Domino’s Mobile Gaming App Increases Brand Exposure Between Sales

Forget special badges or gold-level status—for those who complete all six levels of its new mobile game, Domino’s is giving out free pizza.

Unveiled earlier this month, the pizza chain’s “Piece of the Pie Pursuit” mobile game allows players who successfully navigate their way through a Rube Goldberg machine and earn 60 loyalty points to cash out on a free medium, two-topping pizza. The company’s new mobile game keeps the brand at the top of customers’ minds even when they’re not ordering pizza, said Dave Andreadakis, Chief Strategy Officer at Kobie Marketing. 

“In between pizza they want to be relevant, they want to give you a reason to keep coming back,” Andreadakis said. “It keeps you engaged many times in between your regular pizza purchase.”

Domino’s recent marketing portfolio makes sure to engage customers before, during, and after the sale on multiple channels, Andreadakis said. “This is part of a beautiful portfolio of engagement.”

Domino’s spokesperson Jenny Fouracre said that no one from the company was available to comment on the app.

As far as room for improvement goes, Andreadakis sees the app lacking in personalization. “What’s so special about this game when it comes to me?” he asked. “Do you put my favorite toppings in the app? Do you even call me out by name? The manager, the location you usually go to, is that something you can call out?”

Localization could help personalize the app, he added. “With pizza, you’re inherently local, based on the fact that you can only live so far away from the place.”

Andreadakis, who has worked on gamification in marketing, said that after creating the app, the next challenge for brands that pursue the gamification strategy is making sure people open it up. He suggested that advertising on Facebook could help to increase engagement.

Another challenge? Making sure that people keep coming back to engage with the game, even after they’ve won their free pizza, Andreadakis said. “If Domino’s wants to keep going with this, then they’ll have to invest in R&D into their technology to keep upping this game. There’s a risk that this will become stale.”

The game fits into Domino’s larger marketing strategy, underpinned by its loyalty points program. The company’s recent television ad centers the experience of a consumer using a Rube Goldberg Machine. In the ad, Domino’s claims to be the only national pizza delivery chain to offer loyalty points on orders via phone, in person, and online.

“This is about engagement; it’s not about selling,” Andreadakis said. “This is a critical component to attaching a name to something that is commoditized, reminding you that you do have a choice and there is a brand that should bubble up to the top of the list.”

In the week following the app’s release, it accrued 151 reviews on the Apple App Store, averaging 2.2 stars.

Kate Talerico is a staff writer at Street Fight.