Desperation as the Mother of Invention

These are tough times for brands and the people who nurture them. CMOs and their bosses are being pressed for ideas that a year ago would have been unthinkable but are worth considering because they may move the (sales) needle.

Let’s start with Dominos. Shortly after Christmas they launched a new ad campaign that went by the name of “Turnaround.” Apparently they had hired a new ad agency (not surprisingly: Crispin Porter Bogusky & Partners, Boulder, the agency that famously did a “Truth” campaign against the big tobacco companies). Crispin did some testing of consumer attitudes and came back to report that customers felt Domino’s pizza “sucked.” That it’s crust tasted like “cardboard,” and it’s sauce like ketchup.

Nothing new there. But then the ad agency suggested, first of all that the client improve the product—and then that the effort to improve the product better form the basis for a high profile ad campaign: New sauce, new way of making crust, new mix of cheese. New guarantee of quality

Then they started having two of the company’s two top chefs personally deliver the new pizza to people who had dinged it in focus groups. This made for pretty interesting TV – especially because the campaign was touched off with Domino’s president Patrick Doyle, admitting that for years the company had been pushing a tasteless, less than wonderful product onto customers.

It will take awhile to learn whether the ad campaign was strong enough to get people the company had lost to mom and pop pizzerias back into the fold.. But early indications are that sales are higher than ever in U.S. Domino’s history. The campaign even caught the fancy of news celebrity Stephen Colbert, who devoted the opening of a recent show to sampling a couple of pieces of a new, improved Domino’s pizza and then named the company an Alpha Dog for admitting that historically the company’s product sucked.

The second example of down-in-the-trenches innovation comes from Burger King, another Crispin client. Down at the company’s store in Miami’s South Beach, beginning in February, Burger King will offer hamburgers and beer at a “Whopper Bar.” More Whopper Bar outlets are planned to be tested in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, according to BK’s North American president Chuck Fallon.

Served alone in the company’s own aluminum bottles, a brewski is $4.25. But if added to a Whopper combo it’s only $2.

Marketing specialists who follow food chain antics say that BK is attempting a very dangerous move – not because beer is controversial, but because BK is known for its fast food. Now it’s going after 30-year-olds in the “fast-casual dining” category. That means they are trying to get diners to come in, order dinner and a beer, and enjoy it in the store.

Interestingly, in the beginning the restaurant will test both Anheuser-Busch and Miller Coors beers. “You can have America’s favorite beers with America’s favorite burger,” says Fallon, brimming with enthusiasm. Eventually other, niche beers may be tried, he said.

Initial blogosphere reaction was not friendly. Some parents said they would no longer be able to bring their kids to a BK store. Others complained about how the beer would add 145 calories to a meal, even without the fries, that comes in at 990 calories. “What a deal!,” rants blogger Sighard. “For only 7 bucks, you get to almost max out your entire caloric intake for a day!”

Ah my, it takes some guts to take brands, especially big hairy brands like Domino’s and Burger King in new directions. But without experimenting you start to slide. That’s what caused McDonald’s to begin offering premium coffees to go up against Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. That’s why the two big beer companies are snapping up niche brands almost as fast as they roll out.

We may miss the dependable quality (or lack of it) in the old brands. But kids coming along don’t want their “father’s Oldsmobile.” So I say good luck to the innovators. We’ll watch to see if any of their experiments result in real innovation.

Meanwhile a word of encouragement to CMOs everywhere who are clawing their way through this recession, wondering how to drive revenue back to its old trajectory. First tell the truth about your brand. Dollars are too dear to be wasting them on expensive campaigns which don’t catch on with consumers.

Go into the attack with crazy strategies and weapons never before tried. You probably can’t lose whatever wacky new product or customer experience you introduce. And you may connect in new, meaningful ways. Consumers still have money to spend. It’s just that they’re being bloody careful with their dollars.

Finally listen to your ad agencies. They probably know more about your brand than they are telling you—partly because they’re afraid you will fire them for delivering a negative message. That’s nonsense. When brands are in trouble, anyone with experience with the brand and your customer, is a valuable source for new thinking.

Pulling off a real turnaround is one of the most difficult efforts in business today. It’s going to be as hard for GM to convince consumers it’s cars are of high quality and value, as it is for Domino’s to convince pizza lovers its pizza no longer “suck.” But it’s worth a try.