R Petty's New Media Blog

New campaign, new commercial, new dedicated website to the change…yeah, I’ve been hearing about the new pizza at Domino’s and watched the video about how the changes came about. If you haven’t seen, check it out here:

Well, it made me want pizza. The campaign seems very transparent; they show actual focus groups and employees of Domino’s expressing their genuine reactions to the news that their pizza sucks. As soon as I saw the blog about the campaign, I decided that I had to order the new pizza and give it a thorough taste-test. So being that it’s New Year’s Day, and I have nothing to do but watch the Criminal Minds marathon, it was a good day to try a few slices…in the name of marketing research.

First, I went to their website, to look at the menu and see the closest location to where I live. In order to look at the menu, you have to enter your street address, so the menu for your area will come up. The same requirement comes up for the coupons page. This is smart because if the casual web viewer goes through the process, it is that much easier for them to take the next step and place an order for delivery. I utilized the site to place my order online, and it was very easy. The new pizza is the hand-tossed and the pizza builder allows you to adjust the amount of toppings and add side dishes, sauces and drinks. The only thing it wouldn’t let you do is add toppings to half a pizza. Once you play, you can register for easier delivery in the future and also track your pie. This was a pretty cool, and even updates you when your pizza goes in the oven, but the time it stated was in the future. For instance, the message “your pizza went into the oven at 8:32 pm” but the time on the computer, and on my cell phone, was only 8:30. Estimated delivery time was right on target, as the order system stated that the order would arrive in 31-41 minutes and it came in 32 minutes. We had to tip the driver in cash at the door, as the order system didn’t allow the ability to add it to the credit card. I can see the customer assurance in that procedure, as the tip is meant to be an action after good service and if the customer had an issue with the delivery then the tip would be harder to retrieve. But the convenience of not having to use cash at all in the order process is becoming more prevalent in delivery food service, at least in my area. I could however add a tip at the door onto the credit card, but enough about the process…

How was the taste? Both the video and the order site mention that the crust is ‘garlic-seasoned crust with a rich, buttery taste.’ I didn’t get that at all. Although the texture and consistency of the crust is chewy and a great base for the other toppings, it was not all garlicky or buttery. Perhaps the new garlic butter is to be brushed on after baking and it may have been forgotten. Too bad. The taste of the crust was rather bland after so much hype. Unfortunately, my pizza’s crust didn’t look like Adam Kuben’s did;

Adam Kuben's slice

Nor did I get any hint of the mild garlicky flavor that Adam found in his slices, which you can read more about here.

My pizza didn’t have that garlicky look to the crust:

My slice

Another view of my slice

The sauce was delicious though and actually caused me to say ‘mmmm’ after several bites; zesty and lightly sweet. The cheese was also good and I could tell it was real cheese and not just some imitation. The toppings were just as I ordered them, but one dipping sauce was forgotten. Not too bad but not a perfect experience. I would suggest some greater input from Domino’s HQ to ensure the new recipe is followed with 100% accuracy. But I can see where a new process might need the have the kinks worked out for a few weeks. While I am not going to start ordering exclusively from Domino’s in the future, as I really like non-chain restaurants, I will probably consider them in the future so that I can have more of that delicious sauce, truly the only real change toward delicious that I found in the new pizza.

So there’s the latest news from the S.I.N…over and out!