The brand that ate itself

What happens when an established brand loses the plot?



After 50 years, you'd think that any mass-market brand would be fairly comfortable with its positioning, both in the marketplace and in the minds of its customers. If, indeed, repetition is reputation and consistency is king for any brand, it takes a brave board to rip it up and start again when the market - and the minds of customers - begin to wander somewhere else.


Which is precisely what Pizza Hut has done.


Founded in Wichita in 1958 and bursting into the UK with a cheese-crust filled bang in 1973, the words 'Pizza' and 'Hut' immediately conjure up images of kids' parties, guilty pleasures and all you can eat mayhem. And so it's always been - until now.


Amidst a fanfare of media puzzlement, owner Yum Brands has changed the name of the chain to... wait for it... 'Pasta Hut'.


This seismic brand-shift has been driven by what Pizza... er... Pasta Hut claim to be 'significant changes' to the nutritional content of its menu. But a move away from food that kids of all ages can eat with their fingers to 'a great new pasta range' that requires cutlery, napkins and a nod to table manners, makes the restaurant chain an altogether different beast.


From owning the quick & easy, family-friendly, no frills, stuff-your-face-and-leave sector of the high-street sit-down restaurant market, the new 'pasta-positioning' moves them firmly into the territory owned nationwide by Bella Pasta and regionally by a hundred thousand faux-italian local trattorias knocking out pasta con vongole at six quid a bowl.


From a clearly defined place in the customer consciousness, Pasta Hut will be the new kid on the populist pasta block: a new name that no-one knows, new values that contradict its old ones - and a new menu that will alienate a whole generation of its core market. Pizza Hut regulars can reel off their families' preferences/combinations by rote: all part of the quick, no-frills experience. But now? Trying to explain the difference between penne and tagliatelle to 20 hyperventilating 10 year olds will challenge even the most ardent advocate willing to give the new brand a chance.


If this shift were a serious attempt to reposition the brand long-term, the biggest hurdle would be overturning 35 years of heavy duty brand-building activity. Having hammered home 'Pizza Hut' and all its attendant values since 1973, it's a lot of brand equity to throw away.


However it seems, after the initial furore, that this 'tinkering' with the brand may be no more than a 12 month publicity stunt to promote its new pasta menu. But why put all of your brand equity and history at risk just to flog more spaghetti? Changing the name, offering, vocabulary and 'soul' of your brand, just to switch it back again will confuse customers and leave them feeling somehow duped - especially the ones willing to embrace the change.


In an even weirder move, it seems that some of the brands restaurants will actually retain the Pizza Hut branding: despite heavy TV and press activity. Which hints strongly of a confused brand hedging its bets.


Whatever the outcome, it will still take a massive effort to get people to think 'Pasta Hut' when their sub-conscious - and their tongue - leaps for the word 'Pizza'. And the brand will still have to re-carve its niche all over again, replacing the familiar combinations of its pizza menu with a whole new brand vocabulary.


As a planner, I can't wait to see how this brand schizophrenia plays out. There will have to be some retention of the visual equity of its predecessor so that there's some continuity in the minds of customers. And it will have to retain a significant amount of its quick and easy ambience - or risk turning into a me-too Bella Pasta clone. And if it does actually gain some sort of 'traction' in the consciousness of customers, it'll all be squandered if (and when) the original brand returns; having taken customers to a completely different place, just to bring them back again.


Here at branding:strategy:other we view brands as the foundation on which you build a business - and the most successful have consistency, clarity and continuity at their core. So, whether the Pizza/Pasta Hut brand survives this most unpalatable reheating remains to be seen.