The genius of risk.

Domino’s Pizza announced last week that their fourth quarter profits had doubled. How? According to them, their success is due to a new recipe and some very unexpected advertising.

Domino’s Pizza is one brave brand.

The pizza maker was facing a problem that first made itself clear through monitoring of social media sites, where people were openly bashing their brand. Focus groups confirmed it – people were unhappy with the taste of Domino’s pizza. And they weren’t shy about it, either.

Domino’s decided to take this knowledge to heart and redo their recipe from scratch. Something notable in its own right. But this is an advertising blog, so let’s focus on how they spread the word about this new recipe, shall we?

Domino’s created a campaign that would put its detractors front and center. The ads featured stunned Domino’s execs listening in on focus groups and reading social media mentions about how bad people thought their pizza tasted. Domino’s head chef (actually he’s their VP/Innovation, but that’s another story) is shown on camera saying, “that one really hits you in the gut,” after a focus group member compares Domino’s crust to a cardboard box.

The spots are shocking in their honesty. We can’t think of another recent brand that has so openly discussed their flaws. The spots even end with a tagline that, although a bit cheesy, really hits the message home:

“Oh yes we did.”

Indeed. This approach demonstrates a core understanding about today’s conversation economy – people are talking, so you better listen. Putting your head in the sand and pretending that people aren’t openly discussing (or bashing/loving/laughing at) your brand – and that this discussion doesn’t affect your brand in some way – is just wrong.

Our hat’s off to Domino’s for having the courage to be brave. It usually works.

video from Adweek.com

What do you think? Drop us a comment below.