Domino's Pizza says marketers should invest in apps to spread brand recognition and loyalty, not just for purchases
Head of commercial systems at Domino's Pizza, Paul Francis, stated that the company has found entertainment apps to be equally as useful for expanding brand recognition, increasing brand loyalty, and for attracting new pizza lovers, as the apps it uses for sales purposes.
Speaking yesterday from Mobile Marketing Live in London, Francis commented that the company, which is recognised in the marketing world as being a first mover in mobile and digital marketing, takes 54% of its sales through its digital sales platform, which is worth £300 million per year to the company.
Additionally, he said that end users' buying behaviour is changing with a move towards mobile apps; he noted that: '46.9% of our customers are buying pizza via their mobile devices now.'
The move to mobile has been exploited by the company, which decided to launch an entertainment app in June this year, called Domigoals. Domigoals updated users with goal alerts throughout the football season, and customers were able to score discounts with Domino's for pizza purchases if they touched the app after a goal update.
Francis said Domigoals was a success. 'We thought Domigoals was a bit of a gimmick; I was a bit sceptical at first. But when we unleashed it people went nuts for it. Altogether, 28% of those that redeemed vouchers won with Domigoals were first time customers,' said Francis.
Also in June, Domino's experimented with augmented reality apps, spreading brand recognition and pizza prizes out to new and existing customers. Using Blippar, an image recognition phone app that brings real-world newspapers, magazines, products and posters to life with augmented reality experiences and instantaneous content, Domino's created a Mexican-themed augmented reality game with pizza prizes up for grabs.
Users simply had to download Blippar to their smartphone, and then 'blip' the Domino's logo from its Mexicano menu, launched in June. Once blipped, an interactive piñata game jumps to 3D life. The game featured a traditional Mexican piñata that players had to tap with their fingers to release treats in the form of Domino's prizes.
'This shows that whether you are making an app to sell something or engaging people with your brand, both are equal reasons for doing something,' Francis noted. 'Even if your product or service doesn't lend itself well to an app, make something up like a game to keep your brand dominant in the user's mind.'
