Pizza Hut CMO Zipporah Allen talked about the brand’s recent March Madness activation and also looked ahead at Year 1 of the chain’s new NFL deal during an interview at the ’18 CAA World Congress of Sports. Allen, who appeared alongside Bumble Head of Brand Alex Williamson, said Pizza Hut had a hit on its hands around the NCAA Tournament with its “Pie Tops” -- which allow users to order pizza through a button on one sneaker while while pausing TV with a button on the other sneaker. Allen said of the shoe campaign, which is in its second year, “They kind of exploded more than we thought they would. ... This year we kind of focused on our delivery experience. So we started ideating around what we could do to really top the phenomenon of Pie Tops from the first year.”
HUT! HUT! HIKE!: Pizza Hut replaces Papa John’s as the league’s official pizza for the '18 season. “What we’re so excited about is going back to our business strategy around digital and delivery,” Allen said. “Tens of millions of NFL consumers are enjoying that content at home every weekend, and that really is the center of gravity around how we think about activating this partnership. It’s really about the fan experience, particularly at home. ... There’s a huge opportunity with a platform like the NFL, which has lots of female fans and multicultural fans that overlap with our consumer base, to activate.” Allen noted the brand’s first big activation around the league will be with the NFL Draft, particularly at the Draft Experience. Allen: “We’re going to invite fans to show us their best doorbell dance. We’ll have 360-degree cameras where they can film themselves doing the dance. It’s really a content play for us.” Pizza Hut will also feature a few players, but did not reveal those names.
