Marketing
In 1992, Eagle Boys registered its "pink glow"—the pink look of its logo— with IP Australia, the Australian Government intellectual property office.[56][57] A customer survey in support of the company's application found people strongly associated the pink glow with Eagle Boys stores.[58] The distinctive colour scheme was designed to create a fun and upbeat feel.[59]
In 2007, Eagle Boys launched the "Vote 1 Full Size Large Pizza" campaign bringing to task its competitors for selling smaller pizzas.[60] Domino's had reduced the size of their large pizzas in mid-2007 and Pizza Hut had changed their sizing in late 2006.[61] The campaign produced a sales uplift of over 27%.[62]
In 2009, the pizza chain announced a $7 million advertising campaign, called the "Real" campaign, that reinforced its "Bigger, Better" slogan.[63] The campaign involved the VW "Real Mobile" driving around Australia offering Eagle Boys pizza and recording testimonials for a TV commercial.[64] Later in the year, Eagle Boys launched another campaign comparing its pizzas to those of its competitors, this time built around the "blind taste test" which found almost half of test subjects preferred Eagle Boys pizzas to those of pizzas from Domino's and Pizza Hut combined.[65]
In 2010, Eagle Boys launched a multimillion-dollar campaign "31 New Menu Items – Each One Delicious”.[66][67] The campaign was the first to use Eagle Boys' new phone name 1300 EAGLE BOYS.[68][69] New pastas were among the 31 new menu offerings,[70] Desserts were also included, among them a chocolate fudge mousse that received a Gold Medal at the 2010 Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show.[71] The menu was tested over a 12-month period ahead of the launch.[72] Eagle Boys told media it expected a 15% spike in sales on the back of the launch.[73]
In 2011, the chain released advertising "Our large pizzas are bigger than theirs" in another attempt to demonstrate their large pizza offered effectively an extra slice of pizza to their closest rival, Domino's.[76][77] Domino's chief executive, in response, told media that "value is not in the size of a pizza."[78] Eagle Boys recorded a 20% jump in sales in the first week of the campaign compared to the previous week.[79] The pizza chain also announced it would be supporting the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, with a plan to donate more than $200,000 over three years to the charity, starting with $1 from every dessert sold during Cerebral Palsy week in August 2011.[80] In July 2011, Eagle Boys received Halal accreditation for its Bexley store.[81]
Rebranding in 2013 as part of the "making pizza happy" campaign involved introducing a new logo along with new pizza boxes and uniforms.[82] The iconic eagle was dropped from the logo at time, with management citing pressure from its client base to drop to eagle.[83] The company introduced a "happy bell" to ring when customers were having a good time—aiming for a happier feeling for the in-store experience.[84] The campaign was rolled out in stages, beginning in Far North Queensland, a decision an Eagle Boys spokesperson said was designed to pay homage to the chain's regional heritage.[85]
By 2014, around one-third of the pizza chain's marketing budget was directed to digital spend.[86] That year, the chain released a campaign leveraging off the release of Australian film Fat Pizza vs. Housos.[87][88][89] It also announced a partnership with streaming company Quickflix, offering customers an exclusive deal on a one DVD and streaming bundle package.[90] In 2014 the chain also donated more than 600 kg of potatoes to food rescue charity OzHarvest.[91]
2015 saw Eagle Boys launch the first "store of the future" in Bundaberg. The concept store, with a design including exposed brickwork and recycled timber, was developed based on research carried out on customer preferences and behaviours.[92]
In March 2016, Eagle Boys launched a trial of "Virtual Drivethru" at several of their stores in the Townsville area. The technology enables customers to order their pizzas online, drive to the store and alert store team members that they have arrived by pushing a button so that staff can deliver their order to their customers' cars.[93]
