Pepperoni Pilsner beer from Pizza Hut

Funny people don’t want to miss the April Fools’ Day, neither do fun brands.

In 2015, the pizza chain Pizza Hut announced on the April Fools’ Day that they have created a possibly not disgusting Pepperoni Pilsner beer. Because well, beer and pizza do go remarkably well together.

What’s the goal behind this campaign? There’s no ask-for-action elements in the vedio. Therefore, it doesn’t seem to be related to revenue or operational efficiency goals. Cultural goals are a far-fetched, because this video is supposed to seen by much more consumers than employees. The only remaining posibility is brand goals, and it makes sense. The humor, if played well, will add to the brand preference.

If the above analysis holds, the goal is brand related. Next step is how to measure the effectiveness of this campaign. If I were in charge, I would measure it from two dimensions. Most importantly, I would see how many customers are reminded of the Pizza Hut brand by this campaign. This is important because the brand will be more likely to be considered when it is on the top of customers’ minds. To measure it, I would look at the number of views. Second, I would make sure that this campaign didn’t go wrong. In other words, I would ensure the message is received by the audience in the right way. To measure that, I would look at the sentiment data collected from the listening tools.

On a side note, losing credibility or letting down your target is definitely not what you want to achieve in an April Fool’s Day campaign. Pizza Hut does it, because it aligns with the fun side of the brand. If your brand is nowhere close to being fun, be careful with the April Fool’s Day idea.