Jennifer Roath May 10, 2009

I. Domino’s Pizza Since 1960 when Domino’s was associated with only one store, the company

has grown to provide a variety of quickly-delivered hot food items to customers on every continent

(Corporate Profile, 2008). The company prides itself for its innovation of items such as the

“spoodle” for quickly spreading pizza sauce and even the three-dimensional car-top sign used on

delivery vehicles and taxis (Corporate Profile, 2008). The company now uses franchises and has

recently become more aware of the need to focus on offering exceptional service to differentiate

itself from the many pizza delivery chain options that are available (White, 2005).

In the following paper, I will analyze the Wall Street Journal article “New Recipe: To Keep

Employees, Domino's Decides It's Not All About Pay,” about the company’s awareness of this

service need (White 2005). As a loose guideline, I will be analyzing Domino’s with the

SERVQUAL “Gap” model developed by Zeithmal (1990). In addition, I will incorporate analysis of

the recently publicized YouTube video of two Domino’s employees performing disgusting acts on

food that would be delivered to customers (Levick, 2009).

II. Customer Needs The most basic element of Domino’s marketing mix relies on the

understanding of the needs and wants of the customer. They recognize that the customer wants the

right pizza delivered to their door within a short period of time and while still hot. This business

model has developed as a result of the changing cultural marketing environment. Families are now

defined by much more than a father, mother, and two children; more members of the family work

full-time. For these reasons and other cultural shifts, there has been a move toward consumer

demand for fast, easy, and prepared foods. The core benefit sought from this combination of pizza

product and delivery service is convenience, which Domino’s has recognized and strives to provide

for customers.

III. Services In order to meet the aforementioned needs, Domino’s and other fast-food providers

are increasingly recognizing the need to provide outstanding customer service in addition to the

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food products in order to build a loyal and satisfied customer base. This alludes to the product-

service continuum developed by Lovelock (2007). Fast-food restaurants tend to fall in the middle of

this continuum and offer about 50% product and 50% service; in the pizza delivery industry, there is

a larger portion of the total value that is derived from services. In addition to the product marketing

mix, services marketing also includes elements of people, process, and presentation (Simpson,

2009). White’s article focuses on the people element of the marketing mix as Domino’s works to

build its reputation in this area (2005). In addition, it is important to note that people affect the

process and presentation to the degree that they represent the image and actions that Domino’s built.

Services are classified as intangible, inseparable, variable, and perishable (Armstrong and

Kotler, 2009). This means that Domino’s employees must provide a pleasant experience for

customers and demonstrate their willingness to exceed expectations if Domino’s is to be the

distinguished pizza delivery company. This guideline, in addition to the expectation that employees

are patient, polite, and treat customers with respect refers to the service quality specifications set by

Domino’s (Zeithmal, 1990 and White, 2005). Service provision and excellence, when defined in

these four words, requires the buy-in of every employee to create a unified image of a company

(Armstrong and Kotler, 2009). This is the actual service delivery and the company must recognize

and close the gap between the delivery and service quality specifications so that the perceived

service provision meets expected service (Zeithmal, 1990).

In order to increase service satisfaction for customers, Domino’s provides employees with a

pin that labels them as a “qualified pizza maker” after specified training has taken place (White,

2005). This token is encouraging for employees, but most importantly ensures that there is product

consistency and that customers get the impression that these employees know what they are doing.

Also, managers seeking promotion are now required to take skill and management-style tests, which

is followed by training for their weak areas (White, 2005). However, a 2009 Wall Street Journal

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article pointed to the issues that can be caused by such tests, including projecting a personal image

that the individual believes is desired rather than his or her true personality (O’Connell). Finally,

White explains the use of information systems in Domino’s stores that track employee performance

related to meeting customer needs, such as speed to deliver and number of pizzas made (2005). This

is evidently a beneficial system because it rewards employees based on organizational goals.

IV. People in Services In order to provide excellent service, organizations must understand that

they must focus on their front-line employees and management first. This involves hiring the right

people who fit the company culture and are service-oriented; training them and providing them with

the right tools to serve the customer; and retaining those people as satisfied and engaged employees

(Heskett et al., 1994). It is costly financially and in terms of invested time and knowledge to hire

and train an employee to have him or her leave for another company.

According to the Entrepreneur website, Domino’s franchisees are able to receive training

and provide training to employees from corporate (2009). This refers to interactive marketing, or

how front-line employees are trained to work with customers and satisfy their needs (Simpson,

2009, slide 63).The idealized goal for Domino’s may look like the engaged and knowledgeable

employees at the Art Store as highlighted in a Small Business School episode (2009). With training

and passion for what they sell, these employees can help customers find what they need and leave

satisfied. They represent the ultimate front-line face for a company. However, the challenge for

Domino’s and other fast-food restaurants is to translate this engagement into a fast-food, high

turnover environment. White reports that store managers are recognizing the need to have satisfied

employees in order to retain them longer, and are therefore providing tea in store break rooms,

building relationships with their employees, and even going so far as to buy a pet fish for a store

because an employee talked passionately about his pets (2005).

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A 2006 Wall Street Journal article focused on the oft used phrase “customer service” that is

rarely delivered as promised, in this case in the telecommunications industry (Hymowitz).

Executives and consultants suggested the use of rewards for service well-done and frequent training

(Hymowitz, 2006 and Heskett, 1994). In addition it is important to hire employees that fit the

culture of service that Domino’s wishes to convey (Hymowitz, 2006 and Heskett, 1994).

V. Recent Publicity and Public Relations In the April 21, 2009 issue of BusinessWeek, there was

an article describing the disturbing behavior of Domino’s employees at a North Carolina location

who videotaped themselves defacing and proceeded to post it on YouTube (Levick). In addition,

when one performs a Google search of “Domino’s Pizza,” the most prominent item in the results

list, which appear right after the corporate website, are two YouTube videos called “Disgusting

Domino’s People: Domino’s Responds,” and “Dirty, Dirty Domino’s” (2009).

Evidently this is not the image that Domino’s strives to portray to the public and its

customers. Of note in these occurrences is the role that social networking and viral spreading took

in instantly broadcasting these videos and marring Domino’s brand and image (Solis, 2009). This

event highlights the impact that the internet now has on marketing and the change in the

technological environment that has led to this phenomenon. In fact, this technological environment

has even led to a new function within the company called the social media team (Smith, 2009).

The corporate response is another testament to the extreme integration of the internet and

social networking in the integrated marketing communications and especially public relations.

Domino’s was informed by a member of the Consumerist.com website that this video was being

circulated and executed a series of responses through a YouTube video and a Twitter account, all

led by Vice President of Communications Tim McIntyre (Solis, 2009). This crisis response is yet to

be determined successful or not, and Domino’s will need to work hard to recover an image of

quality food and service (Levick, 2009).

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VI. Employment Brand One of the key, often overlooked, areas of marketing is the employment

brand, which ideally positions the company as an employer of choice through a balanced and

exceptional compensation package and work environment, as well as opportunities for growth and

development. White’s article addressed the need to create a great workplace for employees in order

to retain them longer without increasing monetary compensation (White, 2005). This refers to

internal marketing which is the orientation and motivation of those front-line employees and

supporting managers to work as a team to satisfy the needs of customers (Simpson, 2009, slide 63).

The employment brand should attract the targeted employee; in this case Domino’s should attract

service-oriented people who are willing to devote some time to the company. A manager in White’s

article stated his belief that internal communication is what management is all about (White, 2005).

Employment brand, which is basically comprised of internal service quality and employee

satisfaction, translates directly to external company image and reputation (Heskett, 1994 and

Sullivan, 2005). In order to build and maintain a strong positive image, Domino’s recognizes that it

has to set itself apart as an employer through factors other than wages (White, 2005). Unlike

Starbucks that is willing to pay higher wages and create a positive work environment for front-line

employees, Domino’s is not willing to increase pay (White, 2005). With this decision, Domino’s

recognizes that employees can work at any other fast-food restaurant for the same pay, and thus

they must differentiate Domino’s as an employer of choice in this sector through other elements.

VII. Conclusion Though Domino’s set out to offering the best possible service to its customers a

few years ago by recognizing the role employees play in providing service, it is evidenced by recent

events that the company has not yet reached its goal. As the company continues down this path, it

will need to achieve buy-in from all employees and hire service-oriented team players to rebuild its

image. This demonstrates that internal and interactive marketing are as important as external

(Simpson, 2009).

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Jen,

Superb paper in terms of content and writing – clearly reflects a comprehensive understanding of
the course content and how it applies in the real world. Well chosen supporting references – first-
rate initiative and effort. Excellent reading.

Content: 80/80
Write: 20/20
Total: 100/100

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Jennifer Roath May 10, 2009

References

Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2009). Marketing : An introduction (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson Prentice Hall.

Burbary, Ken (2009, April 15). Domino’s Learning Painful Lession about the Social Era. Message

posted to http://www.kenburbary.com.

Careers (2008). Domino’s Pizza. Retrieved 7 May 2009 from http://www.dominos.com.

Corporate Profile (2008). Domino’s Pizza. Retrieved 7 May 2009 from http://www.dominos.com.

Entrepreneur.com (2009). Franchises: Domino’s Pizza LLC. Retrieved 5 May 2009 from

http://www.entrepreneur.com.

Heskett, J.L., L.A. Schlesinger, et al. (1994). Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work. Harvard

Business Review, March-April, pp. 164-174.

Hymowitz, Carol (2006). Everyone Likes to Laud Serving the Customer; Doing It Is the Problem.

Wall Street Journal, February 27, B1.

Levick, Richard S. (2009). Domino’s Discovers Social Media. Business Week, April 21.

Lovelock, Christopher (2007). Services Marketing. Prentice Hall, p. 11.

O’Connell, Vanessa (2009). Test for Dwindling Retail Jobs Spawns a Culture of Cheating. Wall

Street Journal (Eastern Edition). New York: January 7, p. A1.

Simpson, Merl (2009). Product Concepts [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from

http://www.sakai.plu.edu/portal/.

Small Business School (2009). The Art Store. PBS.

Smith, Mike (2009). Domino’s YouTube Crisis Response: Interview with Tim McIntyre. PR News

Online, April 27.

Solis, Brian. (2009). The Domino’s Effect. Retrieved from PR 2.0 8 May 2009 from

http://www.briansolis.com.

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Sullivan, John (2005). Rethinking Strategic HR. Chicago: CCH.

White, Erin (2005). New Recipe: To Keep Employees, Domino’s Decides It’s Not All About Pay.

Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition). New York: February 17, p. A1.

Zeithaml, Valarie A., A. Parasuraman, L. Berry. (1990). Delivering Quality Service. New York:

The Free Press.

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