Ep 09: Brand Actions and Local Marketing with Domino’s Executive Vice President and CMO, Art D’Elia
While many companies have struggled through the pandemic, others are proving that locally-aimed campaigns and having an innovation mindset are key to thriving within the modern marketing landscape. Today we speak with Art D’Elia, CMO and Executive Vice President of Domino’s — a franchise that has seen a huge windfall during the pandemic. We open our discussion by talking about what Art’s role entails and why managing franchise relationships has been key to Domino’s success. He provides insight into how Domino’s system works, their use of advisory boards, and how he stepped into a company that has always focused on innovation. Giving us a peek behind the Domino’s curtain, Art shares their marketing strategy of developing brand actions that make the experience of getting and eating pizza more magical. We then explore two examples of successful campaigns that were aimed at the local level. After discussing why Domino’s brand identity is tied with its technology, logistics, and operations, Art opens up about why he sees services like DoorDash as their direct competitors. We chat about how the pandemic has played to Domino’s strength, what they changed to overcome their COVID challenges, and how they involve local franchises in activating their brand at a grassroots level. We also touch on their use of user-generated content before Art weighs in on the topic of performance versus brand marketing. Near the end of the episode, he shares his hot take on why marketing is now more science than art and why influencers make for poor marketing strategy. Tune in for Art’s insider-perspective into Domino’s marketing department — a company that’s been leading their industry for the last 60 years.
Key Points From This Episode:
Introducing Art D’Elia and his recent promotion to executive vice president.
Why maintaining strong franchisee relationships has been a driver for Domino’s success.
How Domino’s franchise system works locally and internationally.
Governing large franchises through representative bodies.
Focusing on marketing innovation and the power of brand actions.
Pothole and hot spots; hear about two successful Domino’s campaigns.
Leveraging local franchise knowledge when designing new features.
How logistics and operations factor into Domino’s brand identity.
Domino’s versus the aggregators; why DoorDash is their direct competitor.
What Domino’s did to pivot in the pandemic and why they’re doing better than ever.
Involving local franchises in marketing and more on Domino’s marketing model.
Overcoming consumer cynicism with authentic messaging and user-generated content.
Why Art thinks that performance marketing far outweighs brand marketing.
Why marketing is becoming more of a science than an art.
The huge role that data plays in Domino’s marketing decisions.
Differences between working in a multi-retail space and a consumer packaged goods business.
How Art’s previous positions have prepared him for his current role.
Hear Art’s advice to junior marketers as well as his answers to our final lighting-round questions.
Tweetables:
“I make sure that franchisees feel good about the marketing investments we’re making on their behalf. That is as important of a job for me as it is marketing to consumers.” — Art D’Elia [0:03:37]
“In my world, that’s really where innovation focus is. It’s finding that next new brand action that makes our consumer’s pizza experience more magical. ” — Art D’Elia [0:07:32]
“At a high-level, I don’t think there is a balance between brand and performance marketing. I think it is all about performance marketing.” — Art D’Elia [0:22:57]
“A lot of influencer marketing is lazy marketing. Borrowing equities is pretty easy. So I am not a huge fan of influencer marketing.” — Art D’Elia [0:35:32]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Few CMOs Appreciate The Impact Of Google Search On Foot Traffic