It's never really just about the food

people already had their pizza.

pizza hut, domino's and pezzo were established, and people had habits. nobody doubted that singaporeans eat pizza. the open question was what would make them bother trying this one.

we tested the concepts inside the focus groups.

we talked to young professionals, families and solo diners about why they eat out, trying to get past what people think they're supposed to say. later in the same groups, we showed the finished concepts to see which messages and visuals appealed most.

1. week 1
   Market scanmapped competitors' menus and promotions so we knew what people were comparing against.
2. weeks 2 to 3
   Recruitmentset quotas across the same groups, screening out anyone working in f&b or marketing, and handed it to the vendor.
3. week 3
   Guideeating-out habits first, pizza second, concepts last, so the concepts didn't steer the earlier conversation.
4. weeks 4 to 6
   Focus groupsthe concepts came in at the end of each group, shown in a rotating order so none had the advantage of going first.
5. weeks 7 to 8
   Recommendationswhich concept to lead with and who the brand should talk to first.

it opened strong and didn't last.

little caesars opened at raffles place in january 2019: hot pizza, ready in 30 seconds, for $7.99. at its peak it had seven stores. then delivery culture, rent and competition, sharpened by covid, worked against a carry-out-only model, and it closed its branches one by one.

the research was right for 2018.

we mapped what a good entry looked like in 2018. that couldn't tell us whether the fit would last, and the market moved.