Recently, Domino's has overloaded on carbs with pasta bread bowls, Wendy's has supplemented its menu with boneless chicken wings, and Burger King's realized its destiny with pork ribs. Along the same lines, Pizza Hut has expanded its horizons, adding lasagna, pasta, and buffalo chicken to its lineup. But — contrary to public speculation — the fast food company will not be abbreviating its name. In light of rumors that the franchise was shortening its name to "The Hut," Pizza Hut has made an official statement that it has no plans for a name change.
“Pizza Hut is not changing its name. We are proud of our name and heritage and will continue to be Pizza Hut. We do use ‘The Hut’ in some of our marketing efforts," Brian Niccol, the company's chief marketing officer, clarified. The company, which is best known for its fast-delivery pizzas, has attempted to overcome poor sales by expanding its repertoire to include other food items and using the shortened nickname "The Hut." The chain is also launching a new "Big Eat Tiny Price" value menu.
What are your thoughts on Pizza Hut moving beyond pizza? Can its new items set it apart from other competitors? Does a name like "The Hut" compel you to buy something other than delivery pizza?
Monsoon
well - i think that the main difference of this chain from a lot of others (i.e. dominos, pappa johns etc) is that there are free standing restaurants. therefore i'm not at all surprised that they are branching out and i wish them the best of luck. i think that as long as they stick with pizza as a core to their menu they will be safe but otherwise i wouldn't worry.
1Adding other dishes besides pizza is fine with me. Not everyone wants pizza all the time.
2The name though was awful. I just thought of Jabba the Hut!
the name was/is maybe not great, but "The Hut" would just isolate the worst part of it and take away the only part with any real meaning. It would also just create confusion, as John Tantillo pointed out on his marketing blog. Tantillo's full post.
Adding a few things to the menu isn't necessarily bad - but lots of places offer that stuff..it's been years since I've had Pizza Hut, but I think I remember it being much better than Domino's. I think they'd be wise to focus their efforts on Pizza. Not sure if they're still involved in Book-It, but that was a great program--acquainted kids with their brand at a young age, gave Pizza Hut a positive, kid/family/literacy-friendly image, and created good memories for kids at Pizza Hut from a young age. (At least it did for me!)
It's strange they don't have anything on the homepage of their website that directly addresses the name-change rumor. Their website could use a facelift, too..
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