I just read an article on the Telegraph about how Pizza Hut is changing its name to Pasta Hut. I had to check the date on the article to make sure it wasn’t April 1st!

It turns out that they are trialling it in 30 of its branches to see if they can actually move upmarket and I imagine attract more upmarket customers (who I am sure the idea is will spend more money with them..). It feels a bit gimmicky but maybe is not a bad idea. Pizza Hut has a brand that is down market and has a pretty good (!) reputation for low quality food. The change may well communicate that they sell pasta now but it is going to take some serious marketing spend to tell people the quality of the food has gone upmarket. They are spending £18m 😉

I am not convinced they need to change the name. It will differentiate them more from the other pizza companies – Ask Pizza has a decent range of pasta, and I usually have only pasta there. It might make people think of Pasta Hut first.. The negative though, is that it might have an effect on their delivery business – a pasta restaurant isnt one that springs to mind for my pizza delivery.

I wonder if this is just a marketing gimmick and after a while it will just revert back to Pizza Hut. It is an expensive way of doing things though..

What’s your view?