The Domino Pizza Company - Essay Example

? The Domino Pizza Company By Background of the Organization Domino pizza is an American hotel or restaurant. It was established in nineteen sixty at the Domino farms office park campus in the United States near Michigan. It has more than ten thousand stores worldwide. James and his brother Tom Michigan were the first investors in this industry (Saxena, 2009, p.89). They bought a small store in Ypsilanti near eastern Michigan University for seventy five dollars as a down payment. The rest were cleared by borrowing five hundred dollars to pay for the store. The company was renamed domino’s Pizza, Inc. in 1967 by Monaghan. This company was growing upon adding a new dot for every addition of a new store. By the end of 1978, the company had expanded to two hundred stores (Saxena, 2009, p.90). After 38 years of ownership, Tom Managhan, the founder of Domino Pizza announced his retirement; he sold 93percent of the shares of the company to Bain Capital for $1Million. One year later, a new CEO by the name David A. Brandon was named. The number of outlets of Domino Pizza Company Domino pizza has quite a number of outlets; to start with, in 1983 the company opened its international store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In the year of 1985, the company opened its outlet in United Kingdom at a place called Luton. In the same year of 1985, they also opened another store in Tokyo, Japan. They continued expanding their locations in 1995, they had succeeded opening 1000 international locations worldwide, and they can open up to five stores in a day across five continents (Saxena, 2009, p. 67). From 2007 and 2012, the domino company has established in India with at least 1000 locations Products and Services After a period of 44years being held as a private company, Domino began trading in the New York stock exchange under the ticket symbol of DPZ. It also added other locations such as those found in Huntley, Illinois, Panama. Its history was that of hitting a target of three million dollars per year. In September two thousand and six, domino had 8238 stores wild wide totaling to a gross income of 1.4 billion dollars. In the year 2007, the domino came up with a new program of Veterana Delivering the dream franchising, and rolled out its earlier one of online and ordering sites. In 2008, it launched an online Pizza tracker which allows customers to view their status in a simulated real time. There is also another dining room opened in Stephenville which gives customers an opportunity to either eat their pizza or take it home. In the year 2012, the company removed the word Pizza from its logo. It introduced a new logo which removed the blue triangle and the text under the domino in the logo; it changed the all-red domino to blue on the side with two dots and a red on the side with one dot. The Domino Pizza has a variety of menu which it offers to customers. Traditional, specialty ad custom pizzas are available in many styles and toppings. It has launched an artisan style pizza which offers a blend of rich flavors. Other additional entrees include pasta, bread bowls and the oven-baked sand-wiches; it also offers chicken side dishes, breadsticks as well as the beverages and desserts (Pradhan, 2009, p. 459). The menu expansion occurred in 1989 after discovering that customers prefer thick crusts. It entered the market trend in relation to bite size foods with spicy Buffalo Chicken Kickers which are similar to the chicken fingers. They are packed in a designed box with two sauces; heat up and the cool down chicken. In the year 2010, the company launched a national 2 year partnership with Make-A-wish foundation of America. Following the September 11 attacks, the 12000 pizzas were able to relief workers. They also partnered with hospitals such as the St. Jude research hospital, participating in the thanks giving campaign. Mode of operation of Domino Pizza Company In august 2003, Dominos announced a new pizza, the Philly cheese steak pizza. It began partnership with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. It introduced Brooklyn Style Pizza in 2006. This featured a thinner crust, cornmeal baked to add to crispiness and the large slices which would be folded to fit the style of international New York Pizza. After the company’s fiftieth anniversary in 2010, it changed its pizza recipe from the crust up, thus making significant changes in the sauce, dough and the cheese which were used in their pizzas (Pradhan & Pradhan, 2009, p.87). They invented an advertisement campaign which admitted their earlier problems of pizza in terms of taste issues. In late 2009 after a stock low point, the company stock grew tremendously by 233 percent. The American economy had suffered and rates of unemployment had risen. The company’s sales rose through its efforts of rebranding and retooling its pizza. It serves the coca cola company and is among the big four pizza chain to do so. Its rivals or the competitors include the Papa John’s Pizza and the Little Caesars which were selling to coca cola since they were owned by PepsiCo (Williams, 2006, p.87). The management of domino comprises of by Patrick Doyle, who is the CEO and a former president of Domino’s USA. Among the eleven executive presidents are Michael Lawton, CFO; Steve Akinbore, team USA; Scott Hinshaw, Franchise operations development; and Kenneth Rollin. The Domino operations are overlooked by a board of directors which are led by Brandon. Business continuity concerns Domino is well known for its well advertising and sponsorship program. It was featured in the Noid; this was done by group 243 Inc who hired will Vinton studios to produce their advertisements on television. It developed a website network which gave the company 1000 free medium pizzas in March 2009. Being a company, the business and the owners operate independently thereby ensuring the sustainability and continuity of its operations irrespective of the financial and bankruptcy of the owners. Contribution of Domino Pizza Company to American Economy To start with, the company sponsored CART’s Doug Shearson Racingn and won the 1990 Indianapolis of five hundred. It sponsored the Michael Waltrip Racing and driver David Reutimann in the 20707 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In terms of service delivery, the Domino Pizza guarantees customers to receive their pizzas in the shortest time possible of thirty minutes once they place the order. It has opened several international operations in more than sixty countries. This increases the scope of the market share and also earns the country foreign exchange. Most of the people will get employment thus improving the returns to the economy in terms of the people’s living standards. The overall GDP of an economy will improve as a result of employment opportunities created and an improvement in the people’s living standards. Economically, the company has provided employment opportunities to a numbers of Americans both in senior managerial positions to lower ranks. These Americans therefore earn some income enough to enhance their living standards and support other financially. Besides, Domino Pizza, through its corporate social responsibility has significantly invested resources for the development and improvement of the societal social wellbeing (Pradhan & Pradhan, 2009, p.121). The main competitors of Domino Pizza Company The main competitor of Domino Pizza is the Pizza Hunter. This company was started by Gerry Hunter and has been in operation for 11 years. It is located down on the third street and it is the one which defines the downtown area. Some aspects which make this company so special include the employees, the fresh ingredients it produces and the customers. The 3rd St.Pizza has a moonlight theater that is located inside the building. This theater has a full size movie screen with 12 speakers which surround the rivals of the industry. The company also offers customers an opportunity to enjoy pizza and favorite beverage as they watch the big screen. They offer the best tasting pizza which was voted in the best of Mac survey in nineteen ninety seven. It offers the finest gourmet pizzas with fresh ingredients (Pradhan & Pradhan, 2009, p.76). When the customer feels hungry, what he or she does is placing an order or calling the stores as you browse on the best election of gourmet pizzas. Marketing Strategies of Domino Pizza Company The domino pizza marketing depends solely on the combination of digital technologies and the social media. This is accompanied by consistent menu pricing to help in maintaining the momentum for pizza chain (Haig, 2011, p. 98). Executives of Domino Pizza launched a new strategy called new inspired pizza. Weiner, a marketing executive also invented the mobile-optimized website which was used for online ordering, invented new audible formats for chains pizza tracker, smart phone and the table applications for ordering. The Hero game for the ipad which was launched in November is also used for marketing to drive sales, traffic with digital. Pricing Strategies The choice of the price you settle no has consequences to not only you but also your competitors. In the case your price is higher than that of the competitors, and then there is a higher possibility of your competitors experiencing an increase in profit due to the increase in the number of customers. Prices at the domino pizza are very much discounted though many think that they cannot afford them. Customer will get the pizza mania which has prices as low as $39. This company offers little prices so that every customer visiting it will always find an amicable price which fits his or her pocket. The company also uses the first, second, and third degrees of price discrimination in order to cater and accommodate the diversity in income and wealth distribution among its potential customers. This has been critical in retaining and attracting consumers irrespective of their income (Brand, & Robespierre, 2005, p.76). Distribution Strategy This strategy deals with the place you sell your products. It is very critical because it’s a key component towards increasing sells. The company has many branches all over the continent, where it has locations such as in India to also offer the Pizza services to people. It uses several strategies in distribution and majorly is the use of 7P’s. They include; Product to provide value to a customer and it involves introducing new products or improvising the existing products, Price must be competitive and profitable. Place refers to the place where the customers can buy the product, promotion involves the various ways of communicating to the customers on what the company has to offer, people refer to the customers, employees, management and everybody else involved in it, the process refers to the methods and process of providing a service, and physical or evidence which refers to the experience of using a product or service (Ray, 2010, p.56). Branding Strategies Domino Pizza uses specific demographics so as to be uniquely identified. It has launched a very good website so that to ensure that many people around the world are able to figure out what it gives. This aspect makes it enjoy monopoly since it has a distinct cording of its goods and services. The company also enhances this strategy by using layouts of modules. The reason why Domino Pizza emphasizes on branding of its products is because branding is an essential tool for strengthening the reputation and image of the organization among the potential customers and build strong image of its services and products in the competitive industry (Williams, 2006, p.59). Test Marketing Strategy Testing a new strategy helps in evaluating whether the new method is viable and economical. It is therefore necessary to always conduct a test hypothesis before implementing the market strategy. Domino Pizza embraces this strategy by ensuring that all the new business projects are evaluated before being implemented. Test marketing strategy is important for the organization as it allows Domino Pizza to evaluate the effectiveness of their intended long-term marketing strategies (Williams, 2006, p.56). Communication Creation The company exercises this market strategy by ensuring that there is an integrated channel of communication through each and every subsystem of the entire organization (Kapoor, Paul, & Halder, 2011, p.12). Meetings are always held in case of any information that needs to be channeled through. Communication is indeed a perfect tool towards attaining economic stability. Strengths of Domino Pizza Company It is an international company in the United States with a leading international presence, with over 19% share based on consumer spending. a) It has one of the best brands, which is recognized in the whole world. Consumers associate their products as quality, affordable and complementary side items. b) It has strong store level economies which are characterized by delivery and a carry-out oriented design. It has low capital requirements, affordable pizza and also complementary side items (Kapoor, Paul, & Halder, 2011, pp.81-2). c) It has a strong cash flow and earnings stream with a good percentage generated from franchises through royalty payments and revenues in carrying out an integrated vertical distribution channels. d) It has strong and proven growth and earnings model. Challenges of Domino Pizza Company a) The company faces great challenge from sow growth and decline in sales therefore affecting its profits b) The distribution channels are weak and needs to be strengthened to ensure market penetration in the existing markets. c) Another threat is the increasing consumer awareness about the harmful health implications which are associated with calorie fast food items. Customers fear to buy such foods since they have a lot of sugars and they pose a lot of health dangers in bodies of customers (Brand, & Robespierre, 2005, p.54). d) External investors pose a major challenge to the company though they also improve the company to some extent. These investors invest in the country but take with them higher interest rate which at the end affects the company financially (Brand, & Robespierre, 2005, p.44). Opportunities of Domino Pizza Company for future growth It has the following great value opportunities for growth; a) A business proven model which specifies the strong unit economics, it is cheap to open it, and has strong cash on returns. b) The prime territories are available to build more stores or buy existing stores and a good spacious area for development. c) It has the value added supply chain system to ensure quality and consistency, leverage purchasing power, and profit sharing with its franchises. d) It has strong brand awareness with a focused menu and a leading technology, to ensure efficient operations by use of web designed reporting, labor management tools and the online ordering and lending process (Brand, & Robespierre, 2005, p.43). e) It has training and a support system especially for the new and existing franchisees operating in business. f) The company believes in Community involvement, whereby the members will help in times of hardship and diversity. Conclusion Domino Pizza Company is the leading company not only in the United States but also in the entire world in offering the Pizza services. It has contributed economically through the employment of many people who otherwise are unemployed (Kellow, 2011, p. 786). Among the factors which have enabled the Pizza Company to succeed include; proper planning, clear communication within the company, implementation of open door policy, staff empowerment, partnership within other companies ,cooperatives sector, good and visionary leadership, and updated ICT systems. List of reference Brand, H., & Robespierre, E. (2005). The yummy hunter's guide: The best-tasting, low-calorie foods, and where to shop for them, 2005. Halesite, NY: Romax Pub. Haig, M., & Haig, M. (2011). Brand success: How the world's top 100 brands thrive and survive. London: Koran Page. Hitt, M. A., Hoskisson, R. E., & Ireland, R. D. (2013). Strategic management: Competitiveness & globalization : cases. 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