Papa John's Hires Chief Marketing Officer

Papa John’s International Inc. announced the hiring of Andrew Varga as senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Varga, a marketing veteran who joins Papa John’s after 21 years with Brown-Forman Corporation will report to Papa John’s president and COO Jude Thompson.

“We are excited to welcome Andrew Varga to Papa John’s,” Thompson says. “Andrew is a savvy marketing veteran who understands the power of branding and has done an outstanding job during his career at Brown-Forman. He has significant retail and branding experience in a highly competitive environment, and I am confident in his ability to move Papa John’s forward by keeping our brand on message and on strategy.”

Since 2007, Varga has held the position of senior vice president/director of marketing for Brown-Forman, responsible for the company’s wines and spirits portfolio in the North American Region, representing 30 brands with annual sales in excess of $1 billion. From 2004 to 2007, Varga was senior vice president/managing director of wines marketing, with global responsibility for the wine portfolio.

From 2002 to 2004, Varga was vice president/director of corporate strategy, leading Brown-Forman’s strategic planning process and reporting to the company’s chairman and CEO.