I love pizza. There, I’ve said it. Not just any pizza—Pizzeria Uno pizza. Growing up in Chicago, you had to decide early on where your loyalty lay. We had Gino’s, Lou Malnati’s, Nancy’s, Giordano’s, Uno’s, and on and on. But the original was Uno’s, created under the guiding hand of Rudy Malnati. The ‘kids’ hung out at Pizzeria Due, just down the street, which was a little more casual. You knew it was special when your date took you downtown to Uno’s or Due’s.

If you stayed in the ‘neighborhood,’ there were multiple choices for little local, authentic joints. Our favorites were Ray’s and DiGuido’s. Great thin, crispy crust with extra cheese that was real cheese. A weekend babysitting job always included a pizza delivery.

Those were the days; the start of the pizza wars. Every city boasted the best and favorite pizza. Pizza Hut was gearing up in Kansas City; in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Domino’s was DomiNick’s; and Papa John Schnatter hadn’t even been born. When my kids were little, most every kids’ party included Pizza, Pizza from Little Caesar’s; it was cheap and hey, what do 5-year-olds know?

Today, the ‘neighborhood’ pizzerias all seem to be one of the big chains. You can’t watch anything on TV or can hardly go to a website without seeing a commercial for one or the other big chains. They all claim to be the ‘favorite’ and have the best taste or are ‘better’ than the other guys. I started to wonder who really goes where and if it has changed in light of the new ad campaigns; what is the favorite for young marrieds versus retirees, etc. I have an inquiring mind.

I decided to view this like any other project and use one of the tools we have for helping clients identify and understand their target audiences. Many clients have proprietary research and detailed segmentation models; some do not. And sometimes they even know how their target audiences interact with other brands, but when they don’t, we rely on the Simmons National Consumer Study. Simmons is part of Experian Marketing Services. You know Experian, the big data information company. Trust me; they know you even if you don’t know them. Simmons has been tracking consumer habits, brand preferences, behaviors, lifestyles, and more for over 50 years. They collect information on over 30,000 US consumers on an ongoing basis and deliver quarterly reports of the findings, with each report covering a rolling six-month time frame. With their analysis tool, Choices, I have been able to provide clients with such information as the TV shows watched most frequently by people age 25–34 who have made a purchase at Best Buy or Target in the last four weeks, and whether they prefer Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice. Probably more than you want to know.

So I put together my own ‘pizza wars.’ I went back to the Spring (January–May) 2005 Wave to take a look at Domino’s, Little Caesar’s, Papa John’s, and Pizza Hut. I was able to track preference (Restaurant Visited Most) through the Fall (April–December) 2009 Wave.

On the charts above, the 100 line indicates the ‘average consumer or respondent.’ So for Domino’s, Papa John’s, and Pizza Hut, they all started out with females more likely than males to visit. Little has changed for Domino’s over time; however, it looks like Papa may be gaining in men and losing a few women. Apparently women prefer the square pies from Little Caesar’s, or maybe they just like the little cartoon dude?

By age—well, people over 50 apparently don’t order pizza much, but when they do, it’s likely to be from Pizza Hut. The 18–24 set seems to be in a constant state of ‘I love it, I love it not’ with Domino’s and Papa John’s. The 25–49 age group just buys pizza from everybody—is it the deal of the week? The coupons? That’s where the proprietary data and the marketing campaigns need to kick in.

So what have I learned? Looks like consumers have changed their pizza restaurant preferences on and off over the last five years. Some have bounced more than others, but this is only part of it. The preference tells me where the groups buy their pizza, but not how much pizza they buy or how often. The charts below give an indicator of just how many times we visit pizza chains and fast food restaurants in general over a 30-day period. While it appears that all the chains average about the same number of visits per person in a 30-day period, Pizza Hut and Domino’s get a lot more total visits. If we assume that means at least one pizza per visit, that’s a whole lot of pie, no matter how you slice it.

There are many other aspects I could examine for this little analysis. Lots more work before we at ALPHA would be ready to draw final conclusions or make a recommendation for action. What I hope you take away is a little more insight into how we use this tool and how it can also be fun to take a deeper dive into research that is ready and waiting for your questions.