Hut for What?

It flows from our mantra — A Brand is what people think of you™ — that if you don't know what your Brand is, no one else will either.

Pizza Hut is a case in point. This Brand, with its very high awareness and 320 restaurants in Canada (and almost 13,000 in 100 countries), is the world's largest company in its category. Yet, as demonstrated by its recent recklessness, Pizza Hut is in the throes of a Brand positioning crisis that confuses us all.

Consider these inconsistencies:
• A 2009 report from MSN Money had Pizza Hut changing its name to "The Hut." A company spokesman "clarified" the situation, however, by saying that the Brand would not be changing its name, but rather: "the boxes and some store signs will say 'The Hut.' Others will retain the Pizza Hut name."

• Also last year, the company heavily promoted its new pasta offering. Thus this press release: "In celebration of the fact that Pizza Hut will now deliver restaurant-quality pasta across the nation, the famed franchise is officially changing its name to 'Pasta Hut' (on a temporary basis)."

• Pizza Hut has also introduced WingStreet Wings, a sub-Brand that further muddies the company's Brand position.

So exactly what is that position? Is Pizza Hut a pasta place, a pizza place, a wings joint, all three or none of the above? Good questions that we suspect company leadership would be hard-pressed to answer.

What does the Brand Coach coach?

Although Pizza Hut is trying mightily to be everything to everyone, it can't — no matter how much advertising it throws at us. That's the trade-off of building a strong Brand — owning one position means sacrificing all others.

And so Pizza Hut must define a clear Brand position for itself. Perhaps it needs to revisit what made it great in the first place: the deep dish pizza that gave it deep Brand equity. But no matter how thick the crust, this is a Brand that needs to get serious about being a pizza company again.