restaurants

Papa John's Becomes Super Bowl Sponsor

papajohns/nfl

Papa John's Pizza is extending its January "National Football Month" marketing program with something it has never done: sponsorship of Super Bowl XLIV as well as the NFL. The deal makes Papa John's "Official Pizza Sponsor of the National Football League and Super Bowl XLIV."

Andrew Varga, CMO of the Louisville, Ky.-based company, tells Marketing Daily that the short-term agreement ending in March came about because "we have been working with NFL franchises in nine local markets over the last three or four years and for the activating programs locally it has been a great sales boost for us. As we started to see better and better results with those nine teams, it made sense to do something bigger with the NFL."

He says the Super Bowl is one of the top five days of the year for pizza. "It's up there with the day before Thanksgiving, and New Year's Eve and Day. We expect to sell more than 750,000 pizzas during the game; 9 out of 10 people plan to eat while they watch the Super Bowl, and more than half of them plan to eat pizza."

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The deal gives Papa John's rights to use Super Bowl XLIV and NFL logos in all collateral material and advertising. "We plan on leveraging that with TV, local store programs, and digital elements between now and the Super Bowl," says Varga.

As part of its "National Football Month" program, Papa John's is selling a "Super XL IV Pizza," an extra-large (XL) pizza with four (IV) toppings for $11.99. But Varga says the name was serendipitous because the idea for the pizza preceded the Super Bowl sponsorship.

Varga adds that while Papa John's will not do a traditional 30-second spot during the game, it will have a presence in the game broadcast. "That's what we are working on: integration, not a traditional commercial, but integration with a 'Papa's in the House' message," he says.

The "Papa's in the House" theme has been central to ads that Papa John's is running this month. The ads feature CEO John Schnatter showing up at people's houses with pizza, as we reported last month.

The company has also launched "Be in the House with Papa at the Super Bowl" sweepstakes. The program dangles a chance to win two tickets and accommodations to the Super Bowl, which will take place at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. The sweepstakes is at www.nationalfootballmonth.com.

Other Super Bowl sponsors this year include Frito-Lay's Doritos brand, automakers Honda, Hyundai and Audi, AB/InBev's Budweiser and Bud Light and Coca-Cola. Internet players CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com will also advertise.

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