By Margaret Littman, Contributing Editor — Chain Leader, 1/15/2010 12:00:00 AM
It is every hostess’ private nightmare: What if you throw a party and no one shows up? That’s exactly the scenario America’s Incredible Pizza Company wants to prevent. The Springfield, Mo.-based chain is known as a location for birthday parties, for both kids and adults, in the Midwest and South, and is in the process of expanding into new geographic markets, including Salt Lake City in 2010.
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The chain describes its space as a 70,000-square-foot “fairgrounds of fun,” a concept that executives concede is “hard to fit on a direct-mail mail postcard.” With bowling, laser tag, indoor Go Karts and other games, as well as a menu that is more than just pizza, the concept is more nuanced than its name suggests. And most locations feature a large blue exterior wall, making it difficult for newcomers to peek inside.
“The No. 1 reaction people have when they come in for the first time is, ‘We had no idea all this was here,’” says Chris Brewer, executive vice president of marketing for the chain. “We have to get people behind the wall.”
To get folks behind that wall and get them to book and attend the parties Incredible Pizza is throwing, the regional chain, despite a self-described conservative approach to marketing, launched a new ad campaign in 2009 with two television commercials.
Brewer had not been a big proponent of TV advertising, having relied on direct mail for most of his career. “But TV pulls back the veil,” he says. In this case, the team thought TV would give Incredible Pizza a broader reach, particularly when used in conjunction with direct mail and promotions with restaurant.com as it entered new markets.
Not Just for Kids
“When you think of pizza, you know what you are going to get,” Brewer says. “But as a new company (founded in 2002), people do not know us. It is sort of like The Cheesecake Factory. If you have not been there, you might think they are just cheesecake. People think we are just pizza.” In fact, the Incredible Pizza menu, which drives an average check of $15, includes an extensive salad bar, soups, pastas, sirloin tips, lasagna and other options in addition to pizza.
One of the chain’s new spots is called “Be a Birthday Hero,” and Brewer says it makes an important distinction between Incredible Pizza and its eatertainment competitors.
“Some of our competitors focus on the child in the ad. Based on where they advertise, I understand; but it is not the kid who is spending $100 on a birthday party,” he explains. “We try not to lose touch with the kid, but we try to make Mom the birthday hero. Mom does not want a birthday disaster.”
The ad shows Mom feeling like her birthday-party pick is a success, void of any disasters, and shows the variety of activities at the chain. The other spot, “Family Fun,” pitches Incredible Pizza as an alternative to a backyard barbecue where Dad chars the wieners on the grill.
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