Australia’s Domino’s Pizza Enterprise has seen thousands of sign-ups for its crowdsourcing application enabling local consumers to design their own pizzas, advertise them on social media sites and receive a part of the sales.

The results were reported in The Wall Street Journal. The pizza brand, while essentially transforming customers into sales channels, is aiming for the interactive campaign to drum up sales and increase customer loyalty.

“As clearly indicated by the success of the Domino’s in Australia,  this campaign is proving successful,” said Tim Hajirakar, director, business development, Atimi Software, Vancouver, BC.

“Consumers have been hijacking brands for years, a Brand giving consumers a platform to do so and providing a little monetary incentive to do so, truly shows that then understand consumers as brand advocates.”

Playing to consumers’ interests
Domino’s Pizza Enterprise, an Australian public company containing the franchise for Domino’s Pizza in Australia, New Zealand, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Monaco, has seen considerable success with its mobile applications. Consumers must use the Pizza Mogul app to participate in the campaign, and Domino’s claims that it has seen thousands of moguls sign up already.

The campaign falls under Domino’s corporate social responsibility strategy by allowing both employees and consumers to partake in the challenge and encouraging them to donate parts of their profit to charity. The brand has asked anyone directly involved in developing the project to donate all of their earnings.

The Wall Street Journal reported that approximately 100,000 new pizzas have been created through the campaign, which has greatly augmented brand awareness and consumer excitement. The participant with the highest earnings so far – more than $32,000 Australian dollars – calls himself Pizza Master and is the mastermind behind Mega Meat Lovers, the highest-grossing pizza.

Although Domino’s allows its customers to mix-and-match pizza ingredients, consumers have been enjoying creating strange combinations and marketing them through Twitter photos and social media posts.

Other popular favorites include the Garlic Prawn Delight and Chicken Cheese Bacon Lovers pizzas. Users that download the Pizza Mogul mobile app can also receive badges and bonuses for top achievements.

“This works really well for a pizza brand where choosing your own toppings is very much part of how you order a pizza,” Mr. Hajirakar said. “Allowing others to pick your pizza and rewarding if your creation is popular is an extra step towards being innovative with the brand offering.

“Crowdsourcing is common in many verticals.”

Saving on advertising
Although Domino’s doled out A$5 million in setup costs, the brand will ultimately be able to save on advertising costs during the duration of the campaign due to consumers taking the reins on marketing efforts.

There are currently 30,000 Pizza Moguls registered and as many as 5,000 fan-made videos on social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook, promoting their pizza handiwork. Because people tend to believe other people rather than brands, this is an effective mobile strategy at gaining new clients and associating a positive, fun image with Domino’s.

Domino’s, currently the biggest pizza chain in Australia, is striving to keep sales strong after its shares rose tenfold over the past several years. The company’s market value now rests at A$2.2 billion, and it hopes that more investors will be intrigued by its branding efforts.

“Brands should create opportunities where their consumers can participate in the creation process,” Mr. Hajirakar said. “You may not think your brand is mobile or needs mobile but by using creative marketing strategies that find a way to interact with your consumers, you can still reach them where they spend a majority of their media time.”

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York