Pizza Hut: Bolder by the Bite

As President of Michigan State University's AAF student chapter, I lead a team of 30 students in creating a campaign for the National Student Advertising Competition. Our client? Pizza Hut, the nostalgia-inducing 90s brand that fell behind competitors like Dominos when, suddenly, nobody needed to make a phone call to order a pizza.

With no specified budget, a sparse brief, and a game-changing campaign launch in the middle of our school year, the MSUAAF team had to think on their toes and flawlessly deliver on strategy.

Check out a few highlights from the campaign below or see the full plansbook here. 

NSAC District 6 – 2nd Place Campaign
NSAC District 6 – Best Presenter Award

 We kick off the campaign with Hut Truck, a lively spin on fast, convenient food, will visit large cities and college towns on its trek across the country. Its bold double-decker design, made possible by a pop-up roof, will draw eager crowds. Becaus…

 

We kick off the campaign with Hut Truck, a lively spin on fast, convenient food, will visit large cities and college towns on its trek across the country. Its bold double-decker design, made possible by a pop-up roof, will draw eager crowds. Because our target is hesitant to spend their hard-earned cash on foods they might not enjoy, the truck will sell specialty pizzas by the slice. All purchases will also include a small sample slice of another pizza to further encourage exploration. Pizza Hut’s owned media channels will document the journey so users can follow along.

Several weeks into our campaign, a mysterious Countdown Clock will appear on PizzaHut.com with nothing but the words “You’ll never look back.” The timer will generate word-of-mouth and social buzz as pizza lovers can only guess what Pizza Hut is plo…

Several weeks into our campaign, a mysterious Countdown Clock will appear on PizzaHut.com with nothing but the words “You’ll never look back.” The timer will generate word-of-mouth and social buzz as pizza lovers can only guess what Pizza Hut is plotting. As the month goes on, the Countdown Clock will be further supported by Pizza Hut’s social media accounts and banner ad placements. This will drive users back to the website several times to check on the countdown. As promised, when that clock hits zero, Pizza Hut has massive news.

As the end of our campaign continues to celebrate adventurous eaters, Pizza Hut will create print and billboard ads that capture one of the largest challenges of being a connoisseur: sharing. When customers create one of 2 billion possible pizzas, t…

As the end of our campaign continues to celebrate adventurous eaters, Pizza Hut will create print and billboard ads that capture one of the largest challenges of being a connoisseur: sharing. When customers create one of 2 billion possible pizzas, they want to own it. They don’t want to surrender a slice of their masterpiece to a friend, but may choose to brag about it on their social media accounts. Unfortunately, pizza lovers that forgo actual sharing will discover a challenge; many social channels, such as Twitter, only allow users to post extremely short messages. For the Pizza Particular, a 140-character caption just isn’t going to cut it.

E-Board:
President: Samantha Kaufman
Vice President: Kelly Dunnigan
Creative Directors: Andi Tonis & Amanda Cowherd
Media Director: Rachel O'Connor
Research Directors: Kristen Slater & Grieg Swanson
Promotions Director: Samantha Mitchelson