Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
- Pizza Hut menus go digital
- Baking ‘trends’ with Snowflake
- Festive treats for Hill’s pets
Modern menus
American fast-food chain Pizza Hut, which returned to South Africa in 2014, is rolling out digital menu boards across its 21 new southern Africa outlets and into approximately 80 new outlets planned for 2016 as part of an international trend in the quick-service restaurant industry.
Digital menu boards have the flexibility to update content when, where and as quickly as is needed to maximise sales conversions and display the information in an attractive and effective way. Pizza Hut partnered with digital signage solutions company Moving Tactics to implement the new menu boards in line with the look and feel of its international stores.
Says Randall Blackford, Yum! Brands Inc managing director of Pizza Hut in South Africa, “We needed to implement a digital menu board system that would meet the high standards of our international team, be priced competitively, and most importantly, would be flexible enough to work on the fly and meet the demands of our challenging rollout schedule.”
Chris Day, managing director at Moving Tactics, explains, “In the extremely fast-paced quick-service restaurant industry, prices and product promotions constantly need to be changed and updated and our clients require effortless and effective content-management system tools to make this happen.
“Our X2O Media menu board system enables the price of any item to be changed within minutes at all outlets or within a specific region, allowing restaurant chains to control product pricing at all stores, manage promotions more effectively and retain consistency and integrity with their customers.”
www.pizzahut.co.za • Twitter • Facebook
New cake kits from Snowflake
Snowflake has been in SA kitchens since 1882, but remaining a category leader requires constant innovation. Since rainbow and marble cakes are the current baking trend, Snowflake has launched two new products to meet customer needs.
According to assistant brand manager, Kgothatso Radebe, every product developed by Snowflake is done with the aim of catering to the needs of its consumers and, in this case, allowing consumers to make an impression with ‘on trend’ baking using Rainbow and Marble Cake Kits.
“Rainbow and marble cake are the hottest trends amongst bloggers right now, so we developed products for women who enjoy baking for fun but also want convenience, time-saving and ease-of-use. They are prepared to pay a little more for convenience – especially if it comes from a brand they trust.”
www.snowflake.co.za • Facebook • Instagram
Festive rewards for healthy pets
Every pet wants a festive treat, even the overweight, allergic or sensitive pet. Thanks to Hill’s new range of prescription diet hypoallergenic treats, this year Santa can fill your pet’s stocking with healthy snacks.
The Hypoallergenic Treats, available from vet practices from the end of November 2015, make them ideal for rewarding sensitive dogs prone to food allergies, skin or digestive issues.
Hill’s Prescription Diet Metabolic Treats are for cats and dogs on a weight-loss programme. These treats won’t put the ‘waist-line’ at risk when used in conjunction with the right weight-loss food.
Hill’s Ideal Balance treats for dogs combine natural ingredients with balanced nutrition, and are made without any soy, wheat, corn, artificial colours or flavours.
www.hillspet.co.za • Twitter • Facebook
Shelf Life is MarkLives.com’s weekly column covering all things new. Notify us of yours at shelflife at marklives dot com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.
Cheryl Hunter (@cherylhunter) has written for the South African media, marketing and advertising industries for more than 15 years. A former editor of M&M in Independent Newspapers and contributor to Bizcommunity, AdFocus, AdReview and the Ad Annual, she has also produced for various television networks and currently consults on communication strategy and media liaison.
— MarkLives’ round-up of top ad and media industry news and opinion in your mailbox every Monday and Thursday. Sign up here!