By Jamie Barrie W hen the National Football League kicked off its 2018 NFL season, it also kicked off Pizza Hut as the new official pizza sponsor of the league. Pizza Hut was able to pick up the fumbled sponsorship from Papa John’s in February after its rival had a public falling out with the league following criticisms made by Papa John’s founder and then-CEO, John Schnatter. Schnatter had blamed shrinking viewership of NFL games on protests during the national anthem and said that caused a dive in pizza sales at his restaurants. Pizza Hut was happy to pick up the call and head to the end zone as they have been the underdog in the pizza game behind Papa John’s and Domino’s for some time now and are very confident that their new NFL sponsorship deal will help convert game watchers into Pizza Hut customers with advertising and promotions around the National Football League and during games giving them a great opportunity to entice football fans to order more of its pizza pies. Pizza Hut is also adding another game day ingredient to help capture more sales called Game Plan to its app which offers customers deals on the days their favorite teams are
playing. Game Plan sends customers a reminder three hours before kickoff, to see if they want pizza to be deliv- ered for the start of the game or during halftime. Yes, traditional rating numbers might be down as football fans move toward online and digital streaming, but that is why it is important for the companies like Pizza Hut, to adapt and take advantage of new opportunities to be interactive with hungry fans looking for their pizza fix during the game. With fans shifting to watching more sporting events on mobile devices and social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, Pizza Hut looks to capitalize on this and offer customers using their app and Game Plan to sign up for giveaways including Pizza Hut gift cards and an amazing trip of a lifetime to the Super Bowl in Atlanta in February just for ordering pizzas for the game. The football season has always been a strong time for sales, and Pizza Hut is looking to go after the Pizza Championship Title this year and having this partnership with the NFL will only make the Pizza Hut Team stronger in converting this sponsorship into sales stronger for the Yum Brand.
So, are you ready for some pizza?
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2018
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