BRAND MARKIVE

-Yash Sancheti
PIZZA HUT
A true American success story of a business dream, a loan to start the venture and the
journey to becoming a world leader, Pizza Hut started in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by
Dan and Frank Carney with their partner John Bender. With the limited amount of
money they had, they rented a small place and bought used equipment. The name
Pizza Hut which has become synonymous with good food & service was only named
so because the sign board they had, had room only for 8 letters.
With aggressive marketing, by 1966 the number of
Pizza Hut outlets had reached 145 and two years
later the first franchisee was inaugurated in
Canada. During this time the Carney brothers
bought out the interest held by John Bender. This
isn’t just a story of success as the pizza chain went
through tumultuous times too. The company
wanted to acquire 40 percent of their franchise
operations.
However, these acquisitions were not well planned and caused
The name
disruption in the operations as the varied accounting systems
Pizza Hut
used by the earlier franchise owners had to be integrated into
which has
one single coherent system. During this time the sales flattened
become
and the profits dwindled.
synonymous
with good
food & service

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MARKSMAN FEBRUARY EDITION
BRAND MARKIVE

The company realised that a long term

strategic plan was required to survive in the
market. The company went public in 1972
and was listed on the NYSE. This proved to
be a turning point as also the decision to
further acquire companies that would
complement their core competencies. In
1977 Pizza Hut merged with PepsiCo. The
1980’s saw new competitors like Little
Caesar’s, Domino’s Pizza International and
Pizza Express. Pizza Hut introduced ‘Pan Pizza’ and also other new additions to the
menu to combat this. The 1990s brought more success for the chain.
Today, Pizza Hut serves nearly 2 million pizzas a day in its
12,000 plus locations. It has approximately 4 million The company
customers worldwide and has even had the honour of went public in
delivering to the White House and to former Russian 1972 and was
President Boris Yeltsin. What began as a $600 venture in listed on the
Kansas, has now grown to be one of the world's biggest NYSE. This
restaurant franchises. The company's success all falls on the proved to be a
shoulders of two brothers with a desire and determination to turning point
make a good pizza and a good living.
Pizza Hut’s approximate worth is said to be around $8.5
Billion.

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MARKSMAN FEBRUARY EDITION