Domino’s app awards points for any pizza photos

Ann Arbor, MI – During a 12-week promotion, Domino’s Pizza is awarding redeemable points to U.S. customers sharing photos of pizza from any restaurant – even that of a competitor.

On Feb. 2, just ahead of one of the biggest pizza days of the year, Domino’s began awarding rewards points through its new Points for Pies program for all pizza that customers may eat, including pizza that is not made by Domino’s.

This is how it works: Customers download the latest Domino’s app, sign up for the Piece of the Pie Rewards loyalty program (if not already a member) and use the newly embedded pizza identification feature to scan their pizza. Customers can then earn 10 points. After a customer earns 60 points, they can redeem them for a free medium two-topping Domino’s pizza.

“Instead of advertising during Sunday’s game, we decided to invest in a breakthrough program that rewards everyone who loves pizza as much as we do,” said Art D’Elia, Domino’s senior vice-president and chief brand officer, in a news release.

Domino’s typically sells nearly two million pizzas and four million chicken wings on the biggest football day of the year – about 40 per cent more pizzas than on a normal Sunday, the release said.

Technology is an important element of Domino’s Points for Pies program. Domino’s internal teams developed a pizza identifier that will scan each pizza or slice and will then use artificial intelligence-driven software to identify the image as pizza, so that points can be awarded. This technology will recognize all pizza – not just Domino’s – for rewards.

“This is the first time Domino’s is using AI technology like this,” said Dennis Maloney, Domino’s chief digital officer. “It will be running the pizza identification process and is already smart enough to identify all pizza, even if it is a homemade English muffin pizza, a pizza with a hotdog stuffed crust, or a high-end artisan pizza. It can even identify if it’s a dog’s squeaky pizza toy.”

Domino’s CEO, Ritch Allison, appears in TV commercials for the program. It’s the first time a Domino’s ad has been shot in a restaurant other than Domino’s, according to the release.

“We knew that filming this commercial in a pizzeria that was clearly not Domino’s would really demonstrate our commitment to awarding points for all pizza,” said Kate Trumbull, Domino’s vice-president of advertising. “We chose a place that was special to our CEO when he lived in Atlanta – Antico Pizza, an acclaimed family-owned favourite that puts just as much love into their pizza as we do.” The new ad can be viewed at youtube.com/dominos.

Domino’s will award Piece of the Pie Rewards members with Points for Pies points when they use the latest version of Domino’s mobile app to scan a “pizza or an eligible image of a pizza” from Feb. 2 to April 28, 2019. Customers can use the menu on the left-hand side of the of the app to navigate to the Points for Pies section. 

Further details can be found at pointsforpies.com.