Ask Papa John’s president and CEO Nigel Travis if the U.S. pizza market is saturated, and he’ll give you a litany of reasons why he believes the answer is no. He’ll reference the continued dollar growth in the category; the rebound in the segment’s same-store sales; the growth of take-and-bake; the testing of pizza at places like Subway; and, fittingly, Papa John’s seven consecutive months of positive comp sales through June 2005.

Yes, there is still room to grow in the U.S., says Travis, but in the immediate future, Papa John’s will not focus on domestic expansion. Instead, Travis intends to move Papa John’s forward by concentrating on three themes: marketing, management development, and international growth.

It’s a strategy that served Travis well as president and COO at Blockbuster Inc. and in various leadership roles at Burger King, where he was known for his emphasis on communication. During his tenure there, revenue at Blockbuster grew by more than 50 percent worldwide, from 1998 to 2003. He also transformed the video store chain into a global entertainment company. And, he has similar plans for Papa John’s.

When you took over at Papa John’s in April, you said the company’s best days are ahead. How so?

Papa John’s owns the quality position among the national pizza chains, as consumers continue to rate us number one in both product quality and customer satisfaction. This is such an important and wonderful distinction, earned through many years of a relentless focus on using superior-quality ingredients and delivering world-class customer service. We will continue to work hard to maintain and improve this position.

Having said that, I believe the best days are ahead for our brand. While maintaining our strong quality ethos, I see many ways for us to further delight our customers, including expanded product offerings and additional consumer propositions. I also think there is room to improve returns at our restaurants, through both top-line sales growth and driving costs out of the box. And, we have just scratched the surface on our international growth, which I intend to be an important focus area moving forward. If we can work on all these important aspects of our business, our franchisees will grow, and the system will grow as a result.

What kind of additional “consumer propositions” can we look for from Papa John’s?

This industry has traditionally been very competitive and focused on discounts. There are other ways to attract customers, different ways of looking at the marketplace. I’m basing that on my previous experience in other industries.

Does that mean Papa John’s will place a heavier emphasis on marketing moving forward?

You can take that for a given. That is one of my priorities.

John [Schattner, Papa John’s founder] has done an unbelievable job in the last four years focusing on the product and service. He’s done that with a complete passion, a complete focus. I’m not going to give up on that, but I think we’ve done a less than stellar job at actually marketing that message. So, marketing will be a major priority.

We’ll put more resources behind it—in terms of people and money. At the same time, because we have less money to spend than, say, Domino’s or Pizza Hut, we have to be clever in how we use that money. Use it sensibly and efficiently. That’s where those consumer propositions come in.

How many Papa John’s units currently operate abroad?

We have just over 400 stores in 18 countries. And we have something like 800 stores in the pipeline for the next seven years.

If we just carry on our growth pattern, we believe we’ll be over 1,000 stores in a few years. I want to accelerate that.

How does the American pizza market differ from the international pizza market?

Actually, there is no such thing as an “international pizza market.” Just as there are distinct differences between markets within the U.S. based on income levels, ethnic preferences, etc., there are even greater differences between each international market based on those and other factors. Other differences might include such things as religious prohibitions on certain food types, strongly differing taste preferences, awareness and acceptance of pizza, aspirational feelings about American brands, and the life cycle phase of the pizza product for dine-in, delivery, or other forms of distribution. Each market has a unique combination of these that presents unique challenges to adapt the brand while also maintaining Papa John’s brand essence of “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza.”

One of the things we’ve consistently talked about since I’ve been here is the fact that we now have a lot of people with international experience. When you go into other markets, you have to be aware of local tastes. You try to keep the excellence of the Papa John’s brand, but at the same time take into account local tastes.

How do you plan to go about exporting that commitment to overseas franchisees and markets?

We will export our commitment with the same passion that has made Papa John’s a formidable competitor in the USA. It starts with selecting licensees who share our passion for quality, then reinforcing their commitment with training and indoctrination with the Papa John’s culture and values. Finally, our team evaluates and approves or disapproves each local market adaptation and implements systems and controls from the perspective of our commitment to quality.