Your Slice Of The Pie

Yesterday, Domino's Pizza launched a live webcam feed that enables customers to watch their pizza being prepared in real time. More than just a digital gimmick, it's part of the company's ongoing efforts to confront some unsavory impressions of their pies and to improve products and services.

Over the last couple of years, the messages from online posts and focus groups were loud, clear...and pretty harsh. Customers felt the pies were actually inferior to bland microwaved snacks and had "crust that tasted like cardboard".

Instead of burying the negatives, Domino's management confronted the problems head-on and went transparent. They did this by spicing up their pizzas with an added ingredient: online video.

The Pizza Turnaround video on YouTube captured the reactions of Domino's franchise owners, management and marketing teams, and even the chefs who craft the pies. Face-to-face, they reinforced the brand's values to viewers. And online visitors ate it up--with well over a million views!

The results: in 2011, the company's sales rose by nearly 20%.

So take a tip from Domino's. Open your digital doors and let customers in with relevant content that shows them how to enjoy your products and what your brand really means. If your advertising and marketing menu for the rest of 2013 doesn't already include a healthy portion of video, you need to place your order. Now.

All You Need Is Love? Or Respect?

Working in multimedia presents unique marketing challenges. We often have to "corral" different media assets about the same product or issue and transform them into one clear message. Oftentimes that isn't easy because some of our client's favorite efforts from the past may actually contradict or clash with each other when brought together in a new advertising presentation.

We try to convince clients that if this editing isn't done with care, the overall message gets muddled and murky. It's kind of what happened at The RNC on Tuesday night.


Ann Romney gave a thoughtful speech. Every word in it resonated beautifully. She stepped up to the podium and began this way:

"I want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us, that one great thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good and the deepest solace in our dark hours.

Tonight, I want to talk to you about love.  I want to talk to you about the deep and abiding love I have for a man I met at a dance many years ago.  And the profound love I have and I know we share for this country.  I want to talk to you about that love so deep, only a mother can fathom it.  The love that we have for our children and our children's children."

Her thoughts were followed almost immediately by barnstorming NJ governor Chris Christie. His speech discussed love and valuable advice that his late mother gave him:

"And the greatest lesson that mom ever taught me though was this one.  She told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose between being loved and being respected. Now she said to always pick being respected. "

Instead of two efforts echoing one clear message we get a conceptual tug of war. Did anyone bother to read these speeches together to vet their synergy and overall content?

Learn from The RNC. Understand that all of your advertising messages leave strong individual impressions...but together, they might be saying something entirely different. And be assured that even though Mrs. Romney chooses love and Mr. Christie ditches it for respect...we advise our clients to always opt for clarity!