Domino’s Pizza has shown itself to be extremely nimble when it comes to the changing media landscape. They were quick to respond a few months ago when two knucklehead employees posted a video of themselves on YouTube doing heinous things to a customer’s pizza.

Now, more recently they’ve harnessed the power of social media to listen to critics. Rather than run from criticism of their pizza or simply run a PR campaign to counter it, they’ve embraced it and tried to make better pizza. According to Domino’s, the most common complaint they receive via Twitter, email, Facebook, and elsewhere is that their crust tastes like cardboard. In response, they scrapped their recipe entirely and started over from scratch. There were complaints about the sauce tasting like Ketchup, so they scrapped that recipe too. As painful as the complaints were, Domino’s took them to heart and set out to make their product better.

What many companies don’t realize is just how much it means to customers simply to be heard. The only thing worse than buying a crappy product is knowing that the company doesn’t care if you think their product is crappy. When a company like Domino’s listens to customer complaints and creates all new recipes in  response to those complaints it’s a big deal. Even if their pizza still isn’t the best, they will have the kind of brand loyalty other companies only dream about.

Just letting your customers know you care is one of the most powerful marketing devices you can employ. I know that seems odd, but it’s true. Consumers are so used to hearing corporate spin and CYA excuses that it’s a real breath of fresh when a company acknowledges mistakes and promises to do better.