For most consumers, a burnt dinner is a disaster. For Domino’s, it’s a chance for an Emergency Pizza, the loyalty program perk that the chain launched in 2023. Intended as a way to boost post-pandemic momentum, the promotion brought 2 million people into the QSR brand’s loyalty program the first time around and helped kick off three quarters of positive growth.

Emergency Pizza — which gives Domino’s Rewards members a one-time free pizza after they make a single purchase — returned in 2024 with partnerships around gaming, beauty and streaming TV. In December, Domino’s dipped into the 30-million-strong community around fantasy football, giving fans who had all-pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs (out since the middle of the season with an ACL injury) on their fantasy rosters $1 million worth of free Emergency Pizzas.

“If you can turn an injury … into something nice for fans, and turn lemons into lemonade, an Emergency Pizza can be the vehicle for that. It felt really special and unique, and Domino’s saw that right away,” said Matt Talbot, co-founder and chief creative officer at the chain’s agency of record, WorkInProgress.

The latest iteration of the campaign, which launched on Dec. 16, will run through Jan. 6 on digital, social and TV, including in social spots that see Diggs holding a press conference from his couch.

Marketing Dive spoke with Talbot and Kate Trumbull, who in October was promoted from chief brand officer to executive vice president and global CMO for Domino’s, about the Emergency Pizza campaigns, the virtuous cycle of data-driven marketing and the company’s agenda for 2025.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

MARKETING DIVE: What was the thinking behind the fantasy football-driven campaign for Emergency Pizza?

MATT TALBOT: We knew that as soon as we were doing Emergency Pizza for a second time that we wanted to make it bigger than ever and extend it into different interest groups, beyond just the core use cases we showed the first go-around around food emergencies. 

We had a large collection of ideas that we were collaborating on and this one felt right really early on, because of how big fantasy has gotten, how big the NFL is, of course, but also [around] viewing occasions on linear and how we do something that’s got a little bit of teeth to it. 

KATE TRUMBULL: We try to get across to different audiences. We had Amazon-Twitch’s The Glitch to reach gamers, and then we went into the beauty space with Olive & June. This partnership with Stefon Diggs was to reach that [fantasy football] audience — and the numbers are crazy. It felt like the right time far enough into the season to really bring this together. 

The campaign promises $1 million in free Emergency Pizzas. How do you justify that to the company and the franchisees?

TRUMBULL: Everything we do, we partner with our franchisees. Bringing our franchise board through it, they see the bigness of this message. We did it the first time and it had strong results in Q4 of 2023: positive same-store sales, a lot of earned media impressions and they felt it in their business. We came to them and said, “There are these new audiences we want to reach in really creative ways.” I think that they saw the potential. Frankly, we’re in a live quarter, but we’ve been really happy with our media that we’ve garnered the second time around with over 3 billion media impressions. We’ve gotten conversations going.

Domino’s made waves with a promotion around “Stranger Things” in 2022. What went into a second collaboration with Netflix around “Squid Game?”

TRUMBULL: We knew with “Squid Game” there was an opportunity to take their biggest equity and those iconic games — the Dalgona cookie, or red-light-green-light — that get associated with that property. 

We partnered with [director] Ted Melfi, who did an incredible job bringing it to life, and I think we added some unexpected moments with our Domino’s employees giving Emergency Pizza to the “Squid Game” players who needed them at the time. Matt and his team did such an amazing job, because it’s a darker property.

TALBOT: The thing for us was, what’s the idea that’s going to make this work, because of the tone of the intellectual property: How does this fit together? But the fact that the Emergency Pizza can save the day keeps all the darkness at bay and ends up bringing more humor, which is part of the reason the response has been so positive — because it’s unexpectedly comedic. 

How does the loyalty data from Emergency Pizza fuel the brand’s other data-driven marketing?

TRUMBULL: It’s a virtuous cycle. Our strategy is called Hungry for MORE, and I continue to feel like when we really give them more, they give us more. Our loyalty program is a perfect example and proof point. We launched our original program back in 2015, and people had to order six times to get something for free. It was too long. With the new program, you only have to order twice, and then we took it from having to spend $10 to $5. 

What we’ve seen is it’s really reached more new consumers and lighter users, and as we do more innovation, especially in the product space, we’ve been able to incorporate our loyalty perks into those product launches. It brings more news and more value to consumers. It’s an always-on part of our strategy now, which is exciting.

In 2024, value was top-of-mind for consumers across the restaurant space. How do you look to stay in that conversation?

TRUMBULL: Value is not just what you pay, it’s what you get, and consumers want it all, as they should. They want hot, delicious product. They want accuracy. They want quality. It certainly played a role in our calendar, and certainly played a role with motivating and getting our franchisees excited to really deliver a great experience for consumers, but it’s a balancing act.

Kate, last year, you became global CMO of Domino’s. What’s on your agenda for 2025?

TRUMBULL: I’m looking for how we take our Hungry for MORE strategy and what we’ve been able to do in the U.S. [global]. We’re in over 90 markets in the world. How do we leverage the scale that we have to continue to make a difference in those markets, and to win on innovation, delicious food and renowned value? The global side of things is incredibly critical to me. 

We’ve done a lot of smart things foundationally, but I really am excited to amp up innovation. I think that’s always the right place to invest, and not just innovation on the product side with exciting news but also tech innovation. Over 85% of our sales are on e-commerce, and that’s a place that we have always invested. You’re going to see more exciting innovation from us in that space, too.

Matt, the year closed with major news in the Omnicom-IPG merger. How does that affect how you make your pitch as an indie shop?

TALBOT: I don’t think it could put us in a better position as far as providing the things that the bigger ones just have a hard time providing: intentionality, dedication of staff, institutional knowledge, culture, community. 

Obviously, I feel for people that are going to be affected by this, and inevitably, there’s going to be some consolidation. I definitely don’t relish in that part of it, but I feel like it will just continue to shine a light on the benefits of having a small, independent shop of people that really care about their clients’ business and are a little bit more focused on the clients at hand versus constant growth and the pressures that come with being a vehicle for publicly traded entities to consolidate a bundle of things for holding companies. 

We don’t have that pressure, because we decided that we just want focused, steady growth and to never take our eye off the ball with our big clients and have the best people possible. Advertising was forced into a box to provide consistency so that it could be traded on the public markets, and it’s not necessarily the best for the work or the people. Advertising just isn’t meant to function that way.