Pizza Hut Reboot: Food Chain To Reinvent Itself For The First Time
A Pizza Hut reboot is about to happen. This isn’t entirely about the online ordering system: It’s more about reinventing the company image.
Following close in the wake of Domino’s new online ordering system, which is said to improve on the already interesting animated website which tells you who is making your pie, when it goes into the oven, and when it gets sent to your home, Pizza Hut is doing even more. While the food chain might not offer up-to-the-minute details on your order, they plan to offer practically everything else.
The reason for this change is that Domino’s Pizza is the only nationwide chain which appears to have turned higher profits, while Papa John’s and Pizza Hut have stayed the same. Domino’s is offering a mobile app, while Papa John’s always boasts fresh ingredients (which cost more). “The Hut” apparently needed an edge to boost sales.
What does the Pizza Hut reboot offer that’s different? The company noticed that customers have been asking for more exotic toppings and even more unusual slicing techniques, possibly like Korea’s star edge crust style, so the change seemed imminent to them. They plan to change everything from their topping options to the very logo.
One major change includes the addition of 10 more crust flavor toppings. While garlic has always been the general standby, apparently you will now have more options than just removing the garlic if you want to. There will be new toppings as well, including salami and spinach, and more sauces available for the pie itself, such as barbecue and balsamic.
Much like Papa John’s, Pizza Hut is set on taking their pie to another level, even adding such pre-made custom types as Old-Fashioned Meatbrawl, Sweet Sriracha Dynamite, Garden Party, and Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger.
#PizzaHut to announce complete menu, brand makeover http://t.co/QmJ4eu858Y pic.twitter.com/Cqnt7xs3Vj
— KGW News (@KGWNews) November 10, 2014
Yes, even vegetarians will get less “meaty” options in the Pizza Hut reboot.
David Gibbs, who will replace Pizza Hut’s global CEO Scott Bergren next year, is very optimistic about the changes, and claims they will bring “more trial of our brand, more frequency of our existing customers and attract new customers to the brand.”
Darren Tristano, head of a group of restaurant marketing specialists, doesn’t see it the same way.
“Pizza Hut may be doing too much too quickly. It would appear that the brand that has lost touch with the consumer is trying to change too much overnight.”
Carrie Walsh, chief marketing officer, claims the opposite, that customers have been asking for these changes, which begin on November 19.
What do you think? Is the Pizza Hut reboot something you’re excited to experiment with, or is it too much, too soon?
[Image via Huge Walls]
