Domino's wants to remind customers that it is a better value than the rest of the fast-food world.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based pizza chain has introduced some new television spots highlighting its $6.99 Mix & Match deal.
The ads feature a kids’ birthday party and a sports practice. In both cases, the attendees are served a pair of cheeseburgers that are cut into slices, much to their disappointment. But that is soon turned to enthusiasm when they are served medium pizzas.
The idea is to highlight the value customers get when they order from Domino’s value menu. Domino’s Mix & Match deal enables customers to get any two from a selection of items, including medium two-topping pizzas, for $6.99 apiece.
In the process, Domino’s is highlighting both the evolving competitive dynamics of the restaurant industry and an economic environment in which price and value are vital marketing strategies.
Domino’s, like much of the fast-food business, is fending off an economic environment in which consumers are cutting back on dining, frustrated over higher prices.
Such environments traditionally favor quick-service concepts, but they appear to be losing some value reputation because of post-pandemic price inflation. That reputation has been difficult for the sector to shake and has invited plenty of marketing from brands in other sectors.
Chili’s, for instance, launched its turnaround by marketing directly toward those frustrated fast-food customers. Domino’s is apparently taking a page out of that book.
Pizza chains traditionally have a competitive advantage in a market like this because a single pizza can feed multiple people, which makes them a better overall value. At $6.99 apiece, two medium pizzas could theoretically feed a family of four for $14 total, assuming customers use carryout.
To be sure, McDonald’s customers using that chain’s McValue menu can engineer a relatively low-priced dinner—four customers would cost as little as $20.
At the same time, Domino’s and other pizza chains are losing delivery business to third-party aggregators DoorDash and Uber Eats. That has forced them to rely more on carryout while they advertise their pizzas on the services themselves.
That makes the pizza chains more like the fast-food business. As such, Domino’s is increasingly competing with the likes of McDonald’s and Burger King for customers.
The campaign also reframes Domino’s Mix & Match deal, which features a variety of items like chicken wings and Bread Bowl Pasta. The company has started using the term “Pick 2 Pizzas” with the deal because many customers prefer ordering just two pizzas.
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