Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 38
Grow Market Lead
Connecting
with
customers
By Jack Mackey
Hungry Howie’s
Moves Ahead
“Flavored Crust Pizza” celebrates 40 years
E
arlier this year, there was
an inspiring celebration of
the American Dream—and
a tinge of sadness, too—as
Hungry Howie’s Pizza marked its 40th
anniversary. The company was founded
by Jim Hearn (aka Howie, but I’ll get
to that at the end of this column) in
1973 in Taylor, Mich.
Steve Jackson, who delivered pizza for that very first location, joined
forces with Hearn to open the second
location in 1976, and the pair began
franchising Hungry Howie’s Pizza in
1982. Today, there are 575 units open
in 22 states, and Jackson is president
of the company. The business is focused on carry-out and delivery and
is known as the home of “Flavored
Crust Pizza.”
Since Hungry Howie’s has 20-,
30-, and 40-year-old locations, it’s
safe to say the product is a proven
winner. But having a 40-year tradition brings special challenges, too. To
grow, it is essential to constantly refresh the brand. To compete with the
big national chains for a larger market
share, Jackson and his team developed
a wholistic growth strategy focused on
getting and keeping more customers.
The effort includes a new store prototype that has a fresh, contemporary
look and feel. As new locations open
and existing units convert to the new
look, the company’s national ad fund
is committed to aggressive marketing
to increase positive awareness and
ultimately drive more traffic, more
trial, and more sales.
The plan has to be customized
by market because Hungry Howie’s
has heavy concentration in Michigan
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Franchiseupdate Iss u e III, 2 0 1 3
and Florida, where broadcast makes
sense, but that mode of marketing is
not feasible across all markets in 22
states. Where broadcast marketing
makes sense, Hungry Howie’s aims
to connect with the female consumer
who is typically making the buying
decisions for her family. They’ve developed TV ads with a funny, quirky
“Howie’s Ad Agency” format (check
them out on YouTube), and bought
high-visibility TV programming during “The Voice,” “Modern Family,”
and even the Super Bowl.
In the emerging or less mature
markets, the company is committed
to “brutally defending” the mailbox
with very targeted direct mail promotions that consistently build the brand
and sell the goods. Couponing is a
fact of life in the world of pizza, and
the company goes head-to-head with
the big chains. Howie’s competes by
leveraging its differentiated product
with distinctive creative materials,
delivered when it matters.
One of the strongest ways the brand
connects with its target female customers is through a program that
has been going on since 2009: Love,
Hope, & Pizza. Back in those dismal
days of the recession, competitors
were cutting prices—and sometimes
quality, too. Howie’s took a different
approach: they printed 13 million
pink pizza boxes in support of the
National Breast Cancer Foundation.
For the month of October, they donated $1 to the NBCF for every large
pizza ordered and additional money
when customers purchased pink breast
cancer awareness ribbons at Hungry
Howie’s locations. Hungry Howie’s
added 200,000 Facebook fans, and
some video testimonials were shared
by 2 million viewers.
The financial results: Hungry Howie’s donated more than $200,000 to
help women detect and prevent cancer.
Also, the company has experienced 11
consecutive quarters of comp sales
growth, with percentage increases far
above the industry average.
To keep the momentum going, the
company is launching “Howie Doing?” This is a system-wide customer
experience measurement program
to convert more of their hard-won
new customers into repeat customers, repeat customers into regulars,
and regulars into brand advocates.
With the near-universal adoption of
smartphones, customers can not only
take a survey on their mobile device
about their most recent experience, the
brand’s true advocates also can share
their recommendations directly from
the survey to social media and review
sites. The vision is that marketing and
operations are working hand-in-hand
to build the business by providing a
distinctive—and superior—customer
experience at every stage of customer
engagement.
Now about the company’s name.
Back in the 1970s, the busiest restaurant
in Ypsilanti, Mich., was called Hungry
Charlie’s. And when Jim Hearn was
just in his thirties, his even younger
managers were in awe of his success
in business. They nicknamed him
“Howie,” after the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. Thus the name.
And the tinge of sadness I mentioned? Jim Hearn, whose remarkable
career inspired so many others to reach
for the American Dream, died j \