Pizza Hut SG combats ‘back-to-work’ blues with over 3,000 pizza giveaway

Pizza Hut Singapore busks in the National Day celebrations and will be giving away 3,186 pizzas today. This comes shortly after Domino’s did a similar pizza giveaway last Thursday. While Domino’s gave away 540 personal pizzas across 10 selected outlets, competitor Pizza Hut aims to combat “back-to-work” blues after the long weekend with pizza giveaway across all its 59 outlets islandwide.Speaking to Marketing, Joyce Tan, senior director of marketing & food innovation at Pizza Hut Singapore said despite the similarity with its competitor, the consumer is at the heart of any campaigns the brand runs at the end of the day.“If there’s no obvious benefit for the consumer, we will not roll out the campaign. National Day is a big occasion in any Singapore business’ marketing calendar, and it is the perfect time to come together as one and celebrate with the nation and its people,” she added.Pizza Hut took a two-pronged approach to raise awareness. Through a PR-led push and reaching out to the mass media in the country, Tan said the team also worked on driving buzz through its own social channels. According to Tan, the brand is also expecting organic buzz and awareness and user-generated content on the day of, and leading up to, the giveaway.Besides celebrating Singapore’s birthday, Tan said the brand aims to resonate with the consumers through this gesture. “Through this association, we look to continue building brand affinity among Singaporeans for Pizza Hut and also keep us at top of mind recall for their own celebrations or even just gathering with friends for a meal,” she added.Control measuresPre-empting overwhelming turnout (given the whole Huawei situation recently), the team has also implemented control measures.These include a live update on the availability of the free pizzas through a poster at each store and on its social media platforms. In addition, in the event of an overwhelming response at the outlets, Tan said the staff will be handing out vouchers to the customers that have taken the time to queue at its outlets.In addition, for Pizza Hut, the celebration of the nation’s humble beginnings aligns with its “Your Slice of Simple” slogan. According to Tan, the consideration for its giveaway was looking at what Singaporeans love most, and how the brand can incorporate that with its love for the nation in a “we give, you enjoy” approach.Having opened its first outlet 38 years ago, Tan said that the pizza chain has a wealth of insight into its consumers and their preferences. According to Pizza Hut, it sells more than 22 pizzas a minute in Singapore and with this insight the brand looks to give back to the nation. Tan added that with the customer in mind, the giveaway was scheduled for after the long weekend to not only continue the National Day party at Pizza Hut, but also to provide Singaporeans with a “back-to-work pick-me-up” treat.