Pizza Pizza is the official pizza of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, the Toronto Raptors basketball team, the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, Montreal Canadiens Hockey Team and the Ottawa Senators hockey team.

With an innovative menu, marketing and a finger on the pulse of consumer trends, Pizza Pizza Ltd. has become Ontario's No. 1 pizza concept and garnered more than 28 percent market share, according to Pat Finelli, vice president of marketing. In sports venues, it even has customers chanting the "Pizza Pizza" name.

The company is the official pizza of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, the Toronto Raptors basketball team, the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, Montreal Canadiens Hockey Team and the Ottawa Senators hockey team. "We are always aligning ourselves with No. 1 sports and entertainment properties," Finelli says, adding that sports and pizza go well together. People can eat pizza during the game with family and friends, and the pairing enhances the concept's fun image, he notes.

Pizza Pizza's promotions tie in with the game. For example, if the Raptors score more than 100 points at home, customers can take their ticket stub to the restaurants the next day and get a free slice. Finelli says it's a fun promotion and good PR. "During a Raptors game, [when] the score reaches 96 points, the crowd starts chanting ‘Pizza Pizza,'" he explains. "If [the Raptors] break 100, the place goes crazy and the signs change and announce free pizza."

Pizza Pizza has a similar promotion for hockey games, if the Ottawa Senators score six goals. In 2005 and 2006, the Senators Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson were nicknamed "the pizza line." Finelli says it was great publicity. This year, the company is sponsoring the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup in Toronto at the Rogers Centre and is the official pizza of the event. The campaign is also tied into the company's celebration of its 40th anniversary.

History of Innovation
President Michael Overs founded the business in 1967. Finelli describes him as a "phenomenal man, entrepreneur, innovator, leader, and a builder."

Today, Pizza Pizza includes more than 500 traditional and non-traditional locations. Non-traditional locations include Pizza Pizzas inside stadiums or universities and theme parks, Finelli explains. With the exception of a few restaurants in Quebec, all of its locations are in Ontario, Canada.

Much of its growth has occurred since the mid-1990s, he says, and the company has renovated all of its locations and added to its menu over the years. Franchisees have fueled growth; of its locations, only 13 stores are corporate owned.

Pizza Pizza's menu includes everything from gourmet pizzas, french fries and onion rings to gourmet mango chicken salad and chicken wings. It offers 15 varieties of slices at its restaurants and more than 35 toppings to choose from. Finelli says the company was one of the first to make an effort to respond to consumers' health concerns.

"We were the first ones to eliminate all trans-fats in our dough," he states. "Our french fries, chicken wings, onion rings and pizza dough are all trans-fat free. We have a whole-wheat pizza dough that's trans-fat free and made with spring water."

Eliminating trans-fats is one of the reasons why the company is the No. 1 pizza chain in Ontario, Canada, Finelli asserts. "We are always listening to our customers," he states. "We are always studying the marketplace and consumer trends. You could see the whole buzz concerning health. We were watching the media, worried about obesity and health. Before this became an issue in the marketplace, we had already started working on alternatives."

He says the company didn't get drawn into the media debate about trans-fats and unhealthy foods. Instead, it offered a vegetable whole-wheat multigrain pizza that was "good for you, covering the basic food groups," and launched new salads, giving customers the healthier choices they wanted.

"We knew that this [trend] was happening and studied the market and listened to customers' wishes. Instead of having to react, we were ready," he states. The company has always been at the forefront of the food industry, Finelli states. "We always listen to our customers," he says. "Michael Overs is a great leader and innovator. We were the first back in the '70s to have an insulated delivery bag. After that, we came out with a one-number jingle, after that a 30-minutes-or-free promotion. We are always being very innovative."

Five years ago, Pizza Pizza was also one of the first concepts to introduce dipping sauces for pizza in Ontario. Finelli says it's rewarding being the dominant pizza player in Ontario, and having a much greater market share than Dominoes and Pizza Hut, which have a large television spillover from the American channels into the Canadian market. The company has big plans for the future, he adds. "We haven't spread across Canada yet," he says, but the company is studying data and demographics in other markets such as Calgary and Montreal.

Finelli says pizza is a fun product because unlike burgers, it's not eaten alone; it's something people share to be social and have fun. "At the end of the day, everybody loves pizza and when the doorbell rings, the kids yell 'Pizza's here,'" he states. "People fight over the last slice. It's a great product and breaks the ice and starts conversations."