Last year, Boston Pizza and Taxi gave us “Rib Stain Camo.” Next up could be a gas-powered pizza cutter.
Fast food fans across Canada are being urged to vote for the “next big pizza innovation” as part of Boston Pizza’s latest marketing campaign.
The campaign, Pizza Game Changers, not only features an extravagant “pizza cake,” but also quirky foodie accessories such as a gas-powered pizza cutter, pizza-flavoured mints in 27 flavours and a pizza-scented car freshener.
The products are showcased on a microsite, alongside new menu items, that asks people to vote if they want to make the unique concepts, developed by BP’s innovation team, a reality.
The company will create items that get the most votes, said Joanne Forrester, vice-president of marketing at Boston Pizza. Forrester said coming up with new ideas is key to staying on top of the ultra-competitive food industry.
“We need to keep giving people a reason to come back, and generate buzz around our menu,” she said. “The campaign allows people the opportunity to take the reins and tell us what pizza innovation they’d like to see next.”
Currently the pizza cake is top of the ranks, and Forrester said BP’s chef is currently working to see what combinations will taste the best.
“It’s our 50th anniversary this summer, so it’s likely the cake will make an appearance,” she said.
New menu items include the pizza taco, which comes in two flavours and has pizza dough for a shell.
A 30-second TV spot introduces Boston Pizza’s “chief pizza innovator” who reminisces on things that worked and some that didn’t (toppings on toppings), and introduces the pizza taco.
Other new menu items include sriracha chicken pizza—a pizza topped with sriracha sauce and chicken, mozzarella and sesame seeds—the calzono and pizzaburger sliders. For dessert, there’s a candied-bacon carrot cake.
The campaign also includes online banners, page takeovers, social media and Raptor and NHL playoff sponsorships. Taxi Canada created and produced the creative, with UM executing the media strategy and High Road Communications handling public relations.
