Ep 34: George Felix is CMO of Pizza Hut, Which Just Launched A ‘Newstalgia” Campaign to Celebrate the Brand’s Unique History as well as Its Future Direction
If you're part of Generation X, thinking of Pizza Hut will likely invoke vivid memories from your childhood of sharing a signature pan pizza at your local branch under its iconic red roof. It is memories like this that Pizza Hut has tapped into to build its recent ‘Newstalgia’ campaign. Today’s guest is George Felix, CMO for Pizza Hut, and he joins us to talk about the process of revitalizing Pizza Hut by taking it way back to its roots, even as the business shifts completely to a delivery and takeout model. George discusses how he and some of Pizza Hut’s most longstanding franchisees came upon the idea of tapping into nostalgia as the North Star of the new campaign. He also gets into the campaign itself, talking about the art direction for the commercial and the effectiveness of synchronizing the launch with the Super Bowl. We then explore other innovations such as contactless delivery and collaborations with Gravity Blanket as well as Beyond Meat, and the role these have played in producing the best quarter Pizza Hut has seen in a decade despite the global pandemic. In this episode, we also get into questions of marketing to drive brand-building versus sales, Pizza Hut’s customer loyalty strategy, and a whole lot more, so be sure to tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
A fun fact about George relating to his previous career in IT.
The story behind George joining Pizza Hut and working on a campaign to revitalize the brand.
How the concept of nostalgia for the original Pizza Hut fits into the new campaign.
Early nostalgic memories of eating at Pizza Hut shared by George and host Rob.
The question of appealing to younger people with a campaign that targets Gen X-ers.
How the new campaign aligned itself with the Super Bowl for the most effective launch.
A description of the advert with Craig Robinson playing PacMan that Pizza Hut created.
Different innovations Pizza Hut made to see strong growth during the pandemic.
How the business is divided between restaurants and delivery services.
The centrality of innovation in George’s approach to marketing and how this has played out.
Innovations Pizza Hut made from a tech standpoint such as contactless delivery.
How large brands are acquiring marketing technology and bringing it in-house: The case of Yum! and Kvantum.
The relationship between marketing for sales versus brand-building purposes.
How a collaboration between Pizza Hut and Gravity Blanket helped reposition Pizza Hut.
The different channels Pizza Hut uses to drive customer loyalty.
How Pizza Hut is balancing approaches to nationwide versus localized marketing.
Career and marketing advice George would give to an earlier version of himself.
A lighting round with George: His thoughts on TikTok, branded content, and more.
Tweetables:
“As we embarked on what's the North Star going to be for the brand, it kept coming back to when Pizza Hut was at its best, it was all about the pizza. It was all about iconic pizzas that you couldn't get anywhere else.” — @gfelix [0:06:40]
“If we look at this last year, one of the things obviously driven by the pandemic that we had to kind of innovate on and move very fast on was how do we expand our offerings from a tech standpoint.” — @gfelix [0:21:58]
“You always have to be driving sales overnight and brand over time. The key is it can't be one or the other. You have got to be doing both.” — @gfelix [0:28:48]
“For us, the idea was in 2020 we could all use a little more comfort in our lives, and so what's more comforting than a Pizza Hut pan pizza. It's indulgent pizza. It’s heavy. It just makes you feel great and nostalgic.” — @gfelix [0:30:25]