I loathe to praise work done by the juvenile delinquents at Crispin Porter And Bogusky, but I think they’re really on to something with this new campaign for Dominos.  The new campaign includes spots featuring Dominos chefs going door to door to face their harshest critics.

The campaign is pure brilliance and even got me to order up some Dominos.  The new pizza is definitely head and shoulders above the flavorless cardboard they previously passed off as pizza.

Why is this brilliant?  Why do I like this campaign?  Because, Dominos is doing what every company should be doing…converting their harshest critics into hardcore fans.  Think about it.  In today’s crazy interactive age, tools and platforms give everyone a voice.  Unfortunately, that voice often seems to be used for either harsh complaining or amazing praise.  There’s rarely a middle ground.  Think I’m off my rocker.  Go to twitter and search “Delta.”

Are you back?  Good.  Are your eyes bleeding?  There’s a lot of disgruntled people.  And, you can’t make everyone happy.  But, what if you could pick the loudest, meanest, most dissatisfied customers and turn them into raging advocates?  They’re obviously already passionate.  They generally have a following…an angry mob of some sort that they’re leading.  Some have even already created a mini-groundswell (think Motrin Moms).

Let’s be honest, hardcore dissenters often outshout even the most ardent supporters of a brand or company.  It’s to a company’s advantage to flip these people into fans.  But, most companies simply ignore these folks.  I’ve been as big a complainer about Delta as anyone…well maybe not anyone…

But, rather than Delta trying to convert people like Tara and me, they’re puttin their head into the sand.  How does this make any sense?  It doesn’t.  This is like knowing you have rust on a car frame, but just ignoring it.  It doesn’t make the rust go away.  In fact, ignoring it helps ensure the rust spreads and eventually rots out your car…or perhaps in this case, your brand.

If you’re a company looking to find success in today’s ever changing and real time environment give some thought to investing in converting your harshest critics.  You just might find that small investment has a big ROI.

After publishing this, my good friend Michael Leis (a really freaking smart guy) sent me his interpretation of this idea from 2009. Like I said, he’s smart. Give it a read.