Non Capisco*
It’s pizza, Giacomo, but not as we know it.
We get heaps of pizza fliers in our letterbox.
I seldom read them, let alone use them.
Last night, however, saw a rare aligning of Venus and Mercury. I was ready to try the latest pizza parlour to letter-drop us.
Unfortunately, their flier was too clever by half.
First Quarter
It started well.
A nice red brochure, with a top-ten newspaper ranking and an address comfortingly close to ours.
Overleaf, however, we hit a biroldo^.
Second Quarter
The headline read: cotta nel forno a legna.
My best guess was: we’re happy to do quarters and we deliver on foot.
Underneath were pizzas con (with):
- Bufala (meat lover).
- Tonno (family-sized).
- Primavera (only one left, and that’s the truth).
- Carciofi (pick-up only).
Nowhere could we spot the Aussie.
Third Quarter
The right column listed more promising Tradizionale (fair dinkum) pizzas.
Unfortunately, even the Hawaiian had ‘Pom’ which, by studying the whole brochure, we surmised was Pomodoro.
Whatever that is.
Feeling very uncouth, we decided to trust the gods and take an each-way bet on the melanzane† and the acciughe†.
Then I found one of the flier’s few English phrases: No halves on pizzas.
This seemed downright un-Australian!
Fourth Quarter
My father was an immigrant. I’d travelled Europe. I’d studied Latin for six years. Still I felt alienated.
So I checked my suburb’s profile.
Abbotsford residents are 68% Australian born. Of those from overseas, Vietnam tops the list at 9% and China is last with 2%.
Italy doesn’t crack a mention.
Extra Time
I understand pizza is an Italian dish. As I expect a bit of French on Fon’s fragrances, I get that a pinch of lingo adds flavour.
But this flier completely fried my brain.
Exhausted by our interpretative dance, we binned the brochure and made penne Bolognese for $6.
Our putative pizza place lost a $25 sale and perhaps a lifetime customer.
Time Off
Tonight’s lesson is simple.
Write for your readers.
Not yourself.
Capiche?
* I don’t understand.
^ Snag.
† Buggered if I know.
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire
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Paul,
Clearly, you’re not for them and they’re not for you… but:
perhaps they don’t want to be for everyone…
that’s a valid strategy if it’s chosen on purpose
Thank you very much, Seth, for taking the time to respond.
Your point has got me thinking. Perhaps I should visit them and ask about the reasoning behind their communication.
Could be an excellent follow-up piece.
Best regards indeed! P.
Hi Paul,
If they understood who they actually wanted as customers, how to reach them, communicate etc then they stand a better chance of success.
Focusing on taking action with the tactics first instead doing a bit of work upfront to understand and know potential customers is really a waste of time and in this case also money.
Let us know what you find out Paul
Susan
Thanks, Susan. To my mind, a letter box drop seems at odds with a preferred client strategy. Perhaps they should be targetting the Italian Club several suburbs away.
On the other hand, maybe non-Italian speakers are blown away by the mystique of the language. Perhaps getting artichoke instead of pineapple is half the fun.
I’m sorry I turfed the flier, now. I’ll have to wait till they hit me again. Rest assured, if they do, I’ll go and get their side of the story.
Marketing is about communicating a message that creates attention, interest, desire and action. The desired end result is a sale and a happy (soon to be)repeat customer.
Overly clever marketing that obscures the message is not clever at all. It’s just a waste of their money and your time. Period.
This business got it wrong. Fail.
It’s always refreshing to get your frank views, Malcolm; thank you.
I took a turn round my not-very-salubrious neighbourhood just now.
Looking at the modest, careworn public (and private) housing, I couldn’t for the life of me work out who’s going to get turned on by that flier.
You may be right. They may be crazy. I’m tempted to trip the Stephen Glanville Distress Beacon for an insider’s view.
Interesting move by Crust Pizza:
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/enterprise/social-networks-the-place-for-a-bargain-20100412-s445.html
And counter move by Hidden Pizza:
http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/smallbiz-marketing/pizza-goes-viral-a-launch-with-extra-topping-20100415-sgpj.html
What chance does a bog-ordinary flier have against these hi-tech approaches?
We tried Crust Pizza on the weekend. The online interface was very slick, but the $20 minimum spend was a turn off. The wait time was one hour. The pizza was OK, but it felt like we were at the end of a long delivery run. It was quite soggy. The ingredients were good, however.
I’d joined online as a ‘VIPP’ to escape the $2 delivery fee. This appeared on our docket, but was not charged to our credit card. A small error, but one that further undermined our experience.
Our conclusion was that it takes more than a slick website to create a good pizza experience.
Perhaps the flier people are putting their money into quality and service.
Like most of our debates, nothing is as simple as it seems. I’ve invited Crust Pizza and Hidden Pizza to comment. I hope they drop by.
Oh wow. If this is true, I’ve been had like never before:
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/blogs/the-vulture/hijacking-friendships-for-a-pizza-the-action/20100419-smy4.html
Ew!
All that blisters is not cheese:
http://indolentdandy.net/fitzroyalty/2010/04/17/the-reality-behind-the-hidden-pizza-marketing-hype/
Great write-up, and so true. Perhaps they’re new to the country; I refused to say “tomato sauce” for about 6 months upon arriving in Australia. Buuut, my instincts tell me they just thought they were being clever. Lol.
Thanks very much, Lisa. And welcome to this space. Your background looks fascinating. American city to Australian bush must have been quite a journey on many levels. Maybe you can regale us with some of your tales! Best regards, P.
Yes, Paul, it has been an adventure. I actually found this through a link on Orble. I was intrigued to see who this Seth Godin was, lol. And I have a blog on Orble at http://www.bloggingamerican.com where I tell some of the stories of my misadventures. It started out as a blog on blogger, than I got a column in a newspaper here in Central Queensland from it. So I decided to take the blog domain and change the name hoping to create some more traffic. So, we’ll see how it goes. Thanks for the reply and I’ll add you as a friend on Orble
Now, I’ll have 2!
Wow, Lisa; how cool to get a fellow Orbler in here! I checked out your blog and you sure have covered a lot of ground. I’m certain many of our readers will enjoy your stories.
Exciting too that you parlayed your blogging into a ‘paying’ job. There’s hope for us yet! I hope you’ll drop back to keep us to date with your adventures.