Papa Johns is active in nearly 50 markets globally. While some are more mature with established international and regional pizza players, others remain nascent, where the brand has to build an understanding of the cuisine from the ground up.
In Asia, for instance, the chain faces competition from traditional foods like congee, dumplings, and spicy hot pots. Pizza is well-established in China, whereas in smaller Pacific countries like the Philippines and Cambodia, the company is still constructing a presence. The key to success in these varied markets, according to Chris Lyn-Sue, Papa Johns’ VP head of international, is adaptation to local taste profiles. The chain incorporates a lot of seafood into pizzas in Asia. In the Middle East, it uses yogurt or ranch bases, which provide a cooling effect to complement spicier toppings.
All of this was taken into consideration when the brand launched its “Better Get You Some” platform—a new marketing message that celebrates the universal love for pizza with visuals, captivating soundtracks, and a multimedia experience inspired by hip-hop, expressionist art, and cultural touchstones. The idea was incubated in North America, but the plan was always to integrate internationally. Through research, the Papa Johns international team found that “pizza can transcend borders as a core product equity,” says Jaclyn Ruelle, VP head of brand.
The strategic foundation of the platform is “pizza devotion.” This emerged from research showing that in North America, 65 percent of consumers are driven to order pizza when a craving strikes. That insight into consumer behavior gave Papa Johns confidence to explore the universality of devotion across several overseas markets.
“We believe we can communicate the idea of pizza power devotion across different markets,” Ruelle says. “This includes adapting to local ingredients or even considering different dining habits, like the more sit-down restaurant culture overseas compared to North America. I think that there were just some interesting nuances about how [Better Get You Some] came to life. But we knew that landing in a strategic territory like devotion would give us a lot of depth and flex across many of our markets to really drive this thing and it wouldn’t feel limiting.”
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With “Better Get You Some” as its North Star, Papa Johns International recently launched a Cheddar Pizza platform. A Nielsen study found that Cheddar Pizza would perform well, not only in terms of consumer interest but also in driving incremental visits to restaurants. Cheddar was identified as one of the top cheeses in the world, so there’s familiarity. The novelty part was putting its striking orange color on a pizza, which gives consumers a “rational desire to try it,” Lyn-Sue says.
The Cheddar Pizza rolled out in 23 international markets and four languages—English, Korean, Mandarin, and Spanish. The response was overwhelmingly positive. China generated a record-breaking 19 percent sales mix in the first week and saw elevated traffic and social media engagement. South Korea saw a 3.5 percent mix (40 percent higher than the LTO benchmark), and Qatar experienced a 6 percent order mix (triple the LTO benchmark). The Cheddar Pizza launch also helped drive comp sales in key markets.
“We had some good insights on not only the cheese consumption but also on a pizza itself that it would do very well,” Chris Lyn-Sue says. “That gave us confidence in launching it within the ‘Better Get You Some’ platform because that LTO was tied to really driving this sense of disruption and taking that pizza devotion into international markets on a product that was stand-out and breakthrough.”
It’s important to note that “Better Get You Some” is about appealing to the household CEO (millennial moms and dads) and also the burgeoning Gen Z audience. Papa Johns makes deliberate choices around cultural easter eggs for the campaign. It wants to create an earworm through inventive music and voice selection. To spark craving and capture attention in the U.S., the brand incorporated interesting cultural references. The chain included throwbacks to Shaquille O’Neal in NBA 2K and iconic cartoon characters reacting to the pizza’s appeal. These elements were interspersed throughout the campaign. Additionally, the chain developed a custom music track with advertising partner The Martin Agency and selected Big Boi from popular hip-hop group Outkast to provide a recognizable and authentic voice. The decision to feature hip-hop was based on validated research showing its popularity in America and its resonance with Papa Johns’ core customers.
The same mindset was used to develop marketing strategies for Cheddar Pizza in international markets.
In China, Papa Johns partnered with Garfield, leveraging the character’s popularity and the cultural affinity for anime and cartoons. Research validated Garfield’s relevance to Gen Z, and the campaign incorporated elements like Garfield’s favorite foods—lasagna and pizza—which aligned with the new cheddar cheese offerings. The orange cat, symbolically tied to cheddar, created a strong cultural and product connection as well. In Korea, Papa Johns collaborated with the popular K-pop group IVE. One member, An Yu-Jin, featured the Super Papa Pizza and the new Cheddar Pizza in branded content on a popular YouTube channel, garnering eight million views and high engagement. Also in Peru, the chain made a bold visual statement by transforming a flagship store in Lima with cheddar cheese imagery. That created buzz through earned media without a significant paid push.
Influencers play a big role in this new marketing mindset. Papa Johns focuses on finding creators with genuine connections to the brand. Ruelle calls it “anecdotal ambassadorship.” This involves identifying influencers who can authentically share stories about Papa Johns, rather than those promoting multiple pizza brands. One prominent ambassador is O’Neal, who has been with the chain for five years. His long-standing relationship has made him a key figure in promoting campaigns like “Better Get You Some.” Additionally, the platform’s reach was extended by partnering with Big Boi, who not only lent his voice but also engaged his fans through social media.
Papa Johns also values user-generated content from customers, which helps create relatable social media content. This includes repurposing posts from guests, such as brides featuring pizza at their after-parties. Internally, Papa Johns has tapped into the talents of its own team members. Notably, brothers Jacob and Joseph Bartoli, who are general managers and come from a franchise family, have gained internet fame for their impressive dough-spinning skills showcased on TikTok. Papa Johns has integrated their popularity into marketing efforts and used their organic following to enhance the brand’s presence.
Internationally, Papa Johns leans heavily on influencers, mirroring its approach in the U.S. A key difference lies in the company’s reliance on master franchise partners outside the U.S. and U.K. These operators, who handle entire territories, play a crucial role in identifying and leveraging local influencers.
“Our intent is here is to really drive this pizza devotion that we know that is there or maybe at different levels throughout the world,” Lyn-Sue says. “And we want Papa Johns to be at the forefront of that by being integrated culturally with whatever we’re doing.”
