Domino?s Pizza UK is rolling out new digital advertising initiatives with a slew of mobile-first components, including a branded channel on a GIF repository site and sponsored Snapchat lenses that play into the campaign?s mind-boggling theme.

The food marketer?s British subsidiary is gearing up to reach mobile-savvy consumers on their omnipresent devices by establishing a strong presence on several digital channels, including music-streaming service Spotify and popular GIF aggregator site Giphy. A plethora of major brands have recently leveraged the power of the GIF, a highly shareable image format revered by many millennials and younger consumers.

?Since transcending its Internet forum past into super-mainstream relevance in the early 2010s, the GIF is still going strong for brands,? said James McNally, senior manager of business development at Prolific Interactive. ?And why not ? it blends a Tumblr-esque relevance that is pure gold when targeting millennials, and it's inherently Lo-Fi quality takes the edge off overt brand messaging. 

?For Domino's in particular, there is a ton of content on Giphy already which takes advantage of a wealth of 1980s commercials, and other UGC content that features the brand ? so it definitely makes sense to leverage it,? he said.

?By relying on UGC, Domino's (and any other brand) gets two wins: not only is the content more or less ?free,? but having the target audience create the content goes a long way to ensuring its relevancy to that audience. The GIFs are pretty great too ? very shareable and a good tactic by Domino?s.?

Continuing conversation on mobile
Domino?s UK?s latest campaign makes light of consumers? mind-boggling reactions to receiving their long-awaited pizzas. The brand is introducing two new television spots, which feature actors whose mouths are digitally jumbled.

The commercials also superimpose humorous sound effects over the actors? speech in a bid to delineate funny reactions to pizza deliveries.

This national rollout is supported by Domino?s extension of the reactions theme onto a branded Giphy channel. Giphy, a repository site, aggregates various GIFs tagged with specific phrases or words. Domino?s has already collected more than 40 GIFs, which mobile users are invited to share across their social networks.

They include mentions of Domino?s Pizza on well-known television shows, such as Parks and Recreation, as well as short-form clips from the marketer?s top commercials.

Additionally, Domino?s is enabling Snapchat users in Britain to take photos with its bespoke sponsored lenses, which bring interactivity one notch higher from the photo-sharing application?s stationary branded geofilters. Users will be able to boggle their mouths in their Snaps, similar to the mouth jumbles seen on actors in the brand?s TV spots.

Last month, Cadbury Crème Egg was the first British confectionery company to leverage Snapchat?s sponsored lenses, bringing an active component to consumers? selfies.

?Branded filters that are executed well are a good way to inject some messaging into users? very personal Snaps,? Mr. McNally said. ?Brands should focus on light touches like this; gaining a little goodwill and mindshare should be considered a win, not converting on Snapchat (at least until Snapchat ?sells out? and offers a more brand-friendly engagement and ad product menu).?

Sponsorships on Spotify
Music-listening services and mobile apps, such as Spotify and Pandora, are considered major gateways to millennials by a number of brands.

Domino?s is also tapping into Spotify?s sponsored sessions, which offer consumers 30 minutes of ad-free entertainment in exchange for interaction with branded content.

This interactive strategy has previously resulted in better retention rates among individuals.

Last year, Land Rover North America was one of the first brands to leverage streaming service Pandora?s Sponsored Listening advertising feature, which saw lifts of 30 percent for purchase intent and 12 percent for brand awareness during the testing period (see story).

Consequently, Domino?s is very likely to see a massive spike in brand awareness among its target audience, which may translate to higher sales on mobile.

?Free users of Spotify still greatly outnumber paid users (60 million total, 15 million paid), so this is a good size pool to target,? Mr. McNally said. ?Sponsored sessions on Spotify are an example of a brand giving people something tangible in exchange for their time and attention, and that is the way it should be. 

?This is a great move by Domino?s to foster some good will, and it's a solid part of a multi-channel campaign. In 2016, Domino's is a tech-savvy brand that just happens to sell pizza, and it does a good job combining a range of social tactics into a solid overall strategy here.?