Pizza Hut first entered China more than three decades ago. Since then, it has grown to become China’s leading casual dining brand (CNRS 2020).

However, due to COVID-19 and the rise of app delivery, China’s restaurant industry was down 17% at the start of 2021 (China Bureau of Statistics).

Making matters more difficult was a drop off in young diners nationally, who sought trendy and culturally relevant experiences.

Tapping into these insights, Pizza Hut saw an opportunity to revamp its image and appeal by delivering much needed comedic relief within its restaurant.

So, Pizza Hut partnered with Kaixin Mahua, one of China’s top comedy agencies with over 10 million fans of its own.

Creating Pizza Hut’s first ever stand-up comedy restaurant in the heart of Shanghai, Pizza Hut provided delicious food alongside an experience of togetherness and happiness.

To allow for a fully immersive performance that connects people together, Pizza Hut completely renovated the restaurant, creating a truly instagramable and theatrical experience that invited diners to take part in the nightly show, alongside the wait staff, who also played a role in each nightly comedy show.

To drive footfall, Pizza Hut announced the partnership with Kaixin Mahua on its official social accounts, as well as giving out vouchers at 2 regular Pizza Hut stores and the themed Pizza Hut store nearby the Kaixin Mahua’s theatre to promote the new partnership.

In addition, Pizza Hut seeded content to Kaixin Mahua’s large fan follower base on WeChat and Weibo, China’s leading social apps, as well as promoting the restaurant offline amongst Kaixin Mahua’s theatre audiences.

The results were sizzling hot!

(See confidential results)

Thanks to this immense success, Pizza Hut plans to create more themed restaurants in China in 2022 and beyond.