The Yum!-owned chain is also reviewing its advertising business, having ended its three-year relationship with Wieden & Kennedy.
Speaking to Marketing, chief marketing officer Hugh Wood said the relaunch would place the chain in competition with casual dining outlets Nando's and Frankie & Benny's.
He added that Pizza Hut's image had suffered due to its ageing estate, much of which was built 25 to 30 years ago, but that its 450 UK restaurants will all have been refurbished by the end of 2008.
'Pizza Hut has always sat somewhere between fast-food and casual dining,' said Wood. 'The relaunch will create a casual dining environment and experience.'
Although he did not rule out the use of product advertising, Wood stressed that ads will now focus more on the restaurant experience. 'We want to drive a reconsideration of the brand by consumers,' he said. The chain's lunchtime 'all-you-can-eat' buffet will be reviewed in line with this strategy.
Pizza Hut does not publish UK-specific sales figures, but Wood described 2006 as a 'challenging' year, although 2007 had been 'better'.
He added that Pizza Hut's delivery service, which has come under pressure from rival chain Domino's in recent years, may be split from the restaurant business, and that if this happened, the delivery arm would be likely to operate its own marketing activity.
The trial of the brand's low-cost restaurant chain PHQ (Marketing, 24 October) in Brighton, Gosport and Newbury is ongoing, and there are plans to extend it to further sites.
Pizza Sector:
- The pizza and pasta restaurant market is worth £1.4bn in the UK, and predicted to rise to £1.6bn by 2012.
- Takeaway pizza continues to outperform eat-in restaurants; home-delivery was worth about £720m in 2007 and is expected to reach £857m by 2012.
- The eat-in sector had an estimated value of £674m in 2007; this is predicted to rise to £724m by 2012.
.jpg)
.jpg)