--- title: "Papa Johns overhauls its marketing strategy amid sales decline" url: https://burnaze.com/article/ef5b6b76-41d2-41bf-ba63-96894a73e692 source: "Restaurant Business" original_url: https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/marketing/papa-johns-overhauls-its-marketing-strategy-amid-sales-decline category: "Pizza" industry: "Restaurants" segment: "Pizza" topics: ["Marketing"] published: 2026-08-10T15:51:23.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T14:57:47.580Z image: https://cdn.informaconnect.com/platform/files/public/2026-08/background/epic%20stuffed%20pizza%20papa.jpg?VersionId=YiAN2KH9RhAHRHZSUswNJiWtVu99fdjo --- # Papa Johns overhauls its marketing strategy amid sales decline **TL;DR:** Papa Johns reported an 8.3% same-store sales decline in its second quarter, prompting a marketing strategy overhaul. The company is shifting its focus to a more balanced approach between national and local messaging, including the reinstatement of advertising co-ops across the US. *originally published in Restaurant Business on 2026-08-10. [Read the original](https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/marketing/papa-johns-overhauls-its-marketing-strategy-amid-sales-decline).* ## Key facts - Papa Johns reports 8.3% same-store sales decline - Company to focus on barbell pricing - New marketing team and local co-ops established ## Story During Papa Johns second quarter earnings call last week, CEO Todd Penegor said the company’s transformation is taking longer than expected as he reported a 8.3% same-store sales decline. Since late 2023, only Q2 2025 has been positive for the pizza chain. “We know that we must execute better and move faster,” he said. Penegor outlined myriad challenges facing the company right now, including pressured consumers shifting to smaller, non-specialty pizzas, which resulted in mid-single-digit declines in overall pizza sales, as well as declines in sides and desserts. He also said the quick-service category has moved toward aggressive discounting, and that trend has been even more pronounced in pizza QSR, adding that Papa Johns hasn’t kept pace. ## Marketing strategy overhaul “We probably didn't meet the consumer as much as we should have in the course of the second quarter as we protected margin a little bit more,” he told analysts. To add insult to injury, there is more overall competition as well, including convenience stores and gas stations. Indeed, a recent report from Bank of America shows Casey’s General Stores taking some market share from QSR pizza chains, noting that the C-store giant has an advantage because of the breadth of its offerings such as fuel and merchandise. That’s not to say Papa Johns doesn’t have self-inflicted wounds, however. Penegor said some of the company’s marketing and menu innovation, such as its Pan Pizza launch and "Toy Story 5" collaboration, “didn’t bring in as many new (customers) as we would have wanted.” “Innovation is a little more challenged to bring in new customers in this environment. I think we can do a better job really telling our story on the third-party aggregator channel and what we can bring that’s new, unique, and different to provide new access to innovation,” he said. “We’re adjusting some of our plans moving forward to do that.” Most of those adjustments will be marketing focused, and Papa Johns shuffled its marketing team to facilitate the changes. Chris Lyn-Sue, who has been with Papa Johns since 2022, has been named global chief marketing officer. He succeeds Jenna Bromberg, who has been CMO since November 2024. ## New marketing approach **Marketing adjustments** Moving forward, Papa Johns’ marketing will be more balanced between national and local messaging, including on third-party delivery apps that have “gotten to be a lot more crowded.” “We've got some small things that we can do on how our brand shows up from a visibility perspective in 3P, but we've got good visibility into the things we need to do to compete even stronger in that channel,” Penegor said. “These platforms continue to play an important role in introducing new customers to the brand, and we believe there is an opportunity to improve both our visibility and effectiveness.” The company recently reinstated its advertising co-ops across the U.S., for instance, to improve market-level targeting and balance national messaging with local relevance. Approximately 50% of the domestic system is now supported by local co-ops and Penegor said early results are encouraging. “Markets supported by co-ops and meaningful supplemental local spend are outperforming other markets by 200 basis points,” he said, adding that most of the system will have a co-op by the end of this year. Notably, Papa Johns used to have such co-ops in place but shifted from a local to national fund in 2024 under former CEO Rob Lynch. Last year, Penegor said the new model is a “big mess,” as the company is a “very regional business.” Papa Johns’ current national marketing contribution is 6% and local is optional. Franchisees that have opted into the local co-ops are spending 1.5% to 2%, but this will likely change. “There’s probably a 7.5% to 8% total being spent in the marketplace. We’ve got to rebalance that,” Penegor said. “We could probably use a little less on the national contribution to ensure we’ve got a mandated amount at the local level. We’re making progress. We’re having those active discussions with the franchise community right now.” To support the co-ops, the company has established a field marketing team to work directly with local operators and ensure their local spending complements the brand’s national positioning. That messaging will also be refined to better compete amid the intense value environment, including a stronger barbell strategy. For example, two of Papa Johns’ largest competitors had deep discounting for at least half of the quarter, Penegor said, while his company only had deep discounting for one week. “We didn't answer the bell as strongly as we should have,” he said. “We’ve got to get the balance of the barbell reworked to compete more strongly in the competitive and the consumer landscape that we're facing today.” Some of this work is already underway. Papa Johns added its new oven-toasted sandwiches to its Papa Pairings offer, for instance, and featured its Epic Stuffed Crust Pizza at a $13.99 price point. As Papa Johns rebalances its media mix in the second half of the year, it plans to offer its most popular products with “short, targeted windows of disruptive value,” and leverage its new personalization engine within its customer relationship management platform to understand what national and local offers resonate most effectively. All this work will be supported by the re-establishment of local co-ops and the new field marketing team, Penegor said. Together they will “make sure we’ve got a balanced and thoughtful approach to what national messaging does as well as local messaging to really compete and win,” he said. “We need to get aligned on where we find the right balance between driving transactions and protecting margin. We have to meet the consumer where they’re at. “We can't just live on the quality and the messaging of better ingredients, better pizza.” *Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.* ## Entities - QSR (sector) - marketing strategy (topic) - Restaurant Business (publication) - Papa Johns (company) - Todd Penegor (person) - Rob Lynch (person) - sales decline (topic) - local advertising (topic) - qsr competition (topic) - Bank of America (company) - Jenna Bromberg (person) - Chris Lyn-Sue (person) --- Originally reported by Restaurant Business (https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/marketing/papa-johns-overhauls-its-marketing-strategy-amid-sales-decline). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/ef5b6b76-41d2-41bf-ba63-96894a73e692).