New Short-term Promotions at California Pizza Kitchen Seek to Solidify Customer Engagement

For college basketball fans, the “most wonderful time of year” comes in March−otherwise known as March Madness. This year, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is getting in on the madness with two promotions that look to build customer loyalty through engagement on social media and with the brand’s mobile loyalty app.
 
To leverage social media to increase customer engagement, CPK has developed the “Traveling Pizza Dough” nationwide scavenger hunt. The company will be hiding pizza dough in 12 cities and giving clues to its whereabouts on the company’s Twitter account and contest website. The first person to put these clues together and find the dough wins free pizza for a year, encouraging users to closely follow the brand’s social media presence (@calpizzakitchen). The contest will also be using the hashtag #pizzadoughlife to allow fans to easily follow along with the latest clues and updates.
 
In addition to the “Traveling Pizza Dough” scavenger hunt, California Pizza Kitchen is driving traffic to its free loyalty app with the “Take Your Shot—Go for 3!” promotion. To participate, customers must first have the Pizza Dough Rewards app. From there, guests are able to earn $10 in rewards credit simply by ordering some of CPK’s most popular items. The “Top 10 Fan Favorite Menu” includes the chain’s signature items, including Chicken Piccata and Margherita Pizza. By ordering three items off of this menu, either in one visit or across several trips, diners will earn $10 for use on their next CPK order.
 
Ashley Ceraolo, VP of Marketing, Digital, and Social Media at California Pizza Kitchen, spoke to Loyalty360 about the two-pronged approach to the company’s promotional efforts.
 
“We have different tiers of engagement within our loyalty platform, and we know that it takes different types of promotions to mobilize each tier,” Ceraolo explained. “That is why we created two separate programs so guests have the option of having a personal competition with the brand while others can engage in a more social scavenger hunt. For those that prefer to go into the restaurant, ‘Take Your Shot - Go for 3’ gives an opportunity to try Fan Favorite items and increase loyalty engagement during this promotion. For guests that prefer a more social scavenger hunt, ‘Traveling Pizza Dough’ will mobilize these guests as they follow the hints and share the journey on social media.” 
 
Ceraolo added: “As future and current guests hear about this promotion via e-blast, our website, or social media, we expect an increase in social media engagement and registrations for our loyalty program. Participating in ‘Take Your Shot – Go for 3’ requires registration into the loyalty platform, Pizza Dough Rewards, while participation in the ‘Traveling Pizza Dough’ promotion requires engaging with the brand on social media.”

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