Dinner & the Concept of Time

A few weeks ago I read a book, The 24 Hour Customer by Adrian Ott, and since then I've been paying more attention to how the concept of time can be implemented into the marketing mix of the 4 Ps. While many companies have been seeking ways to market their product, price, place, or promotion, Ott proposes that time should also be considered and gives examples of numerous businesses starting to do this. While her examples are great, you'll have to read them for yourself to find out more about them. But in the meantime, I found an example of her concepts through my dinner the other night.

Due to work, class, or meeting with grad groups, my husband and I don't get home until about 7:30 or 8pm on most nights. Then, add in the an ample amount of graduate homework, house chores, a dog, and life outside my control, and it all adds up to me not making dinner...mostly because we just don't have the time or it's already late. So, in order to still receive some sort of sustenance for our stomachs, we'll either eat a quick salad or opt for pizza. This particular night we opted for pizza. And since it was after 8pm and we're on a bit of budget, we chose to go with what we know to be fast, easy, and actually tastes good.

Tulsa has many choices for the pizza lover. Our new favorite pizza shop that's fast and cheap - and tasty - is Little Caesars. But before they moved just a few miles from my house, we wouldn't think of eating there. The thoughts of "Pizza! Pizza!" were buried in my childhood memories, not to be turned over by possible new experiences of trekking across town to a sketchy area within a rundown looking retail store. Little Caesars had basically been written off by most pizza devourers in Tulsa. But now that they have launched multiple shops in better areas all over town, business is booming. Not only are they now just a few minutes from my house and offer pizzas for $5, the real beauty of what they have to offer is in the area of time.

While the $5 deal is super great, what's even better is that I can walk into their little pizza site and give them $5 (plus 43 cents for tax) and walk out with a pizza less than a minute later - all without calling ahead or ordering. Little Caesars is completely accessing the concept of time and are using it to sell pizzas. Don't want to call in and wait for your $13 pizza to be done? No problem - just come by and pick up a cheese or pepperoni pizza for $5. You want a $5 pizza but it's not Monday? Just swing by our place any day. Need a pizza after 9pm? We're open late. Don't want to cook for dinner? Come see us.

It's brilliant. Every time I go (which is just about once a week), there will be a line of people picking up pizzas. But I know my car will driving away just two minutes later. Fresh, hot, tasty pizza, all for $5 and ready when I am. Little Caesars has captured this market of offering a good product at a reasonable price while using time to drive more sales. And I am part of that market. It's good to see that my favorable childhood memories have been restored. To this I say, "Welcome back, Little Caesars. (I'll probably see you again in a week!)"