Domino's' Kate Trumbull on why the consumer will always be the marketer's muse

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Domino’s has made headlines in the last six months for the speed at which it responded to the pandemic with new contactless delivery initiatives: It rolled out “pizza pedestals” (a cardboard surface your pizza sits on while your delivery person stands 6 feet away). It introduced Carside Delivery. Most recently, it announced that it’s hiring 20,000 new employees in its corporate and franchise stores to keep up with demand.

But something else has caught the attention of marketers -- how quickly it jumped into bringing employees and customers into its marketing through user-generated content when traditional production channels were halted.

As one of the top marketers at Domino’s, Kate Trumbull, Vice President of Advertising & Hispanic Marketing, says her approach to the brand’s marketing over the last few months has been centered on questions like, “How is Domino’s positioned to help?” 

That mindset was on display in the brand’s April spot, “We’re Hiring,” which was shot on Zoom in the course of a weekend. It showcases Domino’s franchisees saying stores are open and they “could use your help.” The ad doesn’t feature a single image of a pizza and directs you to Domino’s’ job site. 

“With limited time, limited production capabilities, limited budget, and lots of uncertainty, we jumped in head first and delivered 14 new ads, 11 of which we ran from March to August,” Trumbull said. “Normally we create 12 new ads in a full year with full production capabilities and eight-month lead times.” 

This innovative spirit has led to increased demand and sales growth for Domino’s in the U.S. even as other restaurants closed and shifted to takeout only. The company reported same-store sales growth of 16% in its fiscal second quarter, up from 3% a year earlier. 

“At Domino’s, I’ve grown up on the creative filter of ‘Oh Yes We Did’ meaning we strive to create brand actions that are so surprising, people ask ‘Did a pizza company just do that?’” she said. “Tapping into what’s brewing in culture, what’s real and raw for people at a moment in time, is the way to make breakthrough creative work.”  

Over the past nine years, Trumbull has been at the helm of some of the brand’s best known campaigns. She’s had remits ranging from leading field marketing for the company’s 400 U.S. corporate stores and running digital marketing to now, overseeing consumer-facing creative across TV, radio, print, and packaging. She shares more of her story below.

1. What has had the most impact on your perspective as a marketer?

My first job out of college was at a management consulting firm called Gap International. They leverage neurolinguistics to help individuals and organizations reach breakthrough results by recognizing and then optimizing current thinking that is limiting. Example: If you think, “I can’t run a marathon,” it leads you to not take the right actions to run one – like training or practicing – turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy. I learned the power of our thoughts, how automatic they are and the tensions that brew below the surface for all people. It made me a more optimistic and empathetic person and an ardent believer in “assuming positive intent.” Fast forward to marketing. At Procter & Gamble (P&G), we lived and breathed consumer research to unearth tacit tensions and insights to unleash great advertising. At Domino’s, I’ve grown up on the creative filter of “Oh Yes We Did” meaning we strive to create brand actions that are so surprising, people ask “Did a pizza company just do that?” Tapping into what’s brewing in culture, what’s real and raw for people at a moment in time, is the way to make breakthrough creative work. As the pandemic began in March, we co-authored a brief with Crispin Porter Bogusky (CPB) with the objective of helping others and making work that connected with people as their views and emotions changed, even if that meant we were making a new ad every week. All of our new ads since then have been grounded in resolving tensions born out of the pandemic, as we listen for what consumers are saying and feeling. Turns out, understanding people and the way they think is the closest thing to a silver bullet for me, and a lifelong pursuit. 

2. What’s changed the most about your job as a marketer over the course of your career?

It’s 2009 and I’m making a business case to my P&G Brand Manager Paul Vraciu on why Gain detergent must be on Facebook. Fast forward to now – the pace of change in digital and social is dizzying – and snack-able :06 and :10 second content reigns, which doesn’t allow much time for storytelling. Consumers' attention is spread thin on a smaller screen with endless platforms, messages, and noise. Once upon a time, you needed a strong competitive claim, proven :30 second TV spot, and a traditional media plan. To break through today and reach a broad audience, an idea has to be surprising, understandable in eight words (a PR headline), and channel agnostic. Earned media is more powerful and necessary than ever before. Wedding Registry and Paving for Pizza are proof points. 

3. What’s the hardest part of a marketer’s job today?

Protect and nourish big ideas while under immense pressure to deliver sales and solve problems that are not necessarily marketing problems. Marketers are responsible for so much more than marketing today. We are constantly having to weigh business growth via acquisition vs. the customer experience via retention. Everything matters but when everything matters, nothing matters. You’ve got to block out the noise and feedback from other key stakeholders long enough to hear the voice and thoughts of the consumer (see question 1). The consumer has and will always be the marketer’s muse.

4. Tell us about the marketing campaign you’re most proud of working on in your career.

I’m most proud of our work during Covid-19. With limited time, limited production capabilities, limited budget, and lots of uncertainty, we jumped in head first and delivered 14 new ads, 11 of which we ran from March to August. Normally we create 12 new ads in a full year with full production capabilities and eight-month lead times. Specifically, I’m most proud of the “We’re Hiring” spot and “Made From Home” – they both feature real people doing their best during Covid. The typical flashy production is stripped back, and these ads are about Domino’s doing our small part to help out during a difficult time, one with a more serious tone, and one light-hearted. Failure wasn’t an option and we were forced to rethink how we do everything.  

5. What’s a marketing campaign you wish you’d thought of and why?

Nike’s Just Do It. Simple, ageless, and universally true. Inspiring, no matter your experience, age, or abilities. It was the foundation for so many memorable campaigns. Most recently, the Colin Kaepernick work. Is anything more moving than the message, with Kaepernick’s personal sacrifice and story: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” 

6. What’s your must read, watch or listen for all marketers?

To be in the know with a very compressed schedule (3 kids under 5 years old! And a dog! And a husband! And a Peloton!) each morning I read theSkimm, listen to the Robinhood Snacks podcast, and quick scroll LinkedIn and Twitter.

7. What’s an under the radar brand you’re watching and why?

I’m watching Girls’ Night In. For the same reason that so many of us are now in virtual book clubs and have reconnected with high school/college/grad school friends over the last six months, is why I think they’re worth watching. Their weekly email newsletter is so much more – it’s a community connected deeply to what’s on women’s minds and that never-ending tug of war between staying in for self-care and giving yourself over fully to connection.

8. Name a product you can’t live without (that doesn’t connect you to the internet) and tell us why.

The Triscuit. It is the perfect food. Pandemic-proof, high fiber, low fat, and filling. Just add shredded cheese, microwave for :30 seconds and bam, the perfect quick meal that got me through business school. How many other food brands have been around for +100 years? #NotAnAd 

9. Finish this sentence. If I weren’t a marketer, I would be…

A modern day poet aka song writer, political strategist, or Napa Valley vineyard bed and breakfast owner. 

10. Finish this sentence: The marketer I most want to see do this questionnaire is…

 Netflix CMO Bozoma Saint John

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