Tasty opportunity: Pizza Salvatoré serves up expansion into new markets with direct mail

Pizza Salvatoré is a proudly Canadian institution. Founded in 1964, the Saint-Georges, Quebec pizzeria hand-tossed its way into the hearts (and stomachs) of locals with amazing pizza and a famed buffet that drew hungry customers through its doors for years.

From family-run to fast food to frozen, pizza is a popular choice for Canadians. Success in that market involves more than taste and price – it often depends on which brand develops a marketing strategy that keeps existing customers and locates new customers more efficiently than the competition.

A tasty opportunity

Facing a significant shift in consumer behaviour that impacted in-store dining, Pizza Salvatoré experienced a sharp decline in revenue. That’s when the five owners – all grandchildren of founders Salvatore Abbatiello and Angèle Fecteau – took decisive action.

They went all-in on delivery, hiring 200 drivers and launching an intensive promotional campaign with direct mail as the centrepiece. In less than two months, deliveries were not only making up for lost revenue but also opening the door to a world of new opportunities across Canada.

In the years following this strategic shift to prioritize pickup and delivery, Pizza Salvatoré has experienced remarkable growth, now operating more than 80 restaurants in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.

While exciting for the family, that kind of explosive growth has come with new challenges to sustain it.

The company had been successfully using Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail^TM as part of its marketing mix for years. But as the pressure grew to keep existing customers happy while attracting new ones, Pizza Salvatoré explored whether direct mail could do even more for their business.

For us, direct mail is a powerful tool to generate sales. The trick? You must take the time to do it right.

Isabelle Lafond

Marketing Manager

Pizza Salvatoré

Hunger for direct mail

Pizza Salvatoré has always had a hunger for direct mail – sending out nearly 900,000 menus via Neighbourhood Mail^TM to customers every month.

Neighbourhood Mail is perfect for restaurants looking to connect with every home and apartment in specific neighbourhoods or regions across the country. It can be further enhanced by employing Precision Targeter^TM, an interactive tool that explores targets based on demographic categories like age, income and life stage.

“Precision Targeter has allowed us to increase the accuracy of our advertising’s targeting – ensuring we only reach customers who we believe to be most interested in our brand,” said Isabelle Lafond, Marketing Manager for Pizza Salvatoré.

Additionally, the Canada Post data visualization tool overlays numerous data sets (e.g., existing customer data, store locations, previous mailing locations, competitor data, mobile tracking data). That allowed Pizza Salvatoré to see multiple new opportunities on geographic maps.

By doing so, they identified under-exploited areas where competition was weak as well as promising new areas to target with direct mail. The table was set for success.

Taste for success

Direct mail offered a taste of success. After optimizing their direct mail campaign for each location’s target market, the pizza chain’s weekly orders have increased by 5%. Since delivery now accounts for 90% of sales, that’s an extra-large accomplishment.

Additionally, Pizza Salvatoré decided to test its creativity. The company tried an oversized direct mail piece that highlighted coupons instead of the menu. As a result, sales jumped a further 6% over the previous month.

“For us, direct mail is a powerful tool to generate sales. The trick? You must take the time to do it right,” Lafond said.