DiGiorno Pops Open a Chicago Pizzeria

Kraft Foods turned on the promotional burners last weekend to operate a pop-up pizzeria for DiGiorno Ultimate five months before the product's nationwide launch. The "DiGiorno Ultimate Pizzeria" opened for business March 9-11 on Michigan Avenue, occupying the first-floor space of a former art gallery. The temporary setting housed a grand sampling event for DiGiorno Ultimate, a premium brand extension that rolls out this month to 12 Midwestern markets."Chicago is a pizza town, and we want Chicagoans to try our new products," says Kraft senior manager Lisa Gibbons, in explaining the strategy behind the store. "The proof is in the taste." The working pizzeria served three of the four Ultimate flavors, cutting pizzas into eight slices for portions larger than typical in-store samples. Visitors also received coupons for $1 off the purchase of Ultimate, which retails for $6.99 and is available in Chicagoland at Meijer, Safeway's Dominick's and Supervalu's Jewel-Osco stores. Kraft estimates that it served 27,000 slices over the weekend in a strip of Michigan Avenue that attracts an estimated 40,000 visitors on Saturday afternoons.Featuring specialty meats, imported ingredients and vine-ripened tomatoes, Ultimate addresses the trend toward premium products for the mass market. "The product is not just an extension of our brand, it's a whole new style," Gibbons says. "DiGiorno is already a premium brand, but we are entering a super-premium category." Unlike Kraft's upscale California Pizza Kitchen brand, which is positioned as a modern, non-traditional line, Ultimate capitalizes on its traditional Italian roots.To represent the product's positioning as pizzeria taste in the comfort of home (an upscale spin on the flagship DiGiorno brand's "It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno" tagline), the shop's exterior was designed to evoke a neighborhood pizza joint with graphics of a red-and-white awning and neon window signs. The 700-square-foot interior, meanwhile, comprised a full-size model kitchen as well as living and dining rooms. Featuring dim lighting and warm colors, the space evoked a home to its smallest details. The kitchen featured wood cabinetry, a working refrigerator and model dishwasher, sink and stove. Pizzas rested on heated surfaces on a center island, accompanied by branded signs and kitchen accoutrements such as jars of marinara, cheese, vegetable baskets and potted plants. Pies were baked in a kitchen behind the set (out of view) and delivered through a two-way mock oven behind the sampling station -- allowing staff to pull pizzas "fresh from the oven." The store's windows carried vinyl DiGiorno signage, but the interior was somewhat light on brand messaging. "We didn't want to go overboard because we're channeling a home," Gibbons explains. Two side tables displayed packages of various Ultimate flavors, and signage stretched along a wooden beam above the center counter. Staffers also wore branded aprons, and visitors received branded napkins with their slices. The kitchen design stressed authenticity, displaying a strategically casual arrangement of decor, cooking utensils and pizza ingredients. Decked with candles and framed art, the carpeted living and dining spaces served a ceremonial function. Visitors formed two lines to the sampling counter but, given the high traffic, did not dwell there. The store had some whimsical touches to channel the pizza's Italian flavor. In addition to a five-person sampling staff, four "characters" -- Mom, Pop, Son and Daughter-in-Law -- greeted visitors at the door. The kitchen's side window revealed an illuminated transparency of an Italian garden, while a wall mirror displayed a mock Italian menu as well as a tacked-on, handwritten reminder to "Buy more DiGiorno Ultimate!" Rather than incorporate the latest technology or graphics, the Pizzeria emphasized simple, traditional appeal. "We didn't want a modern look, because this is traditional pizza," says Ben Olson, account manager for Momentum, New York, which developed the set. "From the branding, signage and brick to the awning outside, everything is more subtle."Kraft would not reveal the cost of the operation, although Olson deemed it a "big effort ... It corresponds to the size of the launch and brand," he says.The short time frame befits a sampling event, says Gibbons. Despite obtaining a one-month lease, Kraft limited the event to a weekend for added immediacy. "We wanted to make a big splash," she says. "The pop-up strategy adds a fully integrated element to the campaign. It's a new, nontraditional marketing strategy, which consumers are always looking for. It generates a lot of interest in the brand." Kraft promoted the event primarily through radio spots, with help from grass-roots efforts such as fliers and door drops. The unveiling ceremony on March 9 featured an appearance from actor Doug Savant, whose character on ABC television series Desperate Housewives is opening a pizzeria. Savant will front the TV campaign for Ultimate's national launch in August, to be supported in stores with posters and freezer clings. Kraft will also launch a mobile marketing tour featuring pizzeria-themed DiGiorno Ultimate trailers with indoor kitchens -- akin to the recent South Beach Diet "Beach in a Box Cafe" program. (See Related Articles.)DiGiorno is not the first company to "pop up" at that exact Michigan Avenue address. Former tenants include Lexus, which opened a store for one month, and Motorola, which stayed for six months. Compared to these and other recent efforts (see Related Articles), the Pizzeria's three-day life span is brief.

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