How the "Big 3" Pizza Chains Use Direct Mail to Develop New Markets

There is an ongoing battle between the "Big 3" pizzain the business in that particular neighborhood.
chains who are always vying for first place. TheirSometimes those chains find it important to use pizza
sales reflect the fact that whenever one of thosemenu mailers to inform residents and/or businesses
chains delves into a national ad campaign, that chainthat a new franchise has opened in the area. At times
will invariably see order increases across the board.like that, it may not be necessary to use competitive
The new sales may or may not cover their heavymarketing in the literal sense of the word, but rather to
marketing investments, but they position the brandoffer 'grand opening' promotions to get the word out
more strongly either way. In most cases, theirthat a new chain is in the neighborhood and open for
marketing campaigns pay off with huge dividends.business. At times like these the mailings are usually
One of the ways the "Big 3" chains is to use directbigger and more eye-catching. Those pizza empires
mail to develop new markets. The purpose of this is tohave major dollars behind their advertising departments
draw customers from locations where one or more ofso they pull out all the stops to use promos that grab
the other chains are already established and possibly,consumers' attention.
thriving.Direct mailing can be targeted more effectively than
It is important to 'scope out' the competitor's territory.broader scoped printed, audio or video campaigns. The
They are using direct mailing to offer promotionalcorporate offices put out enough of those kinds of
specials that they know to be effective in thatnewspaper, radio or television promos on a national
particular area. In order to attract customers fromlevel. The key to attracting business in a new market
each other those three superpowers get a handle onarea is to gear campaigns specifically to the needs
what kinds of direct mailings the others are runningand wants of that particular location. This is just good
with and then improve on those campaigns with evenbusiness logic. Dollars are wasted by advertising in too
better deals, specials and perhaps even promotionallarge of an area so direct mailings reach specific
'give-aways.'people in very specific locations.
Not all ad campaigns work as well in every marketAccording to current statistics, Pizza Hut is on top with
area. Because of this, those chains will tailor their directDominoes in second. Papa John's is in third place but
mailings to what they see as a trend in what theshows signs of growth. On any given week
others are using. It stands to reason that if theirconsumers will open their mailboxes to find a
competition is repeatedly running with a certainpromotional mailing from at least one of those chains. It
promotional offer, that particular promotion must beremains an ongoing battle, but the use of direct mailing
working for them. For instance, if one of the "Big 3" isappears to play a major, undeniable role, in who ends
continually offering two-for-one, then it obviously bringsup on top.