Domino's Pizza

The problem

By 2009, sales at Domino’s were flat and customers were open about why. In surveys and online they said the crust tasted like cardboard and the sauce like ketchup. The problem was the product, not the marketing.

What they did

Domino’s dropped its old recipe and launched a new one, with a garlic-seasoned crust, a mozzarella and provolone blend, and a new sauce. It then did something unusual: its advertising showed real customer complaints and admitted the old pizza was not good enough.

What changed

Same-store sales rose 14.3% in the first quarter of 2010, one of the largest quarterly jumps ever recorded by a major fast-food chain. Over the same period the US pizza delivery market as a whole shrank 3%. For the full year 2010, US same-store sales rose 9.9%.

What you can learn

• Read your bad reviews as data. If many reviews mention the same dish, that is your first job, before any discount or campaign.
• Fix the product before you spend on marketing. Promotion only brings more people to try something that disappoints them.
• Tell regulars what you changed. A short, honest message, such as “we heard you, we changed the biryani”, gives lapsed customers a reason to try you again.

Turning a struggling outlet around starts with finding the real cause. That is the first step of our restaurant rescue program.