When we introduced the idea of Down-to-Earth-ism in our 10 Trends for 2010, we described this trend as an evolution of the New Austerity. We argued that consumers were stressed, strained, and suspicious, and that pie-in-the-sky promises seemed inconsistent with what consumers really wanted: real, reliable solutions from brands.
We weren’t being literal about the whole “pie” thing. Perhaps we should have been.
Domino’s is consciously bringing their pizza pies down-to-earth as part of their controversial efforts to combat the chain’s negative perceptions (which taps the Reputation Economy trend as much as D-t-E-ism). Taking a page from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, Domino’s will only be using real pizzas (made by Domino’s employees) in future advertisements. Well, if that’s the case, why spend the money on a professional photographer? After all, there are plenty of real pizzas already sitting on consumers’ tables (although, considering the target audience, we should probably say “laps”). That explains their new “Show Us Your Pizza” campaign, in which they will feature photos of Domino’s pizzas submitted by their consumers.
We’ve got to hand it to Domino’s. This entire effort (starting with the Pizza Turnaround) has been a risky proposition from the start: acknowledging their product’s inferiority, making their transformation transparent, welcoming consumers’ feedback, and now, peeling back the glitz and glamor that’s prevalent through out the food industry. It will be interesting to see if this succeeds in the long run, and whether their product can live up to the promises of this campaign. But for now, you have to admit that Domino’s is clearly differentiating themselves from their pizza peers.
