The company is running the ad within Us Magazine’s mobile site. Pizza Hut has used mobile advertising in the past to not only drive in-store foot traffic, but get consumers more comfortable with ordering their favorite meals using their smartphones.

“The Pizza Hut mobile marketing campaign for its Big Pizza Sliders is colorful and compelling with attractive product imagery on the main banner ad,” said Simon Buckingham, CEO of Appitalism, New York.

“The ad clicks through to Pizza Hut’s general mobile-optimized site, which doesn’t contain any further information on this product itself on the landing page of the mobile site,” he said. “If consumers did want to find out more about the big pizza sliders product, they would likely need to follow the site’s order process for carryout or delivery.

“Pizzahut.com’s main Web site on the other hand contains a couple of home page banners promoting this product including the compelling information that the cost is just $10 for 9 sliders, which is a compelling proposition on any media and perhaps something that Pizza Hut could include on the banner ad itself to stimulate higher click-through rates. And, the usual store locator feature is included from the mobile site to allow consumer to find their nearest Pizza Hut store.

Mr. Buckingham is not affiliated with Pizza Hut. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

Pizza Hut did not respond to press inquiries.

Mobile promotion
The Pizza Hut mobile banner ad reads “Big Pizza Sliders” and features an image of the new food items, as well as the company’s logo.

When users tap on the ad, they are redirected to the company’s mobile-optimized site where they can enter their city, state or ZIP code to find the nearest Pizza Hut location and try the products out for themselves.

Furthermore, consumers can choose between carry-out or delivery. Customers can also browse the full menu and choose what items they want to order.

Consumers can also log-in to their account to access their information or sign-up to receive deals from Pizza Hut.

Mobile is a great way for the company to spread the word out about its new pizza sliders.

Moreover, mobile advertising helps marketers to drive engagement and, ultimately, foot traffic and sales.

Past campaigns
Pizza Hut has been ramping up its mobile commerce efforts for a while now.

Last year, the company ran a targeted mobile ad campaign that aimed to drive the company’s mobile sales by encouraging consumers to order through their handset (see story).

In addition, Pizza Hut and Boston Market enhanced their loyalty strategies by giving customers a way to scan 2D bar codes for a chance to win a prize (see story).

Most recently, Pizza Hut heated up its mobile efforts with an advertising initiative that enticed consumers to use their smartphones to order their favorite pies (see story).

“Overall, Pizza Hut has done a good job making a solid mobile advertising campaign,” Mr. Buckingham said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York