Dough, Sauce, Cheese and Toppings

I am fascinated by marketing, so I'm going to start a post called Marketing Monday.

One of my favorite marketing topics is pizza.

For years, Pizza Hut has introduced "new" pizzas on a regular basis; but the innovative pizzas are almost always the same dough, sauce, cheese and toppings in a slightly remixed configuration. It seems to me that Pizza Hut almost never really introduces new pizzas, but continually reintroduces the same pizzas in different shapes and sizes. Some of my favorite faux-new offerings have been Bigfoot and 4forALL. Recently, Pizza Hut introduced Pizza Mia, which is differentiated by price point rather than presentation, but the product description is as familiar as always.

Now, frozen pizza company Freschetta seems to be determined to join the "How Many Ways Can You Disguise the Same Product" Club by adding PizzAmore to their existing lineup of Naturally Rising, Ultra Thin and Brick Oven Pizzas. PizzAmore is innovative because it comes in a pan and is pre sliced.

Do people really need to be confronted with "New and Improved" pizzas in order to keep demand high? The marketing professionals at both Pizza Hut and Freschetta certainly seem to think that the perception of uniqueness is a significant factor in differentiating their product (which makes sense), and that the allure of something new creates a call-to-action for consumers (which also makes sense). What makes less sense is that enough consumers perceive a round pizza as being significantly different than a square pizza to justify substantial marketing budgets aimed at keeping a well-defined classic on the cutting edge of spinnovation.

Stuffed Crust Pizza photo copyright Pizza Hut, Inc.