Dodo UK. Fast gourmet

Dodo Pizza, an international pizza delivery chain, relaunched in Britain in December 2020, in Royal Leamington Spa, with a new product: light Roman-style dough and recipes by a British chef. We built the brand around its concept, Fast Gourmet: strategy, identity, packaging, tone of voice, merch and launch communication.

British pizza delivery is a market of big chains, and it splits in two. Delivery chains win on speed and service. Pizzerias win on taste. Dodo wanted both, as a stranger next to Domino’s and Pizza Hut. Look like a chain and nobody notices you. Look like a boutique and nobody expects you at the door in 20 minutes.

In 2020 Britain was still arguing about Brexit. But the British have a gift: they can always agree to disagree. So the brand does the same. Every piece has two halves that shouldn’t get along: black and orange, a heavy serif and a tight sans, Victorian engravings and cartoon doodles. One half says gourmet, the other says fast, and they share one box.

The voice plays both sides too. Posters say “Proud of what we dough” and “Eat our best tomatoes” over a crossed-out “Meet”. The delivery car says “I deliver faster than I look”. The box offers a “second honeymoon with our pizza”, and a billboard puts “Gourmet pizza” and “Lightning fast” on either side of one seam. The system runs from box and menu to uniforms, coffee cups, stickers and stories.

A year after the relaunch, Dodo’s Leamington pizzeria was second among the town’s pizza places by revenue. Its first month, December 2020, brought £35,564; December 2021 set a record at £60,599. 9,000 of Leamington’s 50,000 residents had ordered, and 90% of reviews were positive. That was the whole relaunch at work: dough, recipes, service and brand.

Red Dot 2021 — Brands & Communication Design
Pentawards 2021 — Silver, Food: ready-to-eat and fast food
White Square 2021 — Bronze, Creation of New Brand Identity

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