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Free books and fire truck-delivered pizza: Two pizza powerhouses show benefits of cause-based campaigns

Mega-chain pizza brands, Domino's and Pizza Hut, are pulling out all the stops this fall to show the world how the Big Pie Guys and Gals do marketing with a purpose.

October 3, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Mega-chain pizza brands, Domino's and Pizza Hut, are pulling out all the stops this fall to show the world how the Big Pie Guys and Gals do marketing with a purpose. The results could be game-changing awareness for saving lives from fire and making lives better from learning to read and reading more often.

Domino's pushes fire safety with free pizza delivered by fire truck

Domino's campaign revolves around fire safety and growing the awareness that thousands of lives are lost nationally each year as the result of house fires where old, non-functioning fire and smoke alarms failed to alert residents to the danger in time. The chain has partnered with one of the country's leading fire safety organizations, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), to amp up the volume on the message that everyone needs to make sure their smoke alarms are less than 10 years old. 

The two organizations are using National Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 9-15, to drive this message home, while simultaneously boosting pizza sales through a blended campaign that offers Domino's customers a chance to not only get a free pizza, but also have it delivered by fire truck.

A key component of this campaign is getting information into homes. To do that Domino's is using its substantial reach via pizza delivery to drive home the NFPA's theme this Fire Prevention Week that says simply, Don't Wait – Check the Date! The admonition — which Domino's is emblazoning on the top of their delivery boxes — reminds consumers to check the manufacture date on smoke alarms and replace alarms that are 10 years old or more. 

In order to boost participation, awareness and, of course, pizza orders, the chain will surprise some customers with the delivery of their food via fire engine. While not everyone will necessarily go for this possibility, its marketing genius is in the fact that it automatically targets plenty of millennials with fire engine-enamored youngsters.

"Working smoke alarms give people the time needed to escape safely."

Likewise, for those who get pizza-by-fire-engine, an on-board firefighter will check the home for working smoke alarms. Those who pass the test get their pizza free, while those whose alarms are not working will either get new batteries or new detectors, which could, of course, save much more than money since working smoke alarms have been shown to cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half.

"Three out of five home fire deaths result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms," said NFPA Divisional Manager of Public Education Judy Comoletti, in the company's information about the fall campaign. "That's why checking the manufacture date on the back of smoke alarms and testing them monthly are so important. Working smoke alarms give people the time needed to escape safely."

The Hut helps customers hunker down with a good book

At Pizza Hut, a major community cause-related marketing campaign also starts this month, but this one aims to boost reading and literacy nationwide through the chain's participation in the Book It! Program, as well as its offering of the first-ever Page Turner Grant program supporting literacy and reading organizations nationwide.

"It's vitally important for Pizza Hut to continue to make an impact in the local communities that we serve"

The campaign and grant are both part of Pizza Hut's The Literacy Project, announced earlier this fall, with a goal of impacting 100 million people with access to books and educational resources, as well as empowering teachers and growing the "love" for more reading across all age groups. 

"It's vitally important for Pizza Hut to continue to make an impact in the local communities that we serve," said Pizza Hut Senior Social Impact Director Doug Terfehr, in a news release about the campaign. "The Page Turner Grant program is an opportunity to celebrate and support those who are taking the time to help people become their best through literacy and reading.

"Whether fostering book ownership, providing resources for teachers or helping students find the joy in reading, we are thrilled to provide this opportunity in our ongoing commitment to literacy."

Through the grant program — which runs through the end of November — Pizza Hut will disperse a total of $50,000 to those elping teachers in their literacy efforts or improving reading access or desirability. Likewise, the chain's Book It! program in national classrooms is beginning with the focus on Newberry Medal Award-winning author, Kate DiCamillo's book, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. 

And again, this chain's campaign has a decidedly 18-to-35 demographic focus, since it revolves around programs that many of their children will participate in at school. These include not only the Book It! program for youngsters in kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms nationally, but also an offer of two free Kindle books to parents of Book It! readers, including Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson to the Rescue(also available on audio for younger kids) and Lucy Cousins' Maisy Goes to the Library. 

Book It! has been around for years now and also offers students who meet monthly reading goals a certificate they can redeem at Pizza Hut for a Personal Pan Pizza and Passport to Reading Award. The chain said in a news release that a whopping 14 million students are expected to participate in this initiative this year alone. 

The take-home

Both of these chains' initiatives are major endeavors that involve plenty of boots on the ground to execute successfully. But it will likely prove to be money well invested since both programs demonstrate the increasing importance today of not only doing good marketing, but marketing in innovative ways that do good. And the take-home from that can be big benefits for everyone, if campaigns are planned, administered and even measured in meaningful ways that perpetuate not only customer engagement, but future efforts in this realm. 

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.