Return on marketing investment: Pizza Hut Korea's case

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold – the first is to explore the key actions that enabled Pizza Hut Korea (PHK) to come out of a nine‐year decline in sales and profits. The second purpose is to delve deeper into the concept of return on marketing as applied to the turnaround of Pizza Hut Korea, using customer lifetime value (LTV) and the related return on marketing investment (ROMI) principles that were instrumental in turning around the business.

Design/methodology/approach

The main method used is interviews with company senior management, reviews of internal company data as well as external data and literature reviews of existing theories on return on marketing. The case uses a specific promotional decision that senior management must make to review the decision methodologies using return on marketing. This quantified return estimate is then combined with marketing and business strategic considerations to review the decision that management should make regarding the promotion. In addition, the detailed executive interviews shed light on the approaches taken by the senior management to effect a change in culture as well as the disciplined business reviews that were put in place to improve the financial performance. Finally the case describes the marketing insights that led the firm to implement their consumer promotions to help turn the business around.

Findings

Turning around a business that has been in decline for a long time requires not just keen consumer insight and excellent marketing tactics, it is a combination of changing the culture of the company and mindset of the leaders along with instilling disciplined financial processes and driving consumer insight driven strategies. In particular, this study focuses on the role of quantified marketing investment return model that helped to drive a fact‐based, data‐driven decision‐making process that, combined with strategic insight, helped to turn the business around. The lifetime value and return on marketing investment model employed by Pizza Hut Korea provides a starting framework for analyzing marketing investment returns that can be adapted by many other companies.

Originality/value

Though there has been research conducted in many turnaround situations, there has been virtually no work done to examine the turnaround strategies employed using key marketing return metrics. In addition, the study provides value in that it examines the totality of management principles employed (cultural, organizational, financial, marketing) to drive innovation and change. This study will be useful for those that seek to better understand the key principles involved in turning around a business but with particular emphasis on quantified marketing returns analysis using return on marketing investment method.

Citation

Lee, S. and Yoo, S. (2012), "Return on marketing investment: Pizza Hut Korea's case", Management Decision, Vol. 50 No. 9, pp. 1661-1685. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741211266741