Case Study Donatos Finding the New Pizza

Case Study: Donatos: Finding the New Pizza Assignment Q1. Map the research design used by Donato’s for new product development. In 2003, Donatos made a decision to pursue the new diet trend of the early 2000’s. This diet trend was low carbohydrate. Their first decision was to determine if this new trend was a fad or something worth pursuing. Tom Krouse, chief operating officer, with Donato’s was responsible for new product development. At the time, many restaurants were faced with the question, “Is the low carb diet a flash fad or a trend- and should we respond?” (Schindler, 2004, p 1). Krouse had also started a weight loss journey. He had started using the Atkins diet in July 2003. He had also noticed that many employees were leaving the crust behind during company meetings. At first he thought there may be something wrong with the crust, but he soon realized that it was a result of many employees being carb conscious. After conducting research, reviewing customer comments, and holding Wassup meetings, it was decided that Donatos would pursue the low carb trend. The next step in the process was to begin the product development. Donatos experimented with different recipes and processes to develop a crust that would be low carb and delicious. Krouse admits that they ran into problems developing the crust and even went as far as stating “they were awful” (Schindler, 2004, p 1). During the process of crust development failures, there was an idea to create a crustless pizza. Once Donatos decided to pursue the crustless pizza, they used their personnel to taste test the products. While testing the product with their own employees, they found that there was something off with the “make-bake-serve plate.” A soy additive to add protein was added to the recipe. After employee taste testing, concept screens were used. There are two common designs of concept screening. They are pure and diagnostic. “Pure screening is typically used when ideas are in very basic form. Diagnostic screening, both evaluative and diagnostic measures are collected. Multiple concept exposure occurs in randomized groups of 3, 4, or 5, depending upon the total number of concepts” (Surveys & Forecasts, LLC, 2021.) The last test of the prototype is an in-restaurant test at two or more restaurants within the chain. Case Study: Donatos: Finding the New Pizza Assignment Once the product has been tested, the last step is to name the product. Donatos toyed with almost 70 names, internally. They narrowed the list to 3 names that were used during a weekend phone survey. Taylor (2018) wrote, “While the final product name is ultimately the team's decision, you should heavily weigh the external customer feedback. No matter how well you think you have gotten into the minds of your customers, sometimes you miss things.” Ultimately, they allowed their customer base to make the final decision. Therefore “No Dough” became the new product’s name. Q2. Evaluate the Wassup meetings as an exploratory methodology to help define the research question. Donatos uses Wassup meetings for employees to bring up changes to popular culture and the effects that it may have on Donatos. The point of these meetings is to give Donatos a firsthand account of changes to culture that the employees see daily. It is incredibly important to use the information provided by those working directly with the customers. Elsey (2018, January 16) stated “When your team is treated within your office in a way that demonstrates the value management has for them, they then turn and do the same for your prospects and customers.” Therefore, when your team is given the attention and the opportunity to provide input, incredible things can happen. This is apparent with Donatos. This was a new product roll out that typically takes 12-14 months, but they were able to do it within 6 ½ months. Q3. Evaluate the test market Donatos used. What were its advantages and disadvantages? The test market that Donatos used was with their own internal employees and within selected restaurants. The employee testing had significant benefits. First, the employees were able to taste the low carb dough. They couldn’t get the recipe quite right which led to using no dough. These same employees were also interested in the low carb trend, so they had their own interest in making this work right. The employees were also readily available. There was no need to search a market, but just conduct the research through meetings. Though there Case Study: Donatos: Finding the New Pizza Assignment were many advantages, there are also some disadvantages. First, there is small selection of employees compared to the customer base. In the taste testing of the dough-free pizza, Donatos used employees in a central location. The tastes of employees in a central location are different than those throughout the United States. It’s likely that taste preferences in Ohio are different in New Mexico. The next test market were customers at select locations. “Customers will also forge stronger bonds with companies that foster customer empowerment in new product development than with companies that do not. This is reflected in more favorable behavioral intent, such as purchase intentions, loyalty, and positive word of mouth” (Fuchs & Schreier, 2011.) The main advantage of testing in restaurants is to get a direct opinion from the potential market. This gives Donatos the most accurate representation of whether the customers are willing to purchase the product in the future. The greatest disadvantage is that the product is limited to a few stores. The taste preferences throughout the country are different. Limiting the testing to a few stores doesn’t complete the customer representation. Q4. What measurement scales would you have used on the survey that was part of the inrestaurant product tests? In this survey, I would use an ordinal scale. Schindler (2022) wrote, “examples of ordinal data include attitude and preference scales” (p 240.) Since the in-restaurant product tests with customers are to determine the satisfaction of the product, an ordinal scale would be best. The customer would rank their satisfaction by stating if they were very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied with the no dough pizza.