Solving the Pizza Crisis in America

It was Yogi Berra who asked that his pizza be cut into quarters because he “wasn’t hungry enough to eat six.” Yes, yes, very funny, but not so much when you realize that Americans consume 350 slices of pizza per second. That comes out to more then 3 billion pizzas a year. So with that many, you wouldn’t suppose that Americans were having a hard time when it comes to pizza.

Sure, given our desire for convenience you probably don’t want to have to go to the trouble of microwaving it at home. There’s 3½ minutes you’re never going to get back. Or, you could just order out, but what if they won’t deliver? Rest easy. Eighty-three percent (83%) of pizzerias – chains and independents – deliver. Within 30 minutes or sooner on average, so, yes, longer than preparing at home, but different from frozen, no matter what the ads say.

Of course, there is the problem of having to decide upon toppings. Americans like having choices. You want pepperoni. She wants mushrooms. Someone out there wants pineapple. All that discussion and quarreling could take the edge off your appetite. And then there’s actually having to eat it with your hands. For at least half of the slice you need two hands. One to hold the wide end and the other to keep the pointy end from dripping on your shirt! Problems abound.

Pizza has been around since the ancient Greeks who covered bread with oil, herbs, and cheese, which sound pretty much like pizza. But legend has it that the modern pizza originated in Italy as the Neapolitan flatbread in 1889, so you’d figure that in 124 years (reasonably speaking) we would have gotten it right, however you define “right.” But, as previously pointed out, Americans like convenience and choice and, well, pizza, so the brands are constantly trying to innovate and increase their economic prospects in the marketplace.

If you’re thinking that there’s not a whole lot you can really innovate when it comes to bread, oil, tomato sauce, and cheese, you’re probably right. But, then, right in front of you Pizza Hut has come up with a pizza-slider. It’s a 3½ inch pizza in packs of 3 or 9 sliders. You can mix and match up to 3 toppings per slider. And they deliver or you can stop by and eat in or take-out. So problem solved.

Anyway, as we are researchers, we were curious to see whether – when it came to innovation – consumers saw the National pizza brands differently. And according to our most recent survey, here’s how consumers ranked the brands when it comes to novelty, invention, and originality:

1. Domino’s
2. Pizza Hut
3. Noble Roman’s
4. Papa John’s
5. Sbarro
6. Little Caesar’s
7. Godfather’s
8. Chuck E. Cheese

Michael Porter, of Harvard University and the “Porter Five Forces Analysis” of competitive intensity and business strategy, stated, “Innovation is the central issue in economic prosperity,” which is pretty critical since this is business we’re talking about. But as it’s also pizza we’re talking about, it’s probably also worth remembering the thought that “pizza is a lot like sex. When it’s good, it’s really good, and when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.”

Connect with Robert on LinkedIn.
 
Find out more about what makes customer loyalty happen and how Brand Keys metrics is able to predict future consumer behavior: brandkeys.com. Visit our YouTube channel to learn more about Brand Keys methodology, applications and case studies.

Share on Facebook