The Hindu Business Line : Optimistic offering

DRAINING traffic jams, long and frequent power cuts that add to the gloom ... will anything ever change? If you're the average Indian, your answer will be a pessimistic and realistic `No.' But if you're a fresh-faced kid, not yet a cynic, and your optimism has just been fuelled by Pizza Hut's newly cheaper pizzas, then there's all the reason in the world to believe there's a brighter side to life.

Pizza Hut's new campaign, comprising teasers and a full-blown ad, has been on air for over a fortnight now. What's special about this campaign is that the brand has its first ever brand ambassador in film star Zayed Khan, who starred in Main Hoon Na. It also features Vijay Raaz, the flower-eating wedding planner in Monsoon Weddingas the weary, middle-aged pessimist who is finally forced to accept things could be better (after a visit to Pizza Hut).

The optimist is willing to challenge every sceptical "Kya badlega?" (What will change?) that the pessimist utters, saying, "Lagi pachaas ki?" (Do you bet Rs 50 on that?) This is a pointer to Pizza Hut reducing the prices of its pizzas recently. Says Pankaj Batra, Director (Marketing — Indian Sub-continent), Yum Restaurants International: "We could achieve this price reduction because of scale - by the end of 2004, there will be a 100 Pizza Huts across the country. We've leveraged volumes and managed to cut the costs of key ingredients. For many of us, life is not changing for the better, till now, till Pizza Hut dropped prices, which is something nice."

The price range of pizzas has gone down to Rs 50-395 as against Rs 65-495. Taxes, though, are extra, something that the company has specified in the campaign. The campaign is being splashed across media - print, radio, TV and outdoor.

As for the choice of brand ambassador, Batra says Khan was chosen because the brand wanted a fresh face - he is only two-films-old and hasn't endorsed any other products; the company expects him to become popular; "he's already a rage with the youth but hasn't become over-exposed." Khan is on a one-year contract with the company which is yet to decide how to make the most of him but for now, it's going to be he who'll tell you Pizza Hut is the solution to life's niggling and ever-present worries.

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