i need analyse of this case study: CaseStudy:"Pizza Wars in India" Introduction Until 1996, Pizza in India was synonymous only to abready dough base slathered with some ketchup.Since 1996, there was a proliferation of 'high-pricedbranded' pizzas in the market, with the entry of international pizza chains. Domino's and Pizza Hut, the two big US fast foodchains entered India in 1996. Each claimed it hadthe original recipe as the Italians first wrote it andwas trying desperately to create brand loyalty.Domino's and Pizza Hut - tried to grab as large a slice of the pizza pie as possible. While Pizza Hut relied on its USP (Unique SellingProposition) of "dining experience", Domino's USPwas a 30-minute delivery frame. To penetrate themarket, both the players redefined their recipes to suit the Indian tastes. Domino's went a step aheadby differentiating regions and applying the taste-factor accordingly. Domino's also made ordering simpler through a single toll-free number throughout the country. Domino's and Pizza Hut expanded their market ever since they entered India. Domino'shad grown from one outlet in 1996, to 101 outlets in April 2001. Pizza Hut too, whichbegan with just a single outlet in 1996 had 19 outlets in 2001. Background Domino's entered India in 1996 through a franchise agreement with Vam Bhartia CorpThe first outlet was opened in Delhi. With the overwhelming success of the first outlet,the company opened another outlet in Delhi. By 2000, Domino's had a presence in allthe major cities and towns in India. Pizza Hut entered India in June 1996 with its first outlet in Delhi. Initially, the company operated company-owned outlets. However, keeping in line withits worldwide policy where Pizza Hut was gradually making a shift from company-ownedrestaurants to franchisee owned restaurants, Pizza Hut made the shift in India too. Pizza Hut had four company-owned franchisees - Universal Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. (Delhi, UttarPradesh and Rajasthan), Specialty Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. (Punjab), Dolsel Corporation(Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh), Pizzeria Fast Food Pvt. Ltd. (Pune andTamilnadu) and Wybridge Holdings (Mumbai). Positioning Wars When Domino's entered the Indian market, the concept of home delivery was still in its nascentstages. It existed only in some major cities and wasrestricted to delivery by the friendly neighbourhoodfast food outlets. Eating out at 'branded' restaurantswas more prevalent. To penetrate the Indianmarket, Domino's introduced an integrated homedelivery system from a network of company outletswithin 30 minutes of the order being placed. However, Domino's was not the trendsetter so faras home delivery was concerned. Delhi based fastfood chain, Nirula's was the first to start free homedelivery in 1994. But where Domino's stole themarket was its efficient delivery record. GouthamAdvani (Advani), Chief of Marketing, Domino's PizzaIndia, said, "What really worked its way into theIndian mind set was the promised thirty minutedelivery." Domino's also offered compensation:Rs.30/- off the price tag, if there was a delay in delivery. For the first 4 years in India, Domino'sconcentrated on its 'Delivery' act. For its delivery promise to work, Domino's followed a 11-minute schedule: one minutefor taking down the order, one minute for Pizza-making, six minutes oven-time, andthree minutes for packing, sealing and exit. Pizza Hut, on the other hand, laid moreemphasis on its "restaurant dining experience." It positioned itself as a family restaurantand also concentrated on wooing kids. Its delivery service was not time-bound. A company official said, "The Pizza making process takes about 20 minutes and since wedon't usually deliver to places which are beyond the reachable-in-half-an-hour distance,customers can expect home delivery within 45 minutes." Moreover, analysts felt thatPizza was something that just was not meant to be delivered. Said Vivek Sure, ProjectsManager, Pizza Pizza Express, "If you don't eat pizza fresh, it turns cold and soggy."However, Domino's seemed to have overcome this problem through its delivery packcalled 'Domino's Heatwave".   Localizing the Menu Since its entry into India, Domino's introduced nine new toppings for Pizzas to cater tothe local tastes.fi Different flavors were introduced in different parts of India. Advanisaid, "The Indian palate is very definitive - people are extremely finicky and choosy, nottoo willing to experiment. Food tastes vary from region to region. To capture the market, we had to localize flavors." Thus, Deluxe Chicken with MustardSauce' and Sardines were confined to the East, Mutton Ghongura and Chicken Chettinadto the South and Chicken Pudina to Mumbai. Butter chicken, Makhani Paneer and theChatpata Chana Masala were confined to the North. Very soon, Pizza Hut followed Domino's and offered customized Spicy Paneer andChicken Tikka toppings. Apart from this, it also opened a 100% vegetarian restaurant atAhmedabad, a one-of-its-kind worldwide. The restaurant also offered a special Jainzmenu, which did not have a single root-based ingredient to fit in with the food habits of Jains. Another city-specific adaptation of its menu by Pizza Hut was the restaurant inHyderabad, (Andhra Pradesh) which offered Halal meat and chicken only with no beef and pork products in the menu. Pricing and Promotional Wars Domino's sold a 12" Pizza for Rs 265. CommentedPankaj Batra (Batra), Manager (Marketing), TriconInternational said, "Indians are value-, not price-sensitive. We need to offer comeback value to ourcustomer." The high price was attributed to the highquality of ingredients used. For instance, Domino'ssourced its Peperoni and Jalapeno needs fromAustralia and Spain respectively. However, with competition increasing from PizzaHut, Domino's introduced price cuts, discounts andfreebies to attract the customers. In 1998, Domino'sintroduced the Pizza Mania scheme where it offered a large pizza for Rs.129/-. The demand wasoverwhelming and the company sold close to 5000pizzas in the first week of its launch. During late1998, both Domino's and Pizza Hut were trying tolure the customers with discount coupons by issuingsuch coupons through several schemes. Said ananalyst, "Even then, the prices are too high. Globally, fast food chains only succeed when they bring their prices down to the samelevel as the street food." However, both Domino's and Pizza Hut were concentratingmore on data base marketing and below-the-line activities and special offers. Domino'swas spending 50% of its total marketing budget on special offers and discounts along with delivered direct mailers and pizza training classes.  Domino's also had a tie-up with Discovery Channel under which the channel advertised its pizzas while Domino's put the channel's name on its mailers. Domino's conductedPizza making classes for school students. In 1998, it offered a clock to all its customerswho had bought Rs.15,000 worth of pizzas throughout the year. Said a company official,"Database marketing is an important part of our strategy. We have a special cellanalyzing our database to look for repeat and loyal customers." In 1998, Pizza Hut also launched a promotional campaign to attract the customers. Ithad a 'Pan In Your Name' contest where it offered a free pizza to anybody with the wordPan in his/her name - for example, Pankaj or Panandikar. In April 2000, Pizza Hutlaunched its innovative Pizza Pooch Menu and a Pizza Pooch Birthday Party packageexclusively for kids in the 6-10 age group. Batra said, "There is a specific reason to cater to this segment. Though, at this age, children are under their parents' guidance, they perceivethemselves to be teenagers - and have the ability to choose or demand a particularbrand of their own choice." The Pizza Pooch menu included a wholesome delicious mealand a gift for the child. The menu was intricately designed with pictorial games. A freeset of crayons was also provided to keep the children occupied while their parents dined. The campaigns were eye-catching with cartoon characters on the mailers, hoardings andprint advertisements where the cartoon characters were aimed at matching varyingmoods of kids. The Pizza Pooch birthday package was full of fun and excitement. Thebirthday party included a well-decorated area within the Pizza Hut outlet with severalgifts for the children. The party was conducted by a trained host with lots of games,prizes and a special gift for the birthday child. In March 2000, Domino's slashed prices of Pizza by 40%. The price of a regular Pizza with three toppings was cut from Rs.225 to Rs.130. In October 2000, Domino's ran a scheme, where it gave away two pizzas for the price of one, within five days of placing an order. During the same time, Pizza Hut launched a 'one rupee pan deal' scheme. Under the scheme, for every pan Pizza purchased,another was given away for Re.1. In November2000, Pizza Hut introduced a scheme called "barahnahin to tera (if not served in 12 minutes, it is yoursfree)'. The scheme offered a speed lunch in 12minutes for Rs.89. One second over 12 minutesguaranteed that the customer would get it for free. Domino's supply chain management enabled it to cutcosts. In late 2000, it revamped its entire supplychain operations. This enabled Domino's to slashprices. For instance, the price for a no-frills cheesepizza was down from Rs.75 to Rs.49. A10" pizzawith at least three toppings was available for Rs.119 as against the earlier price of Rs.225.    Brand Building Through Advertising  Domino's and Pizza Hut initially restricted their ad strategy to banners, hoardings andspecific promotions. In August 2000, Domino's launched the 'Hungry Kya? (Are YouHungry)' sequence of advertisements on television. A company official said, "We realized that a Pizza couldn't be slotted - it could be asnack; then again, it could also be a complete meal" The only definitive common linkbetween Domino's Pizzas and eating was the hunger platform. The launch of 'Hungry Kya?' campaign coincided with Domino's tie-up with MahanagarTelephones Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) for the 'Hunger Helpline'. The helpline enabled thecustomers to dial a toll-free number (1600-111-123) from any place in India. Thenumber automatically hunted out the nearest Domino's outlet from the place where thecall was made and connected the customer for placing the order. The number also helped Domino's to add the customer's name, address and phonenumber to its database. This was followed by Pizza Hut's first campaign on television inJuly 2001, which said, 'Good times start with great pizzas.' The ad was aired during allthe important programs on Star Plus, Sony, Sony Max, Star Movies, HBO, AXN, andMTV. Pizza Hut planned to spend between Rs.70-75 million on the ad campaign in 2001. SaidPankaj Batra, "The first ad campaign on TV defines Pizza Hut as a brand, and what it offers to its existing and potential customers. Once the awareness of this message ishigh, we will focus on other facets of the brand and its offerings." Going Places (Literally) By March 2000, Domino's opened 37 outlets all overIndia. Between April 2000 and February 2001,Domino's set up 64 more outlets in India. Delhi hadthe maximum number of outlets - 17, followed byMumbai with 13. Domino's had the largest retail network in the fastfood segment in India- with 101 outlets across 40cities. Domino's had a tie-up with a real estateconsultant Richard Ellis to help with locations,conduct feasibility studies, and manage theconstruction. It was also looking at non-traditional outlets like large corporate offices, railway stations, cinema halls and university campuses. In early 2000, Domino's had opened an outlet at Infosys, Bangalore, which was very successful. It also had outlets at cinema halls - PVR in Delhi, Rex in Bangalore, and New Empire in Kolkata. By January 2001, Pizza Hut had 19 outlets across India. In a move to expand further, Pizza Hut planned to open an additional five restaurants inMumbai and 30 restaurants across major cities in India, by 2001 end. Tricon announcedthat the company would invest Rs.30 million on each of the restaurants. In March 2001, Pizza Hut opened its first three-storeyed 125-seater dine-in restaurant at Juhu in Mumbai. Said a company official, "We are expanding the number of restaurantsacross the major cities to cater to today's youth which has taken to pizzas as a cuisine." In view of the competitive environment that is evident among the two pizza companies, executivesfrom both have made the following statements: For Pizza Hut - Pankaj Batra, Marketing Director, Tricon Restaurants, India: "We are not really competing with Domino's - we're not in the same category. Domino's is more delivery and take-aways, while we offer a complete dining experience in addition to delivery andtake-away options." For Domino's - Hari Bhartia, Co-Chairman, Domino's Pizza India, "One has to take risks to reach economies of scale. Domino's also shook up competition whenreached a target of 100 outlets." Evidently competition among the two pizza giants presented in the case above is intense. Theexecutives from the two are constantly under pressure to win the "competitive game", as the Indianmarket is ....huge!