What Domino’s campus strategy reveals about influencing communities

Domino’s recently brought its new pizza, The Domino, to the University of Michigan and University of Southern California during Welcome Week, giving students a preview and a meal before the nationwide launch.

On its face, it’s a standard campus marketing play with free food and branded experiences geared for a Gen Z audience.

But the activation and its underlying strategy is more about where influence sits, said Jenny Fouracre-Petko, senior director of communications at Domino’s. This is what makes college communities appealing.

Brands trying to reach Gen Z have typically go after creators with massive audiences. But Domino’s wanted to look more closely at specific communities where people actually know one another and talk to each other, she said.

“College communities can have an incredible amount of influence with Gen Z because they’re built around real, in-person relationships and shared experiences,” Fouracre-Petko said.

The hope is that experiences that begin offline will spread naturally through social media. It’s a different way to think about influence, Fouracre-Petko said. Rather than focusing on audience size, the campaign shows how trust, proximity and the strength of the relationships inside a group help to build brand loyalty authentically.

Here’s what other brands can take from Domino’s activation.

’Gen Z‘ isn’t a community

Communicators should be able to answer three questions before entering communities: Why this community? Why this brand? Why now?

Brands need to stop thinking of an entire generation as a single audience.

Domino’s didn’t randomly choose universities randomly or just because it hit the right age group of people. Michigan had a clear geographic connection to the company’s history, because Domino’s was founded there, while USC has a distinct campus culture and audience, she said.

Whether every part of the execution resonates is less important than the idea that campus culture is local and local communities have real connections to each other.

This same idea applies outside higher education, she said. A running club or gaming community, for example, have their own history, norms and relationships. Brands should look at how they can naturally fit into them.

If your mindset while launching an activation or campaign is that the group represents a desirable demographic, that is targeting, not relevance. Relevance solves a real need or taps into an existing behavior.

Access is not relevance

There is an obvious danger in this strategy, Fouracre-Petko said.

Once brands identify a community as influential, there may be temptation to force themselves into it. College students, in particular, are accustomed to being marketed to and can recognize when a brand is manufacturing a connection. It won’t work or have lasting impact.

“It comes down to offering students something genuinely relevant, rather than forcing a brand message onto them,” she said.

For Domino’s, Welcome Week provided that setting, she said. Students were moving in, starting classes and attending events. Domino’s incorporated free food, a bag charm station and photo opportunities in places students were exploring.

Communicators should identify existing behavior, an occasion or a specific need, then determine whether the brand has a legitimate role in it. If the strategy begins with “we need to reach Gen Z” and works backward from there, it’s probably too broad of a strategy, she said.

Smaller communities create bigger reputational stakes

There is another side to community influence that brands shouldn’t ignore. Partnering with a group means borrowing some of its identity and reputation..

Greek organizations can offer strong social networks and cultural visibility, but individual chapters and the broader Greek system have also faced criticism and controversy involving hazing, alcohol, discrimination and exclusivity.

Before seeking influence of any close-knit community, brands should understand its history, values, potential controversies and how people outside the group perceive it.

So think about what associating with a community say about the brand before entering it.

“It’s important to understand each group and find a natural connection between the brand and that community,” Fouracre-Petko said. “The key is adding value to moments that are already meaningful.”