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NOVEMBER 2009




STREET SMARTS FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR




              INSIDE   ´
                                       THE
             PIZZA PATRON
                   IDEA
                    FACTORY
                 How a scrappy Texas chain
               built a culture where creativity—
                        and sales—thrive


                                Local marketing
                                   done right

                             Finding
                           growth capital now
´
                                                       PIZZA PATRÓN'S



                                                       BIG   The bright and
                                                            agile Texas-based
                                                                chain is
                                                             giving national
                                                            competitors a run
                                                             for their money
                                                            one well-executed
                                                              idea at a time




Restaurant Business November 2009 www.monkeydish.com
                 |              |
IDEAS
BY DANA TANYE R I


        NTONIO SWAD BELIEVES STRONGLY IN THE


A          importance of focus and the power
           of a good idea. His 23-year-old
Dallas-based company, Pizza Patrón, has an
abundance of both. Sitting today at 90-plus units
and growing, the chain was founded on one big,
sharply focused idea—catering specifically
to Hispanics with festive, Latin-themed carryout
pizza shops that don’t just sell products, but serve the communities in which they operate.
   It’s not what Swad set out to do; he’s not even Hispanic. His dream was simply to open a great
little carryout pizza shop. He just happened to open that shop in a predominantly Hispanic
neighborhood where customers’ young kids were often brought in to translate for their parents.
   “I quickly recognized the opportunity to do a much better job of servicing this customer, of
going beyond simple things like learning to communicate,” he says. “At that moment, Pizza Patrón
was born. Patron is a word that in Spanish means a benevolent leader of the community. It was
exactly how I wanted to position the brand.”




                                                                             www.monkeydish.com November 2009 Restaurant Business0
                                                                                               |              |
Within a few years, Swad                                                                                reinforcing Pizza Patrón’s
          expanded Pizza Patrón to                                                                                   Hispanic brand positioning,
          four units in the Dallas/Fort                                                                              it took the team 14 days
          Worth market, strategically                                                                                to take it from the initial
          locating in neighborhoods                                                                                  ideation discussion to rolling
          with a strong Hispanic                                                                                     it out systemwide, fully sup-
          demographic. In 2003, after                                                                                ported with training guides,
          spending a few more years                                                                                  merchandising materials
          developing and selling off                                                                                 and TV ad support.
          another hit concept, Wing                                                                                     “The idea was suggested
          Stop, Swad returned to focus                                                                               by an industry friend that
          full-time on growing Pizza                          THE EXECUTIVE TEAM FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:                 summer, but it was mid-
          Patrón. He formed a licens-
                                                      ANDREW GAMM, BRAND DIRECTOR; ANTONIO SWAD, FOUNDER;            December before I said any-
                                                                  GUILLERMO ESTRADA, PRESIDENT;
          ing company, assembled                    (ERNESTO HERNANDEZ, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, NOT PICTURED)        thing to the team,” Swad
          “the best team I’ve ever had,”                                                                             says. “Then we all got excited
          and began slugging it out in the uber-competitive pizza                  about it and decided it was timely, as many of our cus-
          segment armed with unique positioning and plenty of                      tomers travel to Mexico to visit family over Christmas and
          creative spunk.                                                          come back with leftover pesos. Andy and his team quickly
             Some of their recent marketing moves have been jaw-                   created point-of-sale materials and a currency exchange
          droppingly bold and just as effective. They garnered the                 chart, got them printed and shipped within a couple of
          kind of national press they could never have afforded to                 days. We wrote up a short manual for franchisees and
          buy when they began accepting pesos in 2007. And this                    managers on what the program is and how it works. We
          summer they started selling 12-inch pepperoni pizzas for                 started accepting pesos in every unit on January 8.
          $2.99, a risky endeavor that nonetheless led to record sales.            Because all of our creative is handled in-house we can
             It’s all about differentiation, says brand director Andrew            take an idea, develop it fully and roll it out quickly.”
          Gamm. And it’s about achieving it with the equivalent of a                  That one hastily executed idea garnered Pizza Patrón
          rock in a sling shot compared to resources wielded by larger             more national and international brand exposure than a
          rivals. There’s no outside agency, no big R&D budget. Just a             company its size could dream of affording on its own.
          small internal team that loves a good street fight and thrives           While pesos now account for probably less than 2 percent
          on ideas that enable Pizza Patrón to serve its niche, contin-            of sales, Gamm says Pizza Patrón garnered more than
          ue to grow and occasionally thumb its nose at the big guys.              500 million media impressions valued at more than $30
             Swad maintains a culture that welcomes input and ideas                million in the months following the promotion’s rollout.
          from all employees at every level, which he says he gets                 The cost to implement it? Roughly $40 per store for a kit
          informally on an almost daily basis. He’s accessible, inter-             of marketing materials.
          ested and insists that everyone abide by one rule when                      It’s exactly that type of scrappy, easy-to-plug-in idea that
          ideas are being discussed: Nothing said will ever be held                Pizza Patrón likes best—particularly as it fits so well into
          against you. “It removes the fear of speaking up or sound-               its corporate mission of providing value to its core Hispanic
          ing stupid,” he says. “I have a responsibility as the ultimate           customer base. And it’s not a stand-alone example.
          filter, but I also have a responsibility to keep that
          environment alive. I see my No. 1 job as creating                                            PIZZA PESO. Approached to partner
          urgency, keeping the pot stirred. If I can main-                                             with Dolex Dollar Exchange, a currency-
          tain an environment in which there is no such                                              exchange company that caters to the
          thing as a bad idea, good things happen.”                                                    Hispanic market, Pizza Patrón created
                                                                                                          Pizza Peso coupons designed to look




          A
                   MONG PIZZA PATRÓN’S BIGGEST ASSETS                                                        like Mexican currency. For six months
                   is leanness and the speed with                                                               in the Dallas/Fort Worth market,
                   which it can shape ideas, get                                                                   all Dolex customers received
                   cross-functional input, analyze                                                                     with their receipt a coupon
          implications and bring them to market—                                                                                 good for $1 off at
          often in less time than it takes many compa-                                                                                  Pizza Patrón.
          nies to pull together a single meeting.                                                                                       “It was a
             A case in point: In 2007, Pizza Patrón                                                                                    good way for
          launched “Pizza for Pesos." Hugely                                                                                          Dolex to
          successful at generating publicity and                                                                                      show customer



Restaurant Business November 2009 www.monkeydish.com
                 |              |
appreciation and it worked for us to drive customers to our               we had to do something quick,” Gamm says. “Something”
          stores and develop brand awareness in our key demographic,”               was either develop a new product or adjust the existing
          Gamm says. During the six months, Pizza Patrón garnered                   product and revert to the $5 price point. The team chose
          at least 300,000 positive brand impressions. Dolex is now                 the former, opting to develop a new line of $4 one-topping
          working on a new credit card program and Gamm says                        12-inch pies that hit two targets—satisfying value-conscious
          long-term national tie-ins between the two compa-                                    customers and slipping in just under competitors’
          nies are likely. “Any time we can find a partnership                                 $5 price point.
          like this, it’s relatively inexpensive and both brands                                In true Patrón style, it came together quickly. “It
          can deliver value through trade. That’s important                                  took about three weeks from the time we decided
          when you have very limited resources.”                                            to create a $4 pizza product until we began retailing
                                                                                           them in our first test stores,” Gamm says. In that
                   AMIGO PIZZA. From its start, Pizza                                     time, the internal team developed recipes, defined
                   Patrón sold just one pizza size—extra-                                and sourced new equipment and pizza boxes and
          large, 15-inch pies. With one topping, they were                             got all inventory items into the company’s distribution
          value-priced at $5. But last year, when commodity prices                    centers. The Amigo brand name, unique identity and
          skyrocketed, the chain was forced to raise that price to                  core messaging were created, as were all supporting
          $6. “We saw an immediate decline in business and knew                     marketing materials, store displays and print advertising.
                                                                                                                  Menu boards were updated,
                                                                                                                  as well.

         The need for speed                                                                                              DIA DEL PATRON.   ´
         Part of Pizza Patron’s successful execution of big ideas is its speed. Within days the
                             ´                                                                                           Kicked off this summer,
         fruits of ideation can be made into reality. Check out the stats.                                       Pizza Patrón sought to build
                                                                                                                 market share with a promotion
           BIG IDEA           Description              Turnaround                   Payoff                       that offered unlimited fresh-
                                                                                                                 baked, 12-inch pepperoni
           Pizza for          The chain began          14 days from ideation to     500 million media            pizzas for $2.99 on Mondays,
           Pesos              accepting Pesos          systemwide rollout           impressions valued           Tuesdays and Wednesdays
                                                                                    at more than $30 mil-
                                                                                                                 in select markets through
                                                                                    lion, at a cost to the
                                                                                                                 October. “The genesis of the
                                                                                    chain of roughly $40
                                                                                    per store                    idea was that we wanted a
                                                                                                                 compelling way to get more
           Amigo              New product: a $4,       3 weeks from                 Reversed declining           pizzas out of each of our
           Pizza              12-inch, one-topping     conception to first          sales after raising it’s     stores and into the market. We
                              pizza                    store testing                $5, 15-inch to $6 due        thought that the simplest way
                                                                                    to commodity prices          to do that was with an offer
                                                                                                                 that was unique to the pizza
           Dia Del            Unlimited 12-inch        Less than 30 days            Record sales and a
           Patron
               ´              pepperoni pizzas         between initial idea and     25% increase in              segment, something nobody
                              for $2.99 on             its rollout in test stores   pizzas sold at some          else was doing and that
                              Mondays, Tuesdays                                     locations                    would likely be impossible for
                              and Wednesdays                                                                     competitors to touch,” Gamm
                                                                                                                 says. “We needed a strong
           American           New units                “We finalized the agree-     Exclusive pizza              hook on price and wanted it
           Airlines           at Dallas arena          ment on a Monday….           vendor at the                to be something from our
           Center                                      By Thursday of that          second-highest
                                                                                                                 existing menu that even at a
                                                       week, all six outlets        grossing indoor
                                                                                                                 discount would have a rela-
                                                       were re-branded, new         arena in the nation
                                                       signs were hung,
                                                                                                                 tively good food cost.”
                                                         pans needed for the                                        The team chose the 12-inch
                                                         personal deep-dish                                      Amigo pepperoni pizza.
                                                         pizzas were manufac-                                    Franchisees and operations
                                                       tured and shipped, and                                    personnel provided input,
                                                       we were selling pizza.”                                   extra 12-inch pans were
                                                                                                                 ordered and workflows were
                                                                                                                 altered to handle anticipated



Restaurant Business November 2009 www.monkeydish.com
                 |              |
volume spikes. In less than 30 days from initial ideation,
the promotion was in test in company-owned stores in
Dallas. “We saw positive results the first day, so we rolled
the dice and began developing support materials,” Gamm
says. “We had pieces ready to go when we got data back
from our corporate store field tests so we could pull the
trigger in other markets in a matter of days. Vendors
were lined up ahead of time with all of the pieces ready
for our franchisees to run with it.”
   Thanks to Dia del Patrón, the company’s Dallas-Fort
Worth market saw record results this summer. Comp sales
rose 11.9 percent in July, and 13 percent in August over
the same months last year. Some individual stores did 115
                                                                              PIZZA PATRÓN AT THE AMERICAN AILINES CENTER
to 120 percent more sales this July and August than they
did last year. Total number of pies sold overall rose by 25       Patron, for instance, we worried people would trade
percent in July and August, and some individual stores            down and check averages would suffer, that the $8 pizza
went from selling an average of 140 pies over the typical         we would have sold would now be a $2.99 sale,” says
Monday through Wednesday period to selling 500 or 600.            Gamm. “We ran ‘what if’ models: What if we lose 15 per-
                                                                  cent of our other sales? What if Thursday through
          AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER. One of the                    Sunday we lose 20 percent of sales? We model out all of
          biggest feathers in Pizza Patrón’s cap of late is its   our ideas and decide what we can live with. Ultimately,
selection as exclusive pizza vendor at Dallas’ American           however, you go into a lot of things not knowing what’s
Airlines Center, the second-highest grossing indoor arena         going to happen and having to take some risks.”
in the nation. Now in its second year there, the chain               Pizza Patrón’s next big idea is one that Gamm says is
operates six units and this year remodeled each with vibrant      truly groundbreaking. Called Quick Service Pizza (QSP),
colors and Latin themes designed by Gamm to replicate             it’s a new business model that takes custom-made pizza
the look and feel of traditional Pizza Patrón units.              into the drive-thru arena. To date, two QSP stores are
    “Most of the people attending events there are not going      operating in the San Antonio market and both are setting
to be Hispanic, and it’s a departure for us,” Swad says. “But     systemwide sales records.
it’s an example of a way for us broaden our base while still         Key to the success of the concept is fast-bake oven technolo-
maintaining our brand focus. We didn’t try to dumb down           gy developed in partnership with a leading manufacturer. “It
the fact that we’re a Hispanic brand. Just the opposite. We       allows us to custom make a fresh pizza, have it fully cooked
turned the knob way up. If we couch this brand focus              and finished in just over three minutes,” Swad says. “The
correctly, it puts a smile on everyone’s face” because people     idea for QSP evolved as we tried to get a handle on how to
realize the Hispanic focus doesn’t exclude others.                best leverage this new technology to build our brand. We
    The American Airlines Center deal is also an example of       think it’s where future growth in the pizza industry will be
Pizza Patrón’s ability to execute at dizzying speeds. “We         and we’re positioning ourselves ahead of the curve.”
finalized the agreement on a Monday by phone from Las                In addition to drive-thru, the QSP units feature lobby
Vegas,” Swad says. “By Thursday,                                                   and walk-up window service. And each
all six outlets were re-branded,                                                   has outdoor seating designed to meet the
new signs were hung, pans needed                                                   company’s goal of being not just conven-
for the personal deep-dish pizzas                                                 ient, but community-oriented. “Late at night,
were manufactured and shipped,                                                    we can keep the walk-ups and outdoor
and we were selling pizza.”                                                                seating open. It makes for a real nice
    While the company is                                                                   community-based feel for those
quick to act on ideas and                                                                  locations,” Gamm says. “That’s a
opportunities, it doesn’t                                                                  great way to serve our core
do so cavalierly. Ideation                                                                 Hispanic family demographic,
sessions always include                                                                    which remains at the heart and
plenty of discussion of                                                                    soul of every idea we come up with
worst case scenarios, of                                                                   and every decision we make.”
supply-chain issues and
potential impact on                                                                      CHECK OUT WEB EXCLUSIVES FOR
                                                                                         THIS STORY IN THE REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
operations. “With Dia del                                                                AT WWW.MONKEYDISH.COM/GO/NOV09




                                                                                                 www.monkeydish.com November 2009 Restaurant Business
                                                                                                                   |              |




                             NEXT UP: DRIVE THRU PIZZA

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Restaurant Business magazine features Pizza Patrón as November's cover story.

  • 1. NOVEMBER 2009 STREET SMARTS FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR INSIDE ´ THE PIZZA PATRON IDEA FACTORY How a scrappy Texas chain built a culture where creativity— and sales—thrive Local marketing done right Finding growth capital now
  • 2. ´ PIZZA PATRÓN'S BIG The bright and agile Texas-based chain is giving national competitors a run for their money one well-executed idea at a time Restaurant Business November 2009 www.monkeydish.com | |
  • 3. IDEAS BY DANA TANYE R I NTONIO SWAD BELIEVES STRONGLY IN THE A importance of focus and the power of a good idea. His 23-year-old Dallas-based company, Pizza Patrón, has an abundance of both. Sitting today at 90-plus units and growing, the chain was founded on one big, sharply focused idea—catering specifically to Hispanics with festive, Latin-themed carryout pizza shops that don’t just sell products, but serve the communities in which they operate. It’s not what Swad set out to do; he’s not even Hispanic. His dream was simply to open a great little carryout pizza shop. He just happened to open that shop in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood where customers’ young kids were often brought in to translate for their parents. “I quickly recognized the opportunity to do a much better job of servicing this customer, of going beyond simple things like learning to communicate,” he says. “At that moment, Pizza Patrón was born. Patron is a word that in Spanish means a benevolent leader of the community. It was exactly how I wanted to position the brand.” www.monkeydish.com November 2009 Restaurant Business0 | |
  • 4. Within a few years, Swad reinforcing Pizza Patrón’s expanded Pizza Patrón to Hispanic brand positioning, four units in the Dallas/Fort it took the team 14 days Worth market, strategically to take it from the initial locating in neighborhoods ideation discussion to rolling with a strong Hispanic it out systemwide, fully sup- demographic. In 2003, after ported with training guides, spending a few more years merchandising materials developing and selling off and TV ad support. another hit concept, Wing “The idea was suggested Stop, Swad returned to focus by an industry friend that full-time on growing Pizza THE EXECUTIVE TEAM FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: summer, but it was mid- Patrón. He formed a licens- ANDREW GAMM, BRAND DIRECTOR; ANTONIO SWAD, FOUNDER; December before I said any- GUILLERMO ESTRADA, PRESIDENT; ing company, assembled (ERNESTO HERNANDEZ, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, NOT PICTURED) thing to the team,” Swad “the best team I’ve ever had,” says. “Then we all got excited and began slugging it out in the uber-competitive pizza about it and decided it was timely, as many of our cus- segment armed with unique positioning and plenty of tomers travel to Mexico to visit family over Christmas and creative spunk. come back with leftover pesos. Andy and his team quickly Some of their recent marketing moves have been jaw- created point-of-sale materials and a currency exchange droppingly bold and just as effective. They garnered the chart, got them printed and shipped within a couple of kind of national press they could never have afforded to days. We wrote up a short manual for franchisees and buy when they began accepting pesos in 2007. And this managers on what the program is and how it works. We summer they started selling 12-inch pepperoni pizzas for started accepting pesos in every unit on January 8. $2.99, a risky endeavor that nonetheless led to record sales. Because all of our creative is handled in-house we can It’s all about differentiation, says brand director Andrew take an idea, develop it fully and roll it out quickly.” Gamm. And it’s about achieving it with the equivalent of a That one hastily executed idea garnered Pizza Patrón rock in a sling shot compared to resources wielded by larger more national and international brand exposure than a rivals. There’s no outside agency, no big R&D budget. Just a company its size could dream of affording on its own. small internal team that loves a good street fight and thrives While pesos now account for probably less than 2 percent on ideas that enable Pizza Patrón to serve its niche, contin- of sales, Gamm says Pizza Patrón garnered more than ue to grow and occasionally thumb its nose at the big guys. 500 million media impressions valued at more than $30 Swad maintains a culture that welcomes input and ideas million in the months following the promotion’s rollout. from all employees at every level, which he says he gets The cost to implement it? Roughly $40 per store for a kit informally on an almost daily basis. He’s accessible, inter- of marketing materials. ested and insists that everyone abide by one rule when It’s exactly that type of scrappy, easy-to-plug-in idea that ideas are being discussed: Nothing said will ever be held Pizza Patrón likes best—particularly as it fits so well into against you. “It removes the fear of speaking up or sound- its corporate mission of providing value to its core Hispanic ing stupid,” he says. “I have a responsibility as the ultimate customer base. And it’s not a stand-alone example. filter, but I also have a responsibility to keep that environment alive. I see my No. 1 job as creating PIZZA PESO. Approached to partner urgency, keeping the pot stirred. If I can main- with Dolex Dollar Exchange, a currency- tain an environment in which there is no such exchange company that caters to the thing as a bad idea, good things happen.” Hispanic market, Pizza Patrón created Pizza Peso coupons designed to look A MONG PIZZA PATRÓN’S BIGGEST ASSETS like Mexican currency. For six months is leanness and the speed with in the Dallas/Fort Worth market, which it can shape ideas, get all Dolex customers received cross-functional input, analyze with their receipt a coupon implications and bring them to market— good for $1 off at often in less time than it takes many compa- Pizza Patrón. nies to pull together a single meeting. “It was a A case in point: In 2007, Pizza Patrón good way for launched “Pizza for Pesos." Hugely Dolex to successful at generating publicity and show customer Restaurant Business November 2009 www.monkeydish.com | |
  • 5. appreciation and it worked for us to drive customers to our we had to do something quick,” Gamm says. “Something” stores and develop brand awareness in our key demographic,” was either develop a new product or adjust the existing Gamm says. During the six months, Pizza Patrón garnered product and revert to the $5 price point. The team chose at least 300,000 positive brand impressions. Dolex is now the former, opting to develop a new line of $4 one-topping working on a new credit card program and Gamm says 12-inch pies that hit two targets—satisfying value-conscious long-term national tie-ins between the two compa- customers and slipping in just under competitors’ nies are likely. “Any time we can find a partnership $5 price point. like this, it’s relatively inexpensive and both brands In true Patrón style, it came together quickly. “It can deliver value through trade. That’s important took about three weeks from the time we decided when you have very limited resources.” to create a $4 pizza product until we began retailing them in our first test stores,” Gamm says. In that AMIGO PIZZA. From its start, Pizza time, the internal team developed recipes, defined Patrón sold just one pizza size—extra- and sourced new equipment and pizza boxes and large, 15-inch pies. With one topping, they were got all inventory items into the company’s distribution value-priced at $5. But last year, when commodity prices centers. The Amigo brand name, unique identity and skyrocketed, the chain was forced to raise that price to core messaging were created, as were all supporting $6. “We saw an immediate decline in business and knew marketing materials, store displays and print advertising. Menu boards were updated, as well. The need for speed DIA DEL PATRON. ´ Part of Pizza Patron’s successful execution of big ideas is its speed. Within days the ´ Kicked off this summer, fruits of ideation can be made into reality. Check out the stats. Pizza Patrón sought to build market share with a promotion BIG IDEA Description Turnaround Payoff that offered unlimited fresh- baked, 12-inch pepperoni Pizza for The chain began 14 days from ideation to 500 million media pizzas for $2.99 on Mondays, Pesos accepting Pesos systemwide rollout impressions valued Tuesdays and Wednesdays at more than $30 mil- in select markets through lion, at a cost to the October. “The genesis of the chain of roughly $40 per store idea was that we wanted a compelling way to get more Amigo New product: a $4, 3 weeks from Reversed declining pizzas out of each of our Pizza 12-inch, one-topping conception to first sales after raising it’s stores and into the market. We pizza store testing $5, 15-inch to $6 due thought that the simplest way to commodity prices to do that was with an offer that was unique to the pizza Dia Del Unlimited 12-inch Less than 30 days Record sales and a Patron ´ pepperoni pizzas between initial idea and 25% increase in segment, something nobody for $2.99 on its rollout in test stores pizzas sold at some else was doing and that Mondays, Tuesdays locations would likely be impossible for and Wednesdays competitors to touch,” Gamm says. “We needed a strong American New units “We finalized the agree- Exclusive pizza hook on price and wanted it Airlines at Dallas arena ment on a Monday…. vendor at the to be something from our Center By Thursday of that second-highest existing menu that even at a week, all six outlets grossing indoor discount would have a rela- were re-branded, new arena in the nation signs were hung, tively good food cost.” pans needed for the The team chose the 12-inch personal deep-dish Amigo pepperoni pizza. pizzas were manufac- Franchisees and operations tured and shipped, and personnel provided input, we were selling pizza.” extra 12-inch pans were ordered and workflows were altered to handle anticipated Restaurant Business November 2009 www.monkeydish.com | |
  • 6. volume spikes. In less than 30 days from initial ideation, the promotion was in test in company-owned stores in Dallas. “We saw positive results the first day, so we rolled the dice and began developing support materials,” Gamm says. “We had pieces ready to go when we got data back from our corporate store field tests so we could pull the trigger in other markets in a matter of days. Vendors were lined up ahead of time with all of the pieces ready for our franchisees to run with it.” Thanks to Dia del Patrón, the company’s Dallas-Fort Worth market saw record results this summer. Comp sales rose 11.9 percent in July, and 13 percent in August over the same months last year. Some individual stores did 115 PIZZA PATRÓN AT THE AMERICAN AILINES CENTER to 120 percent more sales this July and August than they did last year. Total number of pies sold overall rose by 25 Patron, for instance, we worried people would trade percent in July and August, and some individual stores down and check averages would suffer, that the $8 pizza went from selling an average of 140 pies over the typical we would have sold would now be a $2.99 sale,” says Monday through Wednesday period to selling 500 or 600. Gamm. “We ran ‘what if’ models: What if we lose 15 per- cent of our other sales? What if Thursday through AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER. One of the Sunday we lose 20 percent of sales? We model out all of biggest feathers in Pizza Patrón’s cap of late is its our ideas and decide what we can live with. Ultimately, selection as exclusive pizza vendor at Dallas’ American however, you go into a lot of things not knowing what’s Airlines Center, the second-highest grossing indoor arena going to happen and having to take some risks.” in the nation. Now in its second year there, the chain Pizza Patrón’s next big idea is one that Gamm says is operates six units and this year remodeled each with vibrant truly groundbreaking. Called Quick Service Pizza (QSP), colors and Latin themes designed by Gamm to replicate it’s a new business model that takes custom-made pizza the look and feel of traditional Pizza Patrón units. into the drive-thru arena. To date, two QSP stores are “Most of the people attending events there are not going operating in the San Antonio market and both are setting to be Hispanic, and it’s a departure for us,” Swad says. “But systemwide sales records. it’s an example of a way for us broaden our base while still Key to the success of the concept is fast-bake oven technolo- maintaining our brand focus. We didn’t try to dumb down gy developed in partnership with a leading manufacturer. “It the fact that we’re a Hispanic brand. Just the opposite. We allows us to custom make a fresh pizza, have it fully cooked turned the knob way up. If we couch this brand focus and finished in just over three minutes,” Swad says. “The correctly, it puts a smile on everyone’s face” because people idea for QSP evolved as we tried to get a handle on how to realize the Hispanic focus doesn’t exclude others. best leverage this new technology to build our brand. We The American Airlines Center deal is also an example of think it’s where future growth in the pizza industry will be Pizza Patrón’s ability to execute at dizzying speeds. “We and we’re positioning ourselves ahead of the curve.” finalized the agreement on a Monday by phone from Las In addition to drive-thru, the QSP units feature lobby Vegas,” Swad says. “By Thursday, and walk-up window service. And each all six outlets were re-branded, has outdoor seating designed to meet the new signs were hung, pans needed company’s goal of being not just conven- for the personal deep-dish pizzas ient, but community-oriented. “Late at night, were manufactured and shipped, we can keep the walk-ups and outdoor and we were selling pizza.” seating open. It makes for a real nice While the company is community-based feel for those quick to act on ideas and locations,” Gamm says. “That’s a opportunities, it doesn’t great way to serve our core do so cavalierly. Ideation Hispanic family demographic, sessions always include which remains at the heart and plenty of discussion of soul of every idea we come up with worst case scenarios, of and every decision we make.” supply-chain issues and potential impact on CHECK OUT WEB EXCLUSIVES FOR THIS STORY IN THE REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK operations. “With Dia del AT WWW.MONKEYDISH.COM/GO/NOV09 www.monkeydish.com November 2009 Restaurant Business | | NEXT UP: DRIVE THRU PIZZA