I hate TV commercials. When we first got a DVR (greatest feature = the “skip ahead 30 seconds” button), I vowed to reduce my intake of commercials by 100%. Nothing gives me more giddy joy than watching a full hour of American Idol in 42 minutes. I feel like I’m getting away with something (gotta say, I do love that feeling!).
But despite my heavy-handed imposition of a “zero tolerance policy” at home, a few TV commercials do slip in from time-to-time (mostly when another family member is commanding the remote). Good thing, actually. Cause one I have seen recently is the new Domino’s Pizza ad campaign. Have you seen it?
Essentially, their message covers five points:
- We’ve been asking you what you think of our product.
- You say it sucks (crust like cardboard, sauce like ketchup).
- And you know what? We agree.
- So, we’ve used your input to reinvent our product. Thank you.
- We hope you like the changes. Again, thank you.
What Domino’s is communicating, (in the most publicly naked way ever!) is a magical quality that virtually all of the world’s great companies share. Humility.
It took a pizza commercial to crystallize (for me) a lesson that’s at the heart of many of our member case studies. Communicating your company’s humility is a VERY powerful way to win with audiences. Maybe the most powerful. When companies make it very clear to their employees, customers, and all of their stakeholders that “…we are not perfect, but we are sincere about constantly trying to improve,” they don’t appear weaker—in fact, they are SO much stronger.
In today’s media environment, we know that people no longer trust giant monolithic corporations. But people do crave association with companies that are willing to be more genuine, more approachable, more human.
That’s the power of humility.
A final thought—my wife has a birthday coming up (I won’t say which one…but it’s a big one!), and my gift to her is “a family vacation to anywhere in the world.” Anywhere. Her choice? Disney World. The airline we’ll be flying to Orlando? Southwest.
Turns out those are two CEC member companies I’ve gotten to know pretty well over the past few years. And the thing that’s impressed me about both companies is how extraordinarily humble they are. Here are two companies that have created these enormously successful cultures, these iconic brands (if there were any two corporations that have earned the right to gloat, it’d be Disney and Southwest!), and both of ‘em are just so…so damned human.
When you talk to anyone in Communications at either company, the first thing they wanna tell you is what they’re busily trying to improve, how they force themselves to never rest on their laurels, how they are constantly listening (especially to those people who wanna tell them what they’re doing wrong).
There seems to be something there…something all companies should learn from. I’m pretty sure the folks at Domino’s have.
PLEASE RESPOND: What do you think about using Communications to emphasize a company’s humility? Good idea/bad idea? Why?
on 25 January 2010
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Interesting post Rick… There’s a dissenting opinion on Advertising Age (http://adage.com/garfield/post?article_id=141393) from Bob Garfield that’s worth checking out on the subject too. I’ll note that in the comments there, some people argued that Domino’s should have just sold the improvements w/o discussing the “negativity” around the old product. I’m going to go ahead and disagree with both of you (antagonistic? would you expect anything less?) My gut instinct is that while the campaign makes me ‘feel good’ about Domino’s, I’m not sure it’ll pay off from a business perspective.
The main question is… Are companies that listen to feedback from customers and incorporate that into product development such a rare thing? Is humility really so rare that people are willing to pay a premium for it? I don’t think so, but I wonder if there was such a large, lasting reputation problem from 2009 that they’re focusing on re-entering the consideration of people who may have booted them 10 months ago. I’d be interested to look at similarities between this and the way that McDonald’s chose to convince people that they actually sold decent coffee on par with Starbucks.
on 25 January 2010
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Hey–I agree, there’s been a lot of debate about whether “bashing your own product” is a sound advertising strategy (early research shows there are some really smart people on both sides of that discussion!).
I will say this, though…real humility (not “fake sincerity”) is rare enough that it is virtually universally attractive…in people and in companies. In today’s world of “distrust of corporate spin” and socially-mediated messaging, I believe humility is one side dish that most companies should consider serving a little more frequently on their menu. –RD
on 25 January 2010
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I think humility is a useful tool, but not necessarily a magical quality for company greatness. Great brands like Apple, Google, Facebook (even Budweiser, “the KING of beers”) often seem decidedly un-humble in their literal unwillingness to admit mistakes and the audacity of their ambitions and the confidence in their products and services. They listen and often prove responsive but I wouldn’t call them humble.
IMHO, Humility is the chosen vehicle here for the real secret to Domino’s successful ad: shock. As an Ad Report Card column in Slate pointed out, the alternative to humility here would be “new and improved,” which is what Coke tried when launching New Coke. Nobody would care or be blogging about a “new and improved” pizza, so they needed a more dramatic concept, and the irony is, as you point out, that it’s literally shocking for a company to display any humility.
on 26 January 2010
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One other question: does anyone know if the new pizza is any good?
on 26 January 2010
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Three things…
(1) Intrigued by the commercial, I ordered a pizza (Yes, I am the stereotypical ideal consumer. And, OK, I ordered two pizzas. It’s research!). I then tweeted about it and told friends (Once again, the typical “wired” consumer). For a saliva-inducing visual see here: http://twitpic.com/waoxt My experience…the pizza tasted pretty much the same aside from a little more flavor in the last bites of crust. The ordering experience, however, was awesome. I ordered online and could track the EVERY movement of my pizza and delivery driver, Abdul. I knew when it went it the oven and when he was en route to my house. Creepy? Yes. Satisfying? Extremely.
(2) I found the campaign very compelling…UNTIL I saw it on TV. When the commercial was a YouTube video, I liked it. When I saw it on my TV, it seemed less authentic and less geared toward ME. Is the trade-off between reach vs. credibility worth it? Am I the only one who feels this way?
(3) To Mike’s point above, here is another interesting view on the campaign that presents both sides of the dangerous humility game: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011201696.html
on 15 March 2010
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Mr. DeLisi:
Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines’ Chairman, President & CEO, asked me to forward the following message to you.
Thx!
Jon Shubert
Southwest Airlines
___________________
Dear Mr. DeLisi,
I just couldn’t wait another day without thanking you—as humbly as possible, for sure—for that “shout-out” to Southwest in your CEC Insider Blog posting, “Future of CorpComms Discovered in Pizza Commercial.”
It was one thing to put us in the same company as Disney—that makes us feel… well… very humble! But to refer to us as “so damned human” was the highest compliment you could have paid to our nearly 35,000 Employees!
If your wife’s birthday / family vacation gift to Disney World has already taken place, I trust that all went perfectly on your Southwest flights. If it is still to come, we look forward to having you and your family on our LUV jets!
Best regards,
Gary Kelly
on 15 March 2010
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Gary/Jon: Thanks SO much for your comments. On behalf of both my family and my colleagues here at CEC, we really are big Southwest fans. And thanks also to your 35,000 “humans”! Your humanity and humility comes across in everything you do. –Rick DeLisi
on 21 February 2011
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[...] Does your company come across as open in your messages? How well do you convey sincerity and humility? Stakeholders won’t make an effort to engage with companies that come across as unapproachable. [...]