Converge Weekly

Domino’s Pizza is driving traffic to its newly optimized mobile Web site with mobile advertising and seeing a surge in revenue from its mobile commerce platform.

While the pizza franchise continues to invest heavily in traditional media, it has seen significant growth from its mobile initiatives and plans to increase its investment in the mobile channel going forward. In addition to promoting its mobile site on Dominos.com and via email blasts, the company partners with mobile ad networks and with publishers directly to run banner ads across most of the top 10 mobile Web sites in the United States, including Pandora, ESPN and CNN.

“Mobile is a rapidly growing segment of our business, one that we expect to grow for years to come,” said Rob Weisberg, vice president of multimedia marketing at Domino’s Pizza, Ann Arbor, MI. “A major growth agent for our company over the last few years has been online ordering in the digital space.

Through its primarily locally-owned and operated franchised system, Domino’s operates a network of 8,773 franchised and company-owned stores in the United States and 60 international markets.

Domino’s had global retail sales of over $5.5 billion in 2008, comprised of nearly $3.1 billion domestically and over $2.4 billion internationally.

Mobile coupons have been increasingly relevant for consumers—and thus an increasingly effective tool for brands—during the current recession.

Domino’s mobile coupons are tailored to consumers’ ordering history and are often time-sensitive.

“We send out coupons via SMS that are relevant to you as an individual, an offer that’s strong and takes you to the site and all you have to do is hit confirm,” Mr. Weisberg said. “As far as our system-wide average, 85 percent of our business is delivery, and because of that, we know who you are, your name, address, phone number and what you’ve ordered in the past.

“Data sources such as Acxiom, Experian and Trans Union provide marketers with a rich set of data regarding demographic information, and that combined with past behavior, what each consumer has purchased from Domino’s via phone, online or mobile, that’s in our computer system,” he said.

“It’s an optin relationship—we don’t spam anybody, they have to go to our mobile site or Dominos.com to opt-in, and having done so, they’re entrusting us with that personal information.”

Mr. Weisberg says that marketers must appreciate the level of trust that opting-in requires, and not abuse that trust.

“A lot of marketers out there violate consumers’ trust by hitting people over the head with messaging, to the point that it’s intrusive,” Mr. Weisberg said. “I expect that if I give you my cell phone number, you’re not going to abuse that privilege, and that you’ll use it to send me relevant, valuable offers.

“By opting-in to receive these communications, you’re ensuring that you’ll receive the strongest deals Domino’s has to offer, mobile coupons that link directly back to our mobile ordering site,” he said. “In terms of ease and convenience of the transaction, mobile commerce can’t be beat.”

Consumers can enter their credit card directly from their mobile device, and once they have ordered from that device once, Domino’s recognizes that consumer’s number.

Due to security safeguards, Domino’s cannot store credit-card information to enable one-click purchasing, but if consumers want to pay in cash, it takes two clicks on their mobile device to place an order.

Domino’s asks consumers to verify the address on file and their previous order to finalize the transaction.

“You could be stopped at a traffic light and order before the light turns green,” Mr Weisberg said.

In addition to mobile coupons, Domino’s drives traffic to its mobile commerce site via mobile banner ads.

“We were the first brand out there to partner with and advertise on Pandora, which is the largest mobile music site in the world, and we buy inventory on most of the top 10 mobile sites in the U.S., including ESPN and CNN,” Mr. Weisberg said.

“We continue to expand our mobile advertising initiatives, because the growth of the channel ultimately demands it,” he said.