Sometimes picking a fight can be good for business.
Connecticut turned its long-standing pizza rivalry with New York into a tourism campaign, boldly declaring the state home to "the best pizza in the country."
The purposefully provocative pizza campaign paid off.
When the marketing hits your eye like a big pizza pie...
Connecticut's food fight began innocently enough as part of the state's Make It Here campaign, highlighting its entrepreneurial identity. The state is apparently home to the most pizzerias — per 10k people — and the highest percentage of family-owned or independent pizza joints.
Then came highway signs gently taunting neighboring states, including ones facing New York declaring Connecticut "home to the pizza capital of the world," referring to New Haven's coal-fired apizza that inspires pilgrimages.
Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro later announced her state's pizza supremacy on the House floor.
The campaign also included a "Pizza Trail" map, a pizza mascot, and vanity license plates.
Fuggetaboutit
Ultimately, though, it was the "rage bait" that drove the most attention: trolling billboards in New York with taunts like "there's no shame in 2nd place," inviting passersby to call a hotline or go online to share their reactions.
New Yorkers, proud and opinionated pizza lovers, had some thoughts (which were then used in the campaign).
The plan worked.
Suddenly, everyone was talking about Connecticut pizza — online, on TV, in articles. The food fight even extended to other pizza hot spots like Chicago, Detroit, and New Jersey.
According to Connecticut, the campaign generated:
- ~19B media impressions
- 37% increase in long-distance visitors
- 68% increase in nationwide Google searches for “Connecticut pizza”
For a campaign that cost ~$200k — though some argue more — the state believes it brought an $11-to-$1 ROI for visibility.
Connecticut once conducted a study and found the words people most associated with the state were: “cold,” “boring,” “nothing,” and “traffic."
After the award-winning campaign, the top two hits were “pizza” and “fun.”
Not bad for a food fight.
Especially considering Connecticut’s pizza puts up serious numbers:
- ~$600m/year in sales, contributing $3.b in overall economic activity
- $45.66m in tax revenue
- New Haven’s coal-fired pizza draws over 2m visitors annually, generating $100m.
Some say other states could learn from Connecticut's audacious effort.
Though Rhode Islanders would caution that not all food is as alluring as pizza.
Take giant stuffed clams, for instance. Oof.
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