Pizza Hut Middle East Serve Up A Slice of Social Media Innovation with New Augmented Reality Application

Social media growth drives brand awareness and loyalty, while rewarding hungry clients

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – 4 December 2012 –Pizza Hut Middle East has developed the region’s first augmented reality application within theQuick Service Restaurant industry to promote the Pizza Hut Family Box, while harnessing the power of social media to capture increased marketshare among the Middle East’s youthful, highly connected audiences.

Using Ogle technology, recently launched at GITEX 2012 in Dubai (consumer electronics exhibition), the new Pizza Hut augmented reality application offers an enhanced view of Pizza Hut’s new offerings, overlaying it with video content and engaging contest which can be accessed via smartphones or tablets. Users simply need to download the Ogle app via the ITunes store and get started.

Users simply hover their mobile device of choice over Pizza Hut’s latest series of print advertisements to launch the augmented reality application and connect with the brand’s Facebook page, website and latest television commercial,creating a dynamic snapshot of Pizza Hut’s latest meal deals and innovations including the ‘cone crust’ pizzas developed specifically for the Middle East region.

The new augmented reality application, is aimed at significantly extending Pizza Hut Middle East’s social media reach, which already sees an average user engagement rate of 100,000 people per month on facebook and has experienced an annual growth from 56,000 fans in October 2011, to more than 815,000 this month (November 2012“Social media is the most influential channel to reach Pizza Hut’s customers across the Middle East’s youth-oriented, intensely-connected communities, and our augmented reality application ties together the brand’s value across print, digital and social platforms, really bringing our offers to life for hungry fans,” said Nasir Zaman, general manager for Pizza Hut Middle East.

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the largest and fastest-growing markets for Pizza Hut Middle East’s social media outreach, primarily through Facebook. The company’s regional YouTube channel recently recorded almost 1.35 million views for its videos (over the 2nd week of April 2012), highlighting the Family Box value meal and other regional offerings.

“The Middle East is a highly value-conscious market with a proven appetite for family meals, as well as stratospheric growth in social media adoption, so these factors have encouraged Pizza Hut Middle East to take a leadership role in growing our brand and connecting with customers through a range of social media platforms,” Zaman added.

To further reward hungry fans, Pizza Hut has also partnered with some of the region’s leading leisure outlets, giving away family days out to destinations including Ski Dubai, Playnation, Magic Planet and Wahooo! waterpark through an interactive quiz on its Facebook page.

Pizza Hut Middle East was recently ranked among the region’s most socially connected brands by Gulf Business magazine. The company operates via a franchise model in 13 regional markets.