The merchandising arrangement between Domino’s and Coca-Cola, begins this week with the first eviction of a celebrity contestant from the Big Brother house. Throughout the new series, Domino’s will be promoting a free Coke deal, whereby pizza lovers can grab a free 1.25 litre of Coke or Diet Coke on every eviction night with any purchase of a large Domino’s Stuffed Crust pizza.

The campaign will run across the Northern + Shell portfolio on TV and online including the Big Brother website, mobile app and Facebook page. Activity on Facebook will be bolstered with Big Brother viewers now able to vote for evictions via the Big Brother Facebook page for the first time.

Simon Wallis, sales and marketing director for Domino’s, said: “Domino’s is very excited to be the official Big Brother eviction night partner and we look forward to working with Channel Five as they breathe new life into this iconic show. The evictions will provide another great opportunity for us to reach our core target audience in their homes at a key ordering time. When it comes to a great night in front of the TV and waiting to see who the latest evictee will be, what more could you want than a piping hot Domino’s and a Coke?”

For more details on Big Brother, log onto www.channel5.com/bigbrother or to take advantage of the free Coke eviction night deal, visit www.dominos.co.uk

To play, log on to www.thegreatturkeyescape.com. Simply select your turkey from the likes of Freddie Flapper and Tommy Tails, catapult them into the air and then flap your wings like mad to fly as far as you can. Pick up a pizza slice for an added boost, but avoid the dynamite or your goose will be cooked!

The game is using Facebook Connect to allow fantastic flyers to boast about their accomplishments with medals published on their own Facebook pages. The highest scores will also be recorded on the official Great Turkey Escape scoreboard on Domino’s Facebook fan page. The furthest throw each week will receive a free pizza and the furthest overall distance travelled (in turkey miles, of course!) will win a pizza party worth £100.

James Millett, multimedia manager at Domino’s Pizza, said: “Our Facebook activity continues to go from strength to strength – we’re a stone’s throw from reaching 100,000 fans and growing at a storming rate. Innovation is core to the Domino’s brand and our Great Turkey Escape game provides a great way to get everyone in the festive spirit and to share their fantastic flying scores through Facebook Connect. We’re sure you won’t be able to escape the game this Christmas and we can’t wait to see how our fans get on.”

Domino’s Pizza continues to provide innovative ways to engage with its customers. The company was recently awarded the Best Retail and Home Shopping Campaign Award by Campaign for its Facebook Superfans initiative and Social Affiliate ‘widget’. The Campaign Media Awards recognise brilliant and inspiring creative media ideas that make a difference for brands.

Domino’s scooped the Best Retail and Home Shopping Campaign award for its Facebook Superfans initiative and Social Affiliate ‘widget’ which enables website owners to download the widget and receive payment for any pizza orders placed with Domino’s by clicking through it. Over 5,000 downloads of the widget have been made to date while Facebook Superfans helped to create nearly 32,000 followers in just four months.

Superfans and the Social Affiliate widget were developed in association with Domino’s long-standing digital agency, Arena Quantum.

Chris Moore, Chief Executive of Domino’s Pizza, said: “We love winning awards like this. We’ve always been known for leading the way when it comes to digital activity since we launched online ordering ten years ago and we want to make sure we keep it that way.  These new initiatives are just some of the fantastic ideas we’ve been working on with Arena Quantum and interactive orders continue to be a key driver of our business.  Here’s to Domino’s next ground-breaking innovation!”

Dan Clays, Managing Director of Arena Quantum, said: “Domino’s has built on its track record in digital marketing and inventively used social media to regularly talk and listen to customers in a way that has, most importantly, resulted in measurable business growth for their franchisees.  Social media has become a mainstay of Domino’s wider communications strategy and 2011 promises to be even more exciting.”

Celebrating 25 successful years in the UK, Domino’s Pizza currently has 643 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland. For more details, log on to www.dominos.co.uk.

The leading home pizza delivery company is due to open the Middlesbrough outlet on Linthorpe Road in December and is currently recruiting staff to work at the new store. A wide range of positions are available including trainee managers, pizza makers, customer service staff, and also pizza delivery drivers.

28-year-old Mike Racz is the franchisee of the new Middlesbrough branch of Domino’s Pizza and says he’s actively seeking to employ local people at the new store as he explained:

“We’re looking to employ people who live in the community that we’ll be serving. First and foremost, we’ll be looking for people who can deliver great customer service and demonstrate strong teamwork skills, as well as boundless enthusiasm. It’s also vital to be able to maintain a sense of fun while working under pressure.”

Mike Racz from Hartlepool is an award-winning franchisee having received an Acorn Award for services to catering and hospitality earlier this year which will stand him in great stead for his new venture with Domino’s Pizza in Middlesbrough.

Domino’s is an Age Positive Employer Champion and welcomes applications from people of all ages. So if you live in the Middlesbrough area and would like to start a career with the pizza giant that is Domino’s please contact Dean on 07815496532.

Muhammad Zar was delivering pizzas in Glasgow when 30-year-old William McManus and another man robbed the Domino’s worker of the pizza he was delivering, mobile phone, money and vehicle keys leaving him stranded.

Knife brandishing McManus told the pizza delivery man to walk to the end of the road and turn right, but afraid this was a trap, Zar turned left instead, and knocked on the door of the first house he saw with a light on.

Unbeknown to Zar, the door was opened by the mother of his attacker. McManus also lives at the property along with his brother, and so a few minutes later while Zar was using the house telephone to call for help, McManus walked in.

Immediately recognising the man using the telephone as the pizza delivery man he’d just robbed, McManus made a run for it. However the police were then called, and the 30-year-old thief was later caught by the authorities.

Initially McManus denied any involvement in the pizza robbery, however later under questioning, he admitted he had been involved in the attack.

The case came to court this week, however sentencing has been deferred pending reports. McManus has been granted bail.

Online customers of Domino’s will now have the opportunity to round up the cost of their order to the nearest pound, with the pennies being donated to charity. Donations of a minimum of 1p to a maximum of 99p can be made via the new online concept.

It is thought the new Pennies system has the potential to transform mainstream giving in the UK. The people behind the new electronic charity box concept estimate that if every UK cardholder donated 8p a week, this would result in £89 million being collected for charity every year.

Domino’s has decided to donate 75% of the funds collected via Pennies to the UK’s Special Olympics, with the remaining 25% being shared between Macmillan Cancer Support, NCPCC, and the Prince’s Trust.

The new Pennies system uses technology developed by STS and YESpay. The idea behind the new scheme is to make charitable giving convenient and affordable to all by offering a private means by which to make a donation.

It is hoped Pennies will have a positive impact on charitable donations as a recent survey revealed that 63% of people said they’d be more likely to donate to charity if there was a system in place such as the Pennies concept.

Domino’s Pizza is the first UK retailer to offer this service, with another major brand looking to introduce Pennies by the beginning of 2011.

The first Domino’s Pizza outlet will be opened in Berlin, with other stores planned to open across the country as part of the company’s franchise system.

Domino’s Pizza currently boasts 9,000 franchises in more than 600 countries across the world. Germany was chosen by Domino’s as the next country to expand to as there is a growing market for pizza delivery services.

A Domino’s Pizza spokesperson said Germany was the ideal choice of location for the next stage of the company’s expansion plans because it has a “large customer base that values convenience and quality.” Germany also boasts the largest food market in Europe, making it a very attractive option for companies such as Domino’s.

Domino’s Pizza is continuing to expand across the UK with plans to open more outlets here before the end of the year. This month the pizza giant also celebrated its 25^th anniversary in Japan. Domino’s offered a part-time job with a rate of pay of $30,000 for an hour’s work as part of the anniversary celebrations in Japan.

Customers of Domino’s Pizza in Swindon Old Town will be getting their pizzas delivered from a brand new store – just two doors away from the existing site – when the store moves to new premises in Swindon Old Town High Street.

The new store comes complete with a large viewing area so customers can watch their pizzas being made. There’s also a plasma screen in the carry out area to keep customers amused while they are waiting for their pizzas and, overall, the new store is four times larger.

The new store opening is the latest in a line of exciting events for franchisee Siggy Wilberg. Following on from his advertising campaign in the Spring, which saw him offer the residents of Swindon a £9.99 delivered pizza for a nine week period, Siggy was awarded a Gold Franny at the Domino’s Pizza worldwide awards in Las Vegas in July. The Gold Franny is awarded to franchisees that exemplify the Domino’s guiding principles (which include demanding integrity, putting people first and making great pizzas every day) and contribute to the overall success of the brand.

Siggy said: “I’m just so excited about my new store. We have been operating out of the old site for 20 years now – and it was just not big enough. It is great to be moving to another site so close too and my team are delighted that they won’t be falling over each other anymore!

“I’ve been with Domino’s for 22 years and it was fantastic to be recognised by my colleagues in the USA with a Gold Franny. It’s a real honour and to be presented with it in front of 6,000 people in Las Vegas was just amazing.

“It’s been a great year for us – and the award and now the new store just bring it to an incredible climax. I can’t wait to get up and running in the new store and continue to build our business and serve the good people of Swindon with delicious, piping-hot Domino’s Pizza.”

Domino's Pizza now offers a full lunchtime menu

As part of Domino’s Pizza’s latest multimedia advertising campaign to promote the launch of its new lunchtime menu, the pizza chain joined forces with internet video site, YouTube to help get the message across.

Domino’s Pizza advertised its new lunchtime menu across a range of media including radio, TV and internet videos for a far reaching effect. It was anticipated that the YouTube takeover ad would enable Domino’s to further strengthen their foothold in the 18-34 age group.

As part of the new lunch menu at Domino’s Pizza customers can choose from a range of tasty freshly baked subs. With 6 different ciabattas to choose from and a wide selection of fillings, Domino’s aims to offer its customers a versatile and exciting range of menu choices.

The YouTube ad aired earlier this month over a full weekend and used a system known as Quick Launch which enables companies to use existing videos and links on the site to create the new advert. Not only is this extremely cost effective for big brands, it’s also a very effective means by which to target potential new customers as the ad appears on the mast head of the site for maximum exposure.

The Domino’s Pizza lunchtime menu is now in full swing, so get down to your local store now and try the freshly made subs for yourself.

Domino's Pizza outlet in Swindon has its operating hours extended but misses out on 24 hour licence

A Domino’s Pizza store in Swindon has been refused a 24 licence to serve food, however the the council have agreed to extend their opening hours.

The franchise is in the process of moving to larger premises and had planned to open for business 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. However this application was refused on the grounds that it could encourage anti-social behaviour in the Old Town area of Swindon.

The licensing committee have agreed to allow the Domino’s Pizza store to serve food until 1am Monday-Thursday, and until 3am on Friday and Saturday. Takeaways are permitted until 3am every day.

Concerns have been raised by local residents in light of the extended opening hours at the fast food outlet with many complaining of noise caused by people eating on the streets, and also disruption from delivery drivers revving their engines and slamming doors.

Domino’s Pizza say they plan to install 8 CCTV cameras to monitor activity in and around the area to ensure their customers don’t disturb local residents. Plus door staff will be employed on weekends in case of anti social behaviour. Sliding doors will also be installed at the new premises to reduce noise.

The franchisee in charge of the Swindon branch of Domino’s Pizza has been operating for over 20 years and has never experienced any problems. Domino’s Pizza also highlighted the fact that there are several other late night eateries in the area, so they are not bringing anything new to the neighbourhood.