.  They reinvented their entire brand by looking at themselves honestly.  Instead of allowing all the negative perception to create further morale issues and dissidence, they saw it as an opportunity to change everything.  And they did it with great acclaim in 2010, their 50th anniversary.  

It began with the product.  They conducted taste tests, thoroughly revamped their recipes, and engaged consumers on every level.  They changed their logo, their packaging, their website, and did something no one saw coming...they launched an advertising campaign highlighting their weaknesses and failures.  Top execs and regular joe workers all made fun of themselves and took a hard look at what they needed to do to reinvent.

Everything changed.  They were no longer Domino's Pizza, they were Domino's.  It was yet another key move to widen their reach beyond just pizza for a radically-revamped menu.  They printed a bold statement on the box for their new pizza:

"Our hand-tossed pizza is new.  It's not a slightly altered version of the old pizza.  It's not the same old product in a fancy new wrapper.  It's a completely new pizza from the crust up...Is 'perfectitude' actually a word?  Well, there's only one way to find out.  Take a bite.  Then if someone asks if we actually abandoned our old recipe and completely revamped our pizza, you can tell 'em...Oh yes we did."

And the current advertising and messaging printed on the pizza boxes is sassy to say the least.  Here's an example:

"Popular legend says that if you eat the last piece of bread, you have to kiss the cook.  Don't worry, we won't make you kiss our cooks."

So did it all work in the end?  Did reinvention lead to success for Domino's?  A couple metrics are worth pointing out.  A couple years ago, the stock price rose 75% vs. just 15% for competitor Papa John's.  And when they launched their new product and campaign in 2010, the company posted a historic 14.3% quarterly gain.

For our company personally, we love the Domino's Pizza Tracker.  Even still they stay irreverent...you get to see what step your pizza's at, while at the same time picking a theme.  Go for Iron Maiden, and they shriek and scream...choose Fabio, and you get the romance novel voice.  Like the food or hate it...Domino's successfully reinvented their entire brand from the product on out.