Dive Brief:

• Pizza Hut is rolling out a "Hut Rewards" loyalty program that offers rewards for every dollar spent online and gives members the opportunity to earn free pizza with just one visit to a restaurant location, according to a press release made available to Marketing Dive. To drum up hype for the new program, the Yum! brand is offering double rewards on all food purchases from Aug. 10 to Oct. 1.
• The loyalty program can be signed up for online at Pizza Hut's website. Pizza Hut customers can also opt in for text alerts for delivery updates without having to open its mobile app or visit the website.

• The release highlighted digital enhancements that Pizza Hut has rolled out this year, including a delivery tracker launched in May that lets customers know when their order is received, being made and shipped out for delivery.

Dive Insight:

Pizza Hut's new loyalty offering is the latest signal that the brand is putting a sharper focus on digital and mobile and how those channels can be leveraged to build a stronger connection with consumers both new and old. In September last year, the brand appointed its first-ever chief customer officer, Helen Vaid, whose role has been to transform both its in-restaurant and online customer experience, the latter of which is growing considerably, with mobile commanding 70% of all orders as of March this year. 

The initiative to build out digital offerings has manifested in products like the Delivery Tracker, offered through the brand's mobile app and website. In terms of marketing, Pizza Hut has also eyed more innovation, including through a pair of "Pie-Top" basketball sneakers released ahead of March Madness that could order pizzas via Bluetooth technology.  

Hut Rewards' text alert option meets a growing demand from consumers, as SMS was cited as the preferred channel for loyalty program messaging by 48% of respondents in a 3Cinteractive study released last August. The same study found only 21% of brand marketers used SMS for loyalty program communications.