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Not sure if this is an original idea

by pjtrogentine
25 replies
I am looking for some feedback on a marketing idea I thought of, but I am not sure if anyone else has done this. This idea is for a Neapolitan pizza restaurant that has a clear advantage in price and flavor over 95% of similar restaurants in the area (in my opinion, an many others according to online reviews).

So here's my idea:

If anyone receives a pizza from one of the Neapolitan pizza restaurant's competitors, and the consumer thinks it is of poor quality, then the consumer can bring the poor quality pizza to the Neapolitan restaurant and exchange it for any pizza of their choosing, as long as they purchase a beverage.

Additional info about the Neapolitan pizza restaurant:

The pizzas only come in two sizes: 9" and 5"

Average cost per pizza: $3.00

Average consumer purchase price for pizza: $12

Soda purchase price: $1.95

Also, the Neapolitan restaurant has a large wine and beer selection.

I am open to any suggestions or opinions, especially those that involve legality and potential problems. Thanks for your comments!
#idea #original #pizza
  • Profile picture of the author peter360
    I don't think it is a good idea, a "poor quality" may mean different things for different people. A poor quality pizza may be different for you than for me. Plus you don't want people to bring in pizzas to Neapolitan pizza restaurant, it just does not work that way. Try other ideas...
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    • Profile picture of the author pjtrogentine
      Well it would be open to the consumer's opinion. If they think they would get a better pizza from us, then they are open to bring in any pizza from a competitor. Also, I should mention that this would run for 4-8 weeks. As for the pizzas brought in, they would be tossed in the garbage. Can you give me some reasoning for your thoughts, or past experiences that tell you this wouldn't work?
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      • Profile picture of the author somacorellc
        This won't work. I'm telling you.

        1. I get a pizza at home, delivered to me. It's pretty terrible for whatever reason.

        -I'm not calling you, I'm calling the place that delivered it.

        -The entire point for getting a pizza at home is that I don't have to drive anywhere because I'm lazy or there's a tornado or a storm or whatever.

        2. I'm supposed to somehow know of your promotion.

        3. I'm supposed to take the pizza, get in the car, drive to your place, and say "hey I got a crappy pizza."

        4. You give me a replacement pizza which takes 20 or so minutes to make and give to me.

        By this time it's 830 and everyone is hungry and pissed off, I wouldn't do it. I just asked my wife and she said she's never do it.

        Would you do it? Truthfully?

        The thing about business is to not be too attached to your ideas. This is one of those times. Move on to something else.

        Originally Posted by pjtrogentine View Post

        Well it would be open to the consumer's opinion. If they think they would get a better pizza from us, then they are open to bring in any pizza from a competitor. Also, I should mention that this would run for 4-8 weeks. As for the pizzas brought in, they would be tossed in the garbage. Can you give me some reasoning for your thoughts, or past experiences that tell you this wouldn't work?
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  • Profile picture of the author somacorellc
    This isn't a good idea. Most pizzas are delivered to a person's home, and even if this was mainly a sitdown place, you'd have to factor in how far the next pizza joint is from your place. Am I really supposed to walk/drive a mile to get another pizza? Without eating the subpar pizza?

    Here's an idea: Get a crappy pizza? Text a picture of it to 55-555 to claim a FREE SLICE on your next visit!

    SMS: $100 setup and $149 a month.
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    • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
      Originally Posted by somacorellc View Post

      This isn't a good idea. Most pizzas are delivered to a person's home, and even if this was mainly a sitdown place, you'd have to factor in how far the next pizza joint is from your place. Am I really supposed to walk/drive a mile to get another pizza? Without eating the subpar pizza?

      Here's an idea: Get a crappy pizza? Text a picture of it to 55-555 to claim a FREE SLICE on your next visit!

      SMS: $100 setup and $149 a month.
      this sounds like a really good idea to me.
      i bet most people who see that promo will send in a pic.
      and then come into the store, which is what the bottom line is.

      bet you get a lot of pics of frozen pizzas too
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      • Profile picture of the author pjtrogentine
        Ok, a little more info:

        This place is in a downtown setting with multiple restaurants and pizza places within a mile. A lot of office workers, tourists, and shoppers. The purpose of this is publicity, as the restaurant is only 5 months old. I would hope to get some spots on the news or put a few commercials on local television. Also, they do not deliver. This restaurant produces traditional Italian pizza, and is independently owned.

        @somacorellc: Please control your verbal spasms. The pizza cooks in 2 minutes, that's the whole characteristic of Neapolitan pizzas; cooked in wood fired oven, on stone.
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        • Profile picture of the author somacorellc
          Originally Posted by pjtrogentine View Post

          @somacorellc: Please control your verbal spasms. The pizza cooks in 2 minutes, that's the whole characteristic of Neapolitan pizzas; cooked in wood fired oven, on stone.
          I was helpful in my first reply to you and offered a viable alternative. If any criticism of your "idea" are "verbal spasms" then go ahead and run your promo and let me know how that works out for you. It's certainly the last you'll hear from me.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaxReferrals
    Great initiative and idea. Others are saying the same thing,
    but if a pizza sucks, no way I'm taking what's leftover (if any)
    in my car and driving somewhere to show someone.

    I just won't ever buy from that place again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mar
    I don't think this would work; also, as a food outlet, I'd be rather scared of folks turning up and handing over food which could be contaminated with something dreadful. Here in the UK, the health & hygiene people would shut down such a place in an instant. As a business risk, the neapolitan pizza owner should run fast away from this.

    Mar
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    • Profile picture of the author linebelowdigital
      I like the originality but it just doesn't seem practical.
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  • Profile picture of the author pjtrogentine
    Thanks Mar for the advice. I will look into the health codes for bringing food into establishments. Health issues is a major concern of mine.

    As a side note: I don't expect that many people bringing in bad pizza. I think it would be more of a news generator and get people talking about the restaurant.
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    • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
      Originally Posted by pjtrogentine View Post


      As a side note: I don't expect that many people bringing in bad pizza. I think it would be more of a news generator and get people talking about the restaurant.
      but what will you do if your wrong and it comes flooding in?
      always have a back up plan. always plan for the worst.

      i think its a pretty neat sounding gimmick / promotional idea, i have no idea if it will work or not.

      if you decide to go through with this, would you let me know how it turns
      out?
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    This is a bad idea. Guy like me would just buy a $5 pizza from Little Ceasars and come in and get a better pizza.
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  • Profile picture of the author pjtrogentine
    Well, people will have to buy a beverage to receive a pizza. The cheapest beverage is a fountain soda (one size) for $1.95. There is also a large selection of craft brews and four types of wine, all of which sell of at least $4.50. The average cost of a pizza for the restaurant is $3.00, so a beverage purchase should cover most of the costs associated with this promotion (not factoring in paid commercial spots). And the average revenue from a single sale is around $12.00.
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    • Profile picture of the author pjtrogentine
      @ Aaron: Guys like you would be welcome. As my previous post says, the beverage purchase should cover the cost. Plus, it gets you in the door, so when the promotion ends and you know how good this pizza is compared to the Little Caesar's, you will come back again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jager
    Originally Posted by pjtrogentine View Post

    I am looking for some feedback on a marketing idea I thought of, but I am not sure if anyone else has done this. This idea is for a Neapolitan pizza restaurant that has a clear advantage in price and flavor over 95% of similar restaurants in the area (in my opinion, an many others according to online reviews).

    So here's my idea:

    If anyone receives a pizza from one of the Neapolitan pizza restaurant's competitors, and the consumer thinks it is of poor quality, then the consumer can bring the poor quality pizza to the Neapolitan restaurant and exchange it for any pizza of their choosing, as long as they purchase a beverage.

    Additional info about the Neapolitan pizza restaurant:

    The pizzas only come in two sizes: 9" and 5"

    Average cost per pizza: $3.00

    Average consumer purchase price for pizza: $12

    Soda purchase price: $1.95

    Also, the Neapolitan restaurant has a large wine and beer selection.

    I am open to any suggestions or opinions, especially those that involve legality and potential problems. Thanks for your comments!

    Not original at all. Thought of this right before you posted it.
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  • Profile picture of the author pwk2000
    pjtrogentine, great idea! This will get a ton of free publicity and word of mouth. The point of this promotion is to get people to notice and hopefully try the new pizza joint.

    No drink purchase necessary, just say it's dine in only. Just limit it to one per person per month. And require some type of sign up to a deals alert newsletter/text from the restaurant.
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  • Profile picture of the author Eddie Spangler
    You need to figure out the logistics because the one as presented wont work

    But I Think if you can create a "Trade in your tired pizza" promo the right way it can get you some publicity because no one has taken that angle before.
    Then when the come in they sign a piece of paper stating they traded brand x for your brand. So they dont really need to buy a pizza from someone else, they are really just naming a brand they are "tired" of to get the deal.

    Then you also play on that if you want to get really aggressive.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    My beverage wouldn't cover the cost. I don't "drink" so it would just be the $1.95 pop. Even if I had someone else with me the $1.95 pops would barely cover it because I drink a lot of pop(assuming free refills). I know the cost is cheap but when you figure in the labor and such you would be breaking even on a lot of these guys. Also would you stop people from doing this repeatedly? And how much of the "bad" pizza would they need to bring in? IE I can have pizza for lunch save a few slices and than use that to get pizza from this place for dinner.
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    • Profile picture of the author jhuman
      I would test it out using a free localized $100 Google adword campaign with a survey in order to receive genuine responses from potential customers. You never know what is a good or bad idea. Well, sometimes but this sounds like you would get a better direction from the market.
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    • Profile picture of the author dancorkill
      It's extra work for the customer to go to 2 pizza places so yeah I agree not very likely.

      Anywhere you are advertising this offer would be better spent telling the customer to come to your store. Instead of being like hey we have great pizza, so if you eat at another store and don't like it, then you can come and get a free pizza at our place....it just gets long and confusing people won't understand it.

      Anyone that believes you have the best pizzas will just go to your store in the first place. You mentioned they have good online reviews, print them out and put them in your advertising and the front of the store. This is social proof.

      If they are the #1 pizza place in your town on sites like Google Maps and Tripadvisor etc include that with their logo's, gives your claim credibility.
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  • Profile picture of the author SoCalMarketing
    Well.. so far I see the feedback is about 95% thumbs down on the idea, and a couple good suggestions to replace it with. I also don't find it very practical.. let us know how you do if you implement it as it seems you are somewhat committed to doing so.
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  • Profile picture of the author pjtrogentine
    I am not 100% committed to doing this promotion, and I am not the one who says if it will be used or not, I am only trying to find holes in this promotion. I do think people are making suggestions that I do not agree with, mostly because of my fault for not putting all the info out there, but I do appreciate those who gave good suggestions and feedback. Thanks you to all those who have contributed.

    To continue on with that note:

    @ Aaron: There are different accounts for funding this operation. They have funds for labor separate from advertising. As I said before, this is not a promotion that will run forever, and this promotion is supposed to generate attention. They do not expect to cover all costs of this promotion only by beverage sales; only 65% of the costs is expected to be covered, and possibly more, as not everyone is a soda consumer. This is a new restaurant that is trying to gain word-of-mouth attention.
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    • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
      Based on what you said I would say if you really promote this and currently do not have many customers trying the product this could work. But if this is in a busy area which I think you seemed to suggest earlier why not just give out free samples on the street. You may get more business from something simple and old school like that.

      I'm not saying the idea is bad I just think the idea and the promotion will have a huge cost vs ROI and there are simpler and easier ways to get people to try the product.
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