Stir-Fry: Online Marketing Blog | MEA and MEA Digital

Domino’s to the World: Our Pizza Sucks

It was less than a year ago when the web was buzzing over a YouTube video that starred two Domino’s Pizza employees displaying some, er, inappropriate behavior as they prepared a customer’s order. The result? Over 940,000 views and a tidal wave of bad PR. The repulsive nature of the video served as a catalyst for unbridled criticism on social networks, which held the company, its employees, and its pizza in contempt.

It didn’t take long for CEO, Patrick Doyle, to respond. He issued a public apology via the same channels that had delivered a significant blow to the Domino’s brand and its core product. He promised a full investigation, thanked loyal customers, and guaranteed changes abound.

Fast forward to January 2010. Domino’s launches a fully-integrated ad campaign called the Pizza Turnaround — the true story of how the nation’s second-largest pizza company and the largest deliverer of pizza is facing its harshest critics and attempting to remake its pizza from the crust up. The campaign addresses the problem directly, with current employees sharing footage of product-bashing focus groups and unkind quotes from social networks such as, “[It] tastes like cardboard.” In addition, the brand is promoting its move toward selling pizza via social networking sites and popular mobile devices in hopes of meeting customer demand while appealing to a younger audience.

If nothing else, in the wake of the public relations nightmare that started in early 2009, Domino’s honesty is refreshing. If more advertisers took this kind of approach, especially during the so-called social media revolution the industry is facing, they’d be better off. But can this truth-in-advertising approach work for such a tarnished brand? Can Domino’s reshape perception and build loyalty with the simple proclamation, “Our pizza sucks and we’re going to do something about it”? It’s probably too early to tell, although initial reactions have been positive. In the end, it will be the quality of the product (read: does it taste more like freshly baked dough and cheese than cardboard) that decides if the Pizza Turnaround is indeed a revolution.

Check out www.pizzaturnaround.com and share your thoughts.

by Colin Ayres

Tags: integrated campaigns, social media, tv, viral video
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Are Reebok shoes made out of bologna?

Historically, athletes have been willing to shell out hundreds of dollars on a single pair of sport shoes that promise to improve their performance and prevent injuries. But recent articles are questioning the validity of those claims, and raising some eyebrows among buyers. According to one article, “…there are no studies out there suggesting that these shoes in fact work.” Liz Brett, a sports and recreation manager and former Australian Olympic volleyball player that was interviewed for the same article, said she recommends spending money on the shoes to reduce the risk of injury. However, she also admitted to hoping she isn’t a “victim to a marketing con job.” Read the article here.

It’s no wonder why a significant percentage of consumers believe that the sole purpose of advertising is to convince people to buy stuff they don’t need. But despite the challenges, Reebok is attempting to reshape consumer perception with a new product called EasyTone, featuring balance ball-inspired technology. The campaign claims that the shoes work your calves and hamstrings 11% more and tone your buttocks 28% better than ordinary shoes. Simply by walking.

Clearly, the success of Reebok’s efforts will depend heavily on the real-life effectiveness of the product. But are the statistics combined with the sex appeal of the ads enough to even begin to alter the perception of an increasingly skeptical audience? Or, will customers be singing, “My bologna has a first name, it’s R-E-E-B-O-K?”

by MEA

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Say Anything to Get the Word Out

It’s one of the most classic scenes in cinematic history – oddball Lloyd Dobler, sporting a beige trench coat and a rundown pair of tennis shoes, hoists a boom box over his head and blasts Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” in hopes of winning the heart of Diane Court. If you haven’t seen Say Anything, it’s worth adding to your Netflix queue.

It’s this unforgettable clip that inspired a recent publicity stunt in New York City to promote the movie’s 20th Anniversary Edition. On November 3rd, a mob of Lloyd Dobler impersonators stormed the Big Apple. Borrowing from the character’s wardrobe, they paraded through Penn Station, NYU, and Union Square in an effort to generate buzz for the upcoming release. The special promotion culminated with a free concert, headlined by The Lloyd Dobler Effect.

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by MEA

Tags: event marketing, stunts
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Healthcare reform ads making you sick yet?

Brand advertisers are often accused of stretching the truth. Except that the claims they make have to be substantiated, they are subject to FTC rules and truth-in-advertising laws. There does, however, exist a dark corner of the communications world where advertisers claim just about anything they want, without fear of being shut down by regulations or disclosure rules. That would be the realm of political and legislative issue ads.

The First Amendment protects these ads as non-commercial speech, so they’re not subject to the same restrictions. As such, they all too often make outrageous claims in order to sway viewers and listeners to their side, employing straw men, hyperbole, half-truths, and outright lies, with little or no regard for the facts.

A case in point is an ad sponsored by a conservative group called the Independent Women’s Forum which claims healthcare reform legislation could result in 300,000 deaths from breast cancer, while another, put out by Americans United For Change flips the script on the death panel controversy by claiming that we already have death panels, masquerading as health insurance companies. And that’s just the tip of a very large iceberg when it comes to this type of advertising.

Imagine a world where advertising was completely unregulated, where advertisers were able to make as outrageous a claim as they wanted, truth be damned. Apparently, that world is already here – NPR reports there’s currently over $100 million being spent on various political and legislative issue ads.

Conservatives for Patients’ Rights: Squeeze

MoveOn.org: Shark Week

Patients United Now: Survivor

MoveOn.org: Caught Red Handed

Family Research Council: Life and Death

Americans United for Change: GOP Rx for Health Insurance Reform

by Nicole Hickman

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