Commentary

Research: Domino's living up to its promise to 'not suck'

Domino's might be stealing market share away from rivals in both the pizza sector and among large quick-service chains.

February 20, 2017

Whatever Domino's is doing, it's working. And as it turns out, the chain has been doing a lot over the last two years.

That's the take-away from the past three months' data on the brand's perceptions that show the ubiquitous chain is getting all kinds of love these days from consumers. The data backing this up comes from brand perceptions studies performed by YouGov BrandIndex. In fact, the company says its results indicated Domino's might actually be stealing market share away from rivals in both the pizza sector and among large quick-service chains.

On numerous key perception metrics, the pizza chain surpassed the scores of its competition in both sectors. And it is only fitting, perhaps, that much like the dominos the chain is named after, it appears that all this recent success is the result of a lot of hard work at the company that began hitting the market two years ago. Just this past year, though, the "domino effect" of those efforts started showing up in the numbers.

The data

YouGov interviewed 75,000 adults in the 18 and over age group over the last 27 months..The research showed that Domino’s improved in three key metrics, and in the company's measurement of potential sales revenue (referred to as "purchase consideration"), Domino’s gained a particularly notable and substantial amount of progress.

"Domino’s was right in the thick of the QSR sector in this metric for more than two years, until December," YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli said in an email. "That month, 20 percent of adults would consider Domino’s the next time they buy fast food, but they began to move up. Currently, they are at 23 percent — a full three points ahead of where the QSR sector average is now."

Marzilli said the turning point for Domino's appears to have taken place last June when there was substantial positive movement for the brand in the following two key perception metrics:

Buzz got louder:To measure "buzz," YouGov asks consumers if they'd heard anything about Domino's in the last two weeks and whether it was good or bad. Though Domino’s has long been at the top of both QSR and pizza brands in this category, beginning in June the brand's score skyrocketed 50 percent while the rest of the quick-serve segment stayed put. In fact, in that period, Domino's scored higher than it has since December 2012.
Satisfaction grew markedly: When consumers were asked if they were satisfied customers of Domino's and other brands about qualities like the aforementioned "purchase consideration," Domino's typically average performance shot up in June 27 percent, outperforming all other QSR brands on the national stage.

So, why?

As far as definitive information about the causes of Domino's "June Surprise," YouGov cites at least three possibilities:

2015 year-end launch of Domino's Piece Of The Pie loyalty program.
Mid-2015 Pizza Tracker app launch, with features allowing customers to track their orders from placement to pizza-laden knock at their door.
Fall 2015 launch of DXP delivery vehicles, super-efficient, modified Chevy Sparks with warming ovens and space for 80 pizzas, sides, and salads.

It's also likely that the company's leadership in using new technologies first, like the world's initial "pizza done delivery" has piqued interest, even as its quirky attempts at attention-getting delivery methods like reindeer in Northern Japan, helped convey the chain's delivery-centric focus worldwide.

The technological accouterment and other efforts would have fallen flat if the brand hadn't also improved its flavor reputation. Remember those fall-on-our-sword commercials with staff from Domino’s corporate reading customers' condemnations of the food produced by the chain in 2009? They also included an invitation to follow the company's turnaround.It's the kind of "come-to-Jesus" moment that Chipotle is now experiencing.

After all, you don't admit you kind of suck to the whole country, unless you are relatively hell-bent on changing that fact substantially. Domino's appears to have done that in exemplary fashion. And now the brand's resultant ascendancy is probably just as sweet as those earlier admissions were painful. Living proof that nothing comes without a lot of hard work and even bravery.

Domino's did not respond to our request for comment.

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