Not long after Pizza Hut bid for the gamer vote last week with its pizza-ordering app via Microsoft Xbox, Domino's has made a different kind of attempt to grab some idle time from online denizens who are also pizza fans.

The chain is testing a system it calls Domino's Live at one of its new "pizza-theater" stores in Salt Lake City. The platform will give customers a live, uncut glimpse of the making of Domino's pizza from start to finish, 12 hours a day, everyday, using five cameras installed around the store—in locations such as one that is poised just outside the oven exit.

CEO J. Patrick Doyle told brandchannel that Domino's Live is "a logical extension" of the chain's efforts to boost "transparency" even further. "We're proud of what we do in our stores, and the ingredients in our pizzas," he said.Continue reading...

Pizza and gaming are eventually likely to evolve into a single pursuit, like football and touchdown dances or movies and popcorn. Now, Pizza Hut is working with Microsoft Xbox to move the process along a little bit.

Today, Pizza Hut is debuting an app for Xbox Live that lets users order a pizza through their Xbox 360 with just the game controller, voice input or Kinect gestures—once they've chosen the nearest pizza parlor. Custom orders are also available.

"If you look at our audience, they love pizza," said Xbox's Larry Hryb, according to Mashable. "I mean, who doesn't? It has international appeal, and Pizza Hut is a recognized brand that matches up well with the Xbox brand."Continue reading...

In pizza, the deeper you go, the happier you are. That's why major regional chains have been joining the big ones in the growing pan-pizza segment, why Pizza Hut is doubling down on the most traditional pizza ingredient and why even Chili's is seeing green in pizza these days.

About 20 percent of US pizza sales are now pan-style, providing much of the industry's growth. Domino's, the No. 2 chain, for example, recently introduced its first fresh-dough pan pizza. Big regional players Little Caesar's and Hungry Howie's—which also like Domino's happens to be based in Michigan—have jumped into the pan as well. Little Caesar's new Deep! Deep! Dish Pizza is considered the biggest product introduction in its 54-year history.

For Domino's, marketing its pan pizza has prompted an interesting new wrinkle in its previous positioning. It came to prominence as the guarantor of 30-minute delivery, and speed-to-mouth always has been a big part of the chain's brand. With pan pizza taking longer to cook than Domino's traditional thin-crust pies, however, the demands of quality and taste have required a different approach.Continue reading...

Arthur Frommer buys back travel book brand from Google, which acquired it with big plans last August.

Facebook readies for rumored phone event today.

Apple's futuristic campus project runs late and $2 billion overbudget.

BlackBerry turns mobile website into "test drive" of new Z10 phone, kills off BBM music service.

CVS and Rite-Aid target allergy season.

ConAgra boosts ad spending as commodity costs drop.

Detroit Electric launches Tesla rival.Continue reading...

It doesn't get any better than this for American's pizza brands—March Madness.

Pizza Hut, Domino's and Papa Johns are all jockeying for sales and brand enhancement as the nation embarks on its three-week feeding fest watching the NCAA men's basketball tournament on TV.

Domino's is the official pizza brand of March Madness for the second year in a row, but its rivals aren't about to lie down when there's all this seasonal pizza to be sold.

So, for instance, now through the championship game on April 8, Papa John's has an online promotion that can result in an offer for a free large pizza with up to three toppings on a future order. At the same time, Papa John's is competing for mouths at a time of a potentially significant hiccup for the brand, as its CMO, Andrew Varga, resigns to take the reigns of Zimmerman Advertising. The only consolation for Papa John's is that Zimmerman handles its advertising.Continue reading...

In the never-ending quest to find good talent, more and more companies are taking to social media and implementing interesting tactics to discover their next great employee. 

Most recently, MasterCard has launched a search for five eager beaver interns. Hopefulls must apply via LinkedIn with an idea of how to facilitate a cashless future. Applicants must then follow MasterCard's Twitter, since that's how they're planning on notfying the chosen applicants. The company even created an animated short to advertise the opportunity.Continue reading...

Fried chicken lovers in China took a brief break from visiting KFC’s there after news broke in December of last year that the fast-food chain was using chicken suppliers that had violated drug rules in order to fatten up their birds. 

That wasn’t good news for consumers or for a brand that had more than 4,000 outlets in the company and brought in more than 40 percent of its overall revenue from the country. In anticipation of a hefty backlash, Yum! Brands, the owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, readjusted its yearly expectations downward. However, it appears that Chinese chicken consumers have short memories.Continue reading...

SXSW epitomizes how the cutting-edge becomes the status quo and eventually (but not yet) borders on the edge of passé. This year, “the event has a different feel, nearly as much a marketing event as it is about tech,” notes Digiday. 

The week-long festival in Austin, Texas is ever more a breeding ground for flashy campaigns, giveaways and concerts, a far cry from the festival's roots as a geeky tech meet-up. Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group told CNET, "The original posse is probably aghast at what [SXSW] has turned into." While there is still plenty of tech and start up presence, the event is now, more than ever, a joint digital venture between the marketing teams of the biggest brands and emerging tech stars peddling cool products and innovations.Continue reading...