When I was young, one of my favorite escapes for the evening with mom and dad was the whole order-in-a-pizza and pick-up-a-movie deal. It’s cheap. It’s quality family time. And as a kid, it was surprisingly fun. Today, things have gotten a lot fancier – DVDs, Satellite, On-demand, Streaming, DVR, TiVo, etc…. And the crowd has changed — instead of parents, it’s likely to be a group of friends or occasionally a special someone. But whatever the current technology and the companions in my life, the appeal of kicking back at the end of a long day, getting some pizza (Little Caesar’s personally, but if that’s not available, the other ones will do), and catching a quality flick is still there.
Which leads me to a lightbulb sort of an idea. Why haven’t companies exploited this recently? I know they did something like this years back (as in back when Pizza Hut had a cool program where you read three books and got a pan pizza). Today, the possibilities could be endless.
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You go to Blockbuster. You pick up a few movies or sign up for a deal. And, you get a coupon book for pizzas/snacks in return.
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Blockbuster comes to you as in through the Blockbuster direct to mail service (this also works with Netflix btw). For those of you who are too lazy to Google search, here is the addy: Blockbuster. And to be impartial: Netflix.
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You signup for one of those plans, and get discounts on food. Or better yet, every three movies you get a coupon for a free family dinner.
If you prefer the other way (as in going through the Pizza Place), you have a similar bevy of options available to you.
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Order a family pack (2-3 pizzas, appetizers, wings, pop, and dessert — comes out to around $50), and get a movie free. Or two.
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Order pizzas individually (for singles and small groups), and get discounts on movies.
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Order pizzas online enough times, and get a free pass to Blockbuster or Netflix.
Now, critics may give reasons why this probably wouldn’t work, namely:
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Both are low-margin and ultra-competitive businesses.
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There is a definite threat of shrinkage (commodity-mismatch) due to one DVD being a lot more valuable than one pizza (which due to its limited life has limited utility).
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It’s easy to game the system (especially if you are part of any organizations, particularly in college, that do pizza meetings/pizza nights, etc)
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Market potential and service-range is limited (i.e. potentially restricted by the delivery boy)
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And of course, the cost of the promotion eating into already-thin margins
I encourage any of you to think of reasons not on this list, and I’ll gladly debate you on each point (and concede defeat if necessary).
But now, let me tell you the advantages of such an arrangement, especially from my vantage point:
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Better branding. This can be good or bad depending upon whether your partner is a healthy, successful, and well-liked company.
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Better visibility. As mentioned, pizza nights often happen with families with young children. Get into their heads now, and they will be customers for life.
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Higher margins. This is exactly the opposite of one of the criticisms that people levy. Having a unique arrangement that leads to differentiation allows you to sell your product at a premium.Imagine the family pack mentioned above for $50 being offered at $55. Is there a dollar difference? In terms of what’s included, definitely. But the difference is only noticeable if you break the deal down into pieces — i.e. 2 pizzas, breadsticks (appetizer), wings, pop, dessert, and a movie. If you sell it instead as a family night package, you will be able to cover the premium and effectively add value with the theme. Most people don’t realize how powerful it is, but it’s being done all the time by advertisers and salesmen (Book to read: How to be a Rainmaker)
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Market more effectively – this ties into the other three points, but also opens doors in and of itself. Imagine the various marketing campaigns. You can tie it into holidays, specific movies, even specific foods (i.e. a Christmas magic package, a Lord of the Rings package, etc)
As you can see, the possibilities are definitely there, and all this new technology – streaming, direct-to-mail, DVDs, etc, is creating more opportunities for cross-selling with traditional businesses (i.e. pizza vendors). Many of the companies, however, need to wake up and smell the coffee, and try to get these partnerships together first so they effectively have a first-mover advantage in the marketplace.
