'The Hut' gets ready for its TV closeup and says get lost to Pizza
Filed under: Food, Recession Diaries
Move over, G (Gatorade). And that squiggly red-white-and-blue symbol standing in for "Pepsi" on billboards across America? You've got company, with or without pepperoni.Yet another fast food icon is moving to streamline, with Pizza Hut rebranding a significant portion of its chain as "The Hut."
"They're trying to be trendier and appeal to younger consumers, and that's such a tricky thing to do," said John Frank, editorial director for Marketing News, a publication of American Marketing Association. "But we're not sure if they're going to convert every store to The Hut. Our understanding is that this is not a chain-wide thing."
Not yet, anyway, and not all at once. But to drive the new name home, Pizza Hut (what else can we call it for now?) has launched what they bill as a first-of-its kind in-store, digital video network. Installed in 20 stores in Jacksonville, Fla., and four in Dallas, the network will appear in more locations into 2010, according to Mediaweek.
The media planning and buying company Mediaedge:cia (MEC) announced The Hut's new network on June 11, and made clear its intentions to spread the technology out to other retailers. Pizza Hut has dubbed it "Hut TV" (though we at WalletPop like the ring of "The Hutwork").
Here's how it works: Instead of third-party advertisers controlling Hut TV content, Pizza Hut's store and franchise operators do. This means that they determine the mix of programming, relevant information and promo material they want, with the potential to cater straight to the needs of local audiences.This also signals a strategic shift for MEC. "This new system speaks to the changing role of MEC Retail," said David Sommer, Managing Partner of MEC Retail, in a prepared statement. "We are not just planning and buying media for our clients, but leveraging relationships to create effective tools that help clients actively engage their consumers to drive business."
Driving business is one thing, but a video screen can't cook a mean pizza. What's more, it remains to be seen how the Pizza Hut loyal will respond to any move toward a name change. (Remember how much people hated it when Prince changed his moniker to the Squiggly Symbol?)
And in an age of smart phones, information on demand and stimuli bombardment, it's an optimistic leap between new message technology in stores and people actually paying attention to it.
"It's too soon to tell if it will have any impact," says Frank. "TV networks in supermarkets basically promote products, so this is not anything revolutionary. But it will be interesting to see what kind of content goes up there. We're saturated with media now, and there's always the danger that people are going to tune this out. It will all come back to the content, and how different it's going to be. In a world where we're flooded with content, what's in there is all important."
All in all, it's a long way from the very first Pizza Hut ads, which featured the slogan "Putt Putt to Pizza Hut." The chain dates back half a century to 1958, when Dan and Frank Carney founded it in Kansas. The two former Wichita State University students borrowed $600 to open their first store; in 1977, the chain was sold to PepsiCo. for $300,000,000. With more than 12,000 locations worldwide, the chain is now based in Addison, Texas and has been part of Yum! Brands since 1997. As for the Carneys, they're still around, with Frank now a player in the Papa John's pizza chain.
Those who thought up "The Hut" campaign may not know this, but Pizza Hut got its name because the Carney Brothers ran out of room on their very first store sign. After the word "Pizza," only a three-letter word would fit. And "Hut" was it.
Money Clips
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
6-17-2009 @ 8:16PM
diprimareber said...
I personally do not care one way or the other what Pizza Hut, or
any other company for that matter, does with its name. However, since I am not in sales, marketing, or advertising, I do not understand how eliminating the word "pizza" from its name makes it trendy
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6-17-2009 @ 8:14PM
Betsy said...
Great. One more place where I can go and eat over priced food in a dirty room and have a TV blaring more advertising noise at me. Won't find me there, no matter what the name.
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6-17-2009 @ 8:39PM
val said...
who cares! their Pizza sucks anyway!
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6-17-2009 @ 9:29PM
ohiocitygirl said...
The best marketing strategy was their jingle: "524-4444 for Pizza Hut delivery!" You couldn't forget that number! But when I moved to another neighborhood, the quality went so far down we never order from them anymore. We ordered the wings several times and kept getting sick (we assume it was the undercooked wings and not the meat-lovers pizza). So sad. Their quality control on franchise owners really took a dive. But you have to admit, at least in our neck of the woods (the 216 area code) that advertising really worked. After 10 years, I still remember the phone number, their call center had my preferred order, and my address. I'm sure there are plenty of pizza parlors that pay minimum wage and still retain quality. It's got to be the managers and franchise owners who take responsibility.
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6-17-2009 @ 9:42PM
ashley said...
They want to change the name to appeal to younger customers? I'm 17 and have loved Pizza Hut ever since forever and always will. They have the best pizza around in my opinion and a name change isn't going to make them appeal to me more. This is just stupid I think.
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6-17-2009 @ 9:43PM
kira said...
papa johns ftw!
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6-17-2009 @ 9:46PM
Pat said...
Being a Pizza hut user for over 30 yrs. I finally have stopped. Their prices have become so out of line I just go somewhere else.
We travel a lot & once we ck. into motels, I get out the ph. book & ck for a Pizza Hut to order in. Don't do that anymore. Prices are just too high for what you get now. Quality has changed as well.
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6-17-2009 @ 9:50PM
Ashley said...
Where the heck are all these Pizza Huts every one is talking about in the above comments. My Pizza Huts are awesome. The pizza, bread sticks, everything are over the top good, the place is clean, and they are never out of ingredients. Pizza Hut is the best pizza place here for me. Wherever you are...I'm sorry that you apparently have stinky Pizza Hut managers :(
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6-17-2009 @ 9:52PM
jay said...
All companys try to appeal to the younger generation but its the older crowd that has the money to buy these products its like trying to sell honey to a baby in a sense because its a bit sweeter.
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6-17-2009 @ 9:58PM
Pat said...
Everytime I call our local Pizza Hut & ask what the special is I'm told "we're all out of the special". That's happened too often the past two yrs. now. They never offer to substitute something else for the "special" price. Very disgusting & poor management.
I wonder if anybody even reads these comments.
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6-17-2009 @ 10:08PM
ashley said...
I do, but maybe it's because I'm bored. It seems like every one except me has your same problem. Sorry you have people who don't know how to run a restaurant properly. :)
6-17-2009 @ 9:58PM
ohiocity said...
The Franchise 500s Top 20:
No. 7: Pizza Hut
While college students in Wichita, Kansas, Frank and Dan Carney were inspired to open a pizza parlor. So the brothers borrowed $600 from their mother and opened the first Pizza Hut in 1958. Now there are approximately 6,200 locations in the U.S. and more than 4,000 restaurants in 100 countries.
Number of franchises: 10,239
Franchising since: 1959
Startup costs: $638,000 to 2.97 million
2008 rank: #4
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6-17-2009 @ 10:05PM
tom said...
news alert leo, ALL SAUSAGE IS NASTY, never eat that shit or drink diet soda's, just asking for a short life span
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6-17-2009 @ 10:28PM
Dan said...
Not once, but twice Frank and Dan Carney were referred to as the "Careys." Way to go, WalletPop. Guess professional journalism and editing got laid off.
Reply
6-18-2009 @ 12:30PM
Lou Carlozo said...
Thanks for putting us on note; this story was filed VERY fast, like the way you'd want a hot pizza delivered. But please, don't confuse a typo with "professional journalism." Think how miserable your life would be if your boss were similarly intolerant of mistakes that can be very, very easily fixed.
6-17-2009 @ 10:46PM
Laun said...
Jabba the "HUT"'s greasy palace has plummeted over the past 5 years. I look elsewhere for good food.
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6-17-2009 @ 10:56PM
Nancy said...
On a large pizza its seek and find! you can look and see one piece of topping over there and then one piece over there... I cant believe they charge almost 20 dollars for a hunk of dough with maybe a dozen little pieces of meat (this is a meat lovers mind you!) I paid extra for onions, maybe 4 little hunks on there. If they want to improve sales they should work on the product instead of worrying about the name.
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6-17-2009 @ 11:00PM
Kim said...
I don't get it. I really don't get it. Do younger consumers not like Pizza Hut or something? I'm only 20 (that's young, right?) and I like their pizza and I'm fond of the brand. I would be really sad if Pizza Hut pizza were totally gone one day.
Okay, I have to admit the Dominoes bread bowl pasta has been a guilty pleasure of mine, so I've been ordering a lot from them lately. But I still cringe at this new "The Hut" idea. Oh, well. At least it's not a chain-wide thing, right?
I'd probably go to Pizza Hut more if I could find their damn cheesy-crust pizza but all the Pizza Huts near me are express stores and don't sell it.
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6-17-2009 @ 11:07PM
Marcus said...
Just because....I vow never to eat at The Hut. It's Pizza Hut or nothing.
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6-17-2009 @ 11:31PM
Joan Sperry said...
We still prefer pizza hut above all others,but they need to bring their prices down some because they have went outragous for what they are offering.They should also go with coke products since that is all we drink.I wouldn't buy another pepsi for no amount of money because of what they are doing.They should offer a taco pizza too.They do up in Ohio and it is really good.My husband and I both really like it alot.We used to eat there at least once a week but now we can't afford it.
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