Domino’s is known for its convenience: fast delivery, easy ordering, and a tech-driven experience. With its recent ‘Drop Everything* It’s Domino’s’ platform, the brand has added a big slice of personality.
ANZ CMO Dewald DuPlooy explains what sparked the pizza chain’s refresh.
What was the catalyst for the brand refresh?
“Domino’s has built an incredibly strong position around value, convenience and speed, and those fundamentals aren’t changing. But the category has become increasingly crowded, and consumers have more choice than ever.
“We saw an opportunity to build on those strengths while giving people more emotional reasons to choose Domino’s. That meant putting food desire, personality, and distinctiveness back at the centre of the brand.
“The catalyst wasn’t about walking away from what made Domino’s successful. It was about evolving it for the next phase of growth and ensuring we remain as relevant to the next generation of customers as we have been to the last. The new platform was developed following consumer research and a broader brand strategy reset, rather than simply as a new advertising campaign.”
What influenced your approach to resetting the brand story?
“One of the biggest was changing consumer expectations. Convenience has almost become the price of entry in QSR. People expect ordering to be easy, food to arrive quickly and the experience to be reliable.
“At the same time, value remains incredibly important, but value alone isn’t enough. People also want food they genuinely crave, innovation that gives them a reason to come back and brands that have some personality.
“We also heard something simple through the research: Domino’s has a unique ability to please a lot of different people in one order. When you’re feeding a family, a group of mates or an office, everyone can find something they want. That insight became an important part of resetting the brand story around Domino’s as the ultimate people pleaser.”
What changes will consumers notice?
“Consumers will see a bolder and more confident personality, a more irreverent tone of voice, a refreshed graphic identity, and a much stronger focus on making our food look genuinely irresistible.
“But it goes beyond advertising. The change will increasingly be felt across product, partnerships, customer experience, social, PR and how Domino’s participates in culture.
“‘Drop Everything* It’s Domino’s’ is the platform that ties everything together.
“The launch campaign establishes the broader brand idea across TV, OOH, digital and social, but the intention is for it to live far beyond traditional advertising. You’ll see it come to life through PR, activations, cultural moments, partnerships, and product launches throughout the year.
“The return of the 16-inch New Yorker is a great early example. We strategically brought it back around the start of the NFL season and gave the campaign its own New York attitude, while still sitting unmistakably within the Drop Everything world.
“That’s how we want the platform to work longer term: one distinctive Domino’s idea that can continually flex depending on the product, audience, occasion, or cultural moment.”
What about menu development?
“Craveability is going to be a much bigger filter for how we think about innovation.
“The New Yorker is a good example: it’s big, bold, hand-stretched, and visually distinctive. It’s a product that gives people a reason to reconsider Domino’s and creates something we can build genuine excitement around.
“We’re looking for innovation that is highly craveable, visually distinctive and culturally relevant, whether that’s new products, limited-time offers or strategic partnerships.
“We’ll continue looking at product innovation alongside partnerships with brands like Coca-Cola and Nutella, as well as more unexpected collaborations such as Pistachio Papi.
“The goal isn’t innovation for innovation’s sake. It’s about creating products people genuinely want to eat and talk about, while maintaining the accessibility and value people expect from Domino’s.”
How will this impact franchisees?
“For franchisees, the objective is simple: stronger brand preference drives consideration, trial and repeat purchase, creating a healthier long-term growth platform for stores.
“Great marketing can create the craving, but the experience ultimately has to deliver on it. That means hot, fresh, great-tasting pizza, made well, and delivered quickly and reliably.
“So while consumers will see a fresher, more expressive Domino’s externally, there’s a very simple operational idea underneath it: make great pizza, deliver a great experience and give people a reason to come back.
“That alignment is important. When the brand promise and the store experience reinforce each other, that’s when we create sustainable growth for both the brand and our franchisees.”
