‘Same Common Purpose’: Domino’s and Havas on Why their 27-Year Partnership has Endured

As Domino’s renews its partnership with Havas Media Network for the 27th year, its CMO and the agency’s CEO discuss the traits needed to maintain a long-lasting relationship, including trust, communication and being “aligned” on the same goal.

Today, the brand confirmed it has extended its partnership with Havas Media Network following a non-compete closed review, continuing the agency’s remit across media planning and buying.

According to ANA and 4A’s data, the average tenure of integrated full-service agencies is 7.3 years,while media-only agencies average 3.7 years. Domino’s and Havas have surpassed both several times over.

Since the beginning of the relationship, the needs of the business have “massively evolved”, says Havas Media Network’s UK and Ireland CEO, Patrick Affleck.

A defining moment in Domino’s relationship with Havas Media Network came with the launch of the 2021 ‘Domin-Oh-Hoo-Hoo’ campaign. It was the first major campaign under Barron, who joined from Costa Coffee in January 2021 and brought Domino’s digital team under the marketing remit.

Affleck had joined just nine months earlier, meaning the campaign also marked the start of a new leadership era for both partners.

“It cemented the relationship,” explains Barron.

As the UK emerged from the pandemic, Domino’s saw an opportunity to reconnect families and friends after months of restrictions. The brief was to create a campaign that boosted awareness, drove participation and increased demand as social gatherings resumed.

Working with creative agency VCCP alongside Havas Media Network, the brand developed a strategy centred on a distinctive audio device – a yodel. In addition to the creative, the media plan became a central part of the campaign.

Domino’s recorded an underlying profit before tax of £113.9m in the UK and Ireland for the year to 26 December 2021, up 12.5% compared to the previous year. Total sales increased by 11.2% to £1.5bn, with like-for-like system sales up by 10.9%.

More recently, Domino’s claims its marketing return on investment is up 11% year-on-year, with 41% of brand consideration driven by ad awareness.

Sponsorship has remained central to Domino’s media strategy. The brand’s most famous deal – a decade-long tie-up with The Simpsons – began in 1998 and remains one of the UK’s longest-running sponsorships.

More recently, Domino’s has built a presence in streaming. It has sponsored Channel 4’s on-demand service since 2019, securing branded idents around premium content, digital inventory, research and access to 4Studio’s creative resources.

The brand also sponsored ITV Hub from 2018, and in 2023 renewed and expanded its ITVX partnership in a new multi-year deal covering sponsorship idents, platform takeovers, licensing and research.

Both Barron and Affleck emphasise the importance of being “aligned around the same goal”.

Barron agrees, describing the partnership as “an extension of each other’s teams”.

That alignment has been underpinned by a shared focus on data. Domino’s invests heavily in mediamix modelling to inform decisions, measure effectiveness and optimise spend.

Both leaders joined their respective organisations in 2020, bringing digital backgrounds. Since then,Barron has worked to build Domino’s digital and data capabilities. The brand now claims 13 million active customers, with 83% of sales online, and processes more than 100 million rows of data each week.

This scale of information, coupled with the franchise-funded marketing model, makes accountability essential.

To meet that need, Domino’s has built its own data science teams, working closely with Havas to ensure insight flows both ways. A key moment came 18 months ago, when both sides agreed to integrate their data sources more tightly to avoid duplication and break down silos.

Domino’s long-running Simpsons sponsorship ended in 2008, a deal then said to be valued at around £2m a year. Soon after, Of com ruled the arrangement had breached regulations restricting the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).

Now, fresh rules are set to reshape the landscape again. Coming into effect from 5 January 2026, the LHF rules will prohibit adverts for “identifiable” less healthy products from being shown on Of com-regulated television services and on-demand programme services between 5.30am and 9pm, andfrom being placed in paid-for space online.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently upheld complaints against a Domino’s ad after the watchdog found content promoting an HFSS product was likely to appeal to children.

TV and on-demand will be restricted, therefore, the brand will be “getting creative” in the channels it chooses to advertise. The next stage is to “understand” the places where the brand can talk to consumers and it will experiment with advertising on radio, outdoor and social media.