Snappy Tomato Pizza Advertising History

Snappy Tomato Pizza is a franchise based out of Northern Kentucky, and has spread throughout the Midwest. They specialize in pizza, hoagies, salads and snappetizers” and are known for their friendly service. Everything is made fresh including their own unique homemade pizza sauce. Snappy Tomato has three different business models for franchisers to choose from. One is a sit down restaurant with buffet, another is a Deliver/Carryout unit that emphasizes on high volume, and quick service. The last model is a convenience store that specializes in delivery/carryout in a less populated area at a lower start up cost.

Snappy Tomato Pizza was formed in Fort Mitchell, KY in 1978. It was founded by Robert Rotunda. Rotunda went to a horserace and put all of his money on a horse named “Snappy Tomato.” The horse won so Robert took all of his winnings and opened the first Snappy Tomato Pizza, named after the winning horse. Three years later in 1981, the company began franchising. In 1993, Snappy Tomato Pizza was purchased by Charles H. Deters. Snappy Tomato has bought and taken over two of pizza franchises. Those two include a Cincinnati based pizza place, “Spooners Pizza” in 1993, and a seven Louisville based franchises, “Pizza Magia” in 2005.

I thought that this ad was effective because it's low budget and hometown. Any Cincinnati native knows Snappy Tomato Pizza!

This is a newer ad, and the company is using continuity in their ads, however, as they move into the 21st century there is a distinct new age in their ads.

This ad was made on location with the signature Snappy Tomato. The commercial only aired on local Dry Ridge, KY stations.

-What are some techniques you recognize that could explain the effectiveness of some of their ads?

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp& q=snappy%20tomato&aql=&oq=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#
(a couple ads from you tube) The ads appear to be designed to evoke attention (to informational content) and to generate positive affect (and by extension a positive brand image).

-what could Snappy's do to improve their ads?

The ads try to do too much. The primary goal is unclear. The ads could be simplified and more focused on a solitary goal, such as building brand awareness, brand image, liking, preference, and information acquisition ("knowledge"). The ads seem to try to do it all in one ad
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-what thoughts do you have on their marketing/ advertising strategy?

I cannot infer their strategy from their ads because I do not know when/where they run or who their target market is (other than "people who eat pizza"). I do, however, like the Snappy character; but I see potential for brand confusion. Snappy could be the Campbell Soup tomato or the Kool Aid guy or one of the VeggieTales characters. He is not highly distinctive. Additionally, he is "fat," which suggests an unhealthy product. Additionally the character might evoke "throwing tomatoes" at a bad opera performance. Is he an American tomato or an Italian tomato?

-Not many companies have such huge success using "jingles" what are your thoughts about Snappy's sucess with their well known jingle?

Jingles are a great way of getting a brand name into prospective customers' heads. They are nostalgic for babyboomers who grew up in the era of jingles, and novel for younger customers who have not been exposed to a lot of jingles. Jingles convey messages in the guise of entertainment, which is processed less critically than persuasion attempts.

-Why are jingles so popular now?

Again, they are nostalgic for boomers and novel for younger consumers. Sonic branding techniques are on the rise because the visual field is crowded and cluttered. Moreover, whereas we have eyelids that can shut out visual stimuli, God did not provide us with "ear lids." Auditory processing is involuntary, automatic. If we are exposed to a jingle, we will hear it (even if we don't want to!) Additionally, once the jingle is learned, it may be repeated involuntarily in our heads. That is "free air time" for the advertiser!