Introduction
Fast food is one of the world’s largest fast growing industrytypes. India’s fast food industry is growing by 40%. The 6000corer fast food retail industry is mainly dominated by themultinational players and the key players which are active inthe research of the food retailing. Because of the availability ofraw material for fast food, global chains are flooding into thecountry.
The percentage share held by foodservice of totalconsumer expenditure on food has increased from a very lowbase to stand at 2. 6% in 2001. Eating at home remains verymuch ingrained in Indian culture and changes in eating habits are very slow moving with barriers to eating out entrenched incertain sectors of Indian society. The growth in nuclear families, particularly in urban India, exposure to global mediaand western cuisine and an increasing number of womenjoining the workforce have had an impact on eating out trends.
Major players in fast food are: McDonald KFC Pizza hut Dominos pizza Cafe coffee day Barista Subway Papa John’s Smokin joe’s
Market shares and major players
Indian taste buds are demanding more and pizza industry – oneof the most intensive industry is all gearing on. People acrossthe country are consuming over three million pizzas a monthcurrently, and the monthly sales figures are projected todouble in the next four years. According to industry data, of thetotal branded quick service restaurant market make a sale ofover Rs 1,200 Crore, the pizza chains contribute around 50 percent of the sales i. e. worth Rs. 600 Crore.
The customer value hierarchyFrom the above diagram we can see that dominos has a food as a basicproduct but overall it provides an experience. Thus a person having abasic need of food can go to dominos and have pizza which is thecompany’s core product. Hot pizza and good taste are his expectation. Thus the company should ensure this by providing good pizza. Thevalue adds services refer to the overall dining experience, the servicequality, ambience etc.
Once the product has been decided upon and the market segmented,targeted and the product positioned, it is time to decide how andwhere the marketer can deliver the value (product) to the customer. This is done through marketing channels that make the productavailable for consumption to the customer. Push and pull strategies in channel marketing:In a push strategy, the manufacturer uses his sales force, tradepromotion, money or other means to induce intermediaries to carrypromote and sell its products to end users.
In a pull strategy, themanufacturer uses advertising, promotion and other forms ofcommunication to persuade the customer to demand the product fromintermediaries, thus inducing the intermediaries to order it.
Pizza hut: masters at pull strategyPizza hut follows more or less the opposite strategy. Pizza hut hasmastered the art of pull strategy. It pioneered the practice ofadvertising and promotion in the fast food industry. Pizza hut achievedthis remarkable feat by adopting a different marketing strategy thatinvolved increasing ambiences and amusement for the customers.
Domino’s: pursuing a push strategyDomino’s pursues a medium push strategy in its channel marketing. The advertising layout for Domino’s is minimal in India. Domino’sconcentrates on incentivizing customers instead off advertising andpromotion. As a result, domino’s regularly introduces sell-in schemes(promotional schemes for dealers), promotional coupon, festival offersetc.
Tricon International said, “Indians are value-sensitive, not price-sensitive. We need to offercomeback value to our customer. ” The high price was attributed to the high quality ofingredients used. For instance, Dominos sourced its Pepperoni and Jalapeno needs fromAustralia and Spain respectively. However,with competition increasing from Pizza Hut,Dominos introduced price cuts, discounts and freebies to attract the customers.
Promotional and advertisement campaigns
The pizza delivery business had traditionally been promotion driven. Coupons and discounts were offered by all pizza delivery chains to woo customers. Since its inception, Domino’s had been known for its unique promotions that included fast delivery and innovations to cater to a varied palette.
Use of technology Online sales accounted for over 70 percent of its total sales in 2008. Dominos planned to further exploit the increasing potential of the online medium as one of the promotional and distributional channels in the downturn.
Creative strategy
Latest in domino’s Kwality wall’s ice-creams in dominos- For the first time dominos started offering ice creams . Selling ice cream in Domino’s is also a new sales promotion strategy to attract more customer in a new perceptive/innovative way.
Domino’s has also come up with pasta mania. Latest in pizza hut Pizza Huts first campaign on television in July 2001, which said, “Good times start with great pizzas”. The ad was aired during all the important programs on Star Plus, Sony, Sony Max, Star Movies, HBO, AXN, and MTV. The first ad campaign on TV defines Pizza Hut as a brand, and what it offers to its existing and potential customers. Sales promotion Pizza Hut laid more emphasis on its “restaurant dining experience”. Pizza Hut localizes it menu to capture local Indian Market.
In 2000 Pizza Hut launched its innovative Pizza Pooch menu and Pizza Pooch Birthday Party package exclusively for kids in the 6-10 age groups. It positioned itself as family restaurant and also concentrated on wooing kids.
