Domino's Pizza Inc. has spent months talking about its revamped pie and now it wants to build on that success with a new pizza launching Wednesday.
The company's Wisconsin 6 Cheese pizza marks its first new specialty pizza of the year, the first since the company's debut last December of a total revamp of its basic pizza recipe, including giving it a new sauce, new cheese combination and flavored crust.
Now Domino's is building off that with its first new specialty pizza. Wisconsin 6 Cheese will have mozzarella, feta, provolone, cheddar, parmesan and asiago cheeses. Some — but not all — of the cheese will come from Wisconsin. Domino's usual cheese already comes from Wisconsin, California and other states.
CEO Patrick Doyle said first Domino's answered concerns about taste and quality and now it's responding to concerns about ingredients.
A marketing campaign premiering Wednesday night will highlight the ingredients by showing customers in a focus group in what they think is an office. Its walls come down and they realize they're on a dairy farm, complete with cow and a farmer in Blanchardville, Wis.
The original campaign was designed as an honest, in-your-face effort by Domino's to concede to customers that yes, it knew its pizza could be improved (it said its sauce was like ketchup, its crust like cardboard), and then told them how it would do it. "Oh Yes We Did" is its tagline.
"It's a continuation of the campaign, it's a new take on it, talking about the ingredients, and in this case, talking really about something that is very high quality that we weren't getting credit for," Doyle said.
The ad premieres during prime-time shows including "Survivor," "Law & Order SVU" and "The Whole Truth" across the major networks. The pizzas will be available starting Wednesday night. They'll be eligible for an ongoing deal of two medium pizzas with two toppings for $5.99 each, but will cost an extra $2 per pizza.
Profits for the company, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., have been rising since the new pizza debuted. Domino's spent years building its reputation on quick delivery but decided to focus on taste to compete for customers.
The company is also launching an interactive website called "Behind the Pizza" to show people the farms where its ingredients come from, through videos and short stories.
Domino's reports its third-quarter results next Tuesday.