Now some food for thought from Domino's

“Hungry kya?” asks a buxom lady to the man eyeing her cleavage in a Domino’s Pizza ad. Get the connection? We’re still trying. The five new TVCs, centred at the baseline of ‘Hungry kya?’, will run till March 2001.

Ritujoy Chakraborty

agencyfaqs!

NEW DELHI, August 24

Sex sells. Even innuendos do. That's perhaps what Domino's Pizza and its advertising agency Trikaya Grey (Delhi) had in mind when they went about conceptualising two of their recent TVCs. Part of a series of six TVCs built around the baseline of ‘Hungry kya?' and to be released on all major channels, the ads have evoked mixed responses.

The first one- a girl nibbling her boyfriend's ear, who's reprimanded by him with a ‘Hungry kya?' - evokes a good laugh. But one cannot say the same for all of the other ads in the series. Especially the one which revolves around a woman, who grabs the lecher by the collar and asks ‘Hungry kya?'. Yes, it does try to connect desire with hunger, but one tends to feel that the undertone of sex may not go down too well with the family.

The obvious question here is: Is it really the family that is being targeted through these ads?

Replies Gautam Advani, chief of marketing, Domino's Pizza India Limited, "Of course we want the entire family to eat our pizzas. But, having said that, we realise that it's the youngster who actually takes the decision of ordering the pizza. So the entire campaign is focused on the youth. Besides, it is in line with our culture of a young and radical Domino's."

As for the four remaining TVCs, they are fairly impressive. For example, there's one that has a restless child in a mother's womb who's hushed with a soft ‘Hungry kya' and a subsequent dose of the Italian stuff. Or the one showing a jail inmate going comically insane watching his guard relishing a Domino's pizza, tormenting him with a ‘Hungry kya?'.

Absurd, purists would say, but funny nonetheless. And if there is anything that sells as much as sex, if not more, it's humour.

So what's the big idea behind the entire campaign?

Explains Ashutosh Khanna, vice-president, Trikaya Grey Advertising India Limited, "We wanted to create a campaign that would turn an impulse of ordering a Domino's pizza into a habit. We must understand that over the last 30 years, India has seen two major food-waves — the first being the Udipi wave of South Indian food, and the more recent being the Chinese wave, heavily Indianised to suit our palates. We want to make pizzas, rather Domino's pizzas, the third wave. And come to think of it, what is a pizza but a naan with subzi on top with an Italian touch of cheese and distinct flavours?" To be taken with a pinch of salt, of course.

That's all very fine, but what's noticeable in this particular series of ads is a sharp deviation from Domino's traditional strategy of communication.

Domino's has always banked on its promise of delivering within 30 minutes. So won't the emphasis on a nebulous concept like "hungry kya" undermine its core strength? "Yes and no," says Ashutosh. "We feel the ‘Hungry kya' line has a high in-your-face value, which is fine for the short term. In the long term, we plan to stick to our image of the delivery king."

This again is in sharp contrast to the Domino's current strategy in the international markets, where it is harping on the USP of ‘fresh ingredients' over the strength of its delivery network.

These series of ads come in the wake of a major rejig in Domino's menu. When the pizza-maker came to India four years back, their menu-card not only had imported dishes, but imported prices as well. Volumes were not picking up, and the company realised its mistakes on pricing and in tastes.

After slashing its prices in April this year and post India-specific restructuring, volumes have surged by 55 per cent. Moreover, Advani claims that since the release of the TVC campaign barely 15 days back, sales have gone up by 25 per cent!

Food for thought, one must say.

The team behind the campaign:

Scriptwriter: Shalini Dam

Film Maker: Prathap Suthan (creative director, Trikaya Grey)

Art Director: Alok Agarwal

Production, Music, Camera: Prahlad Kakkar

Client Servicing: Viraat Tandon

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