By CultureBanx Team
- Papa John’s new marketing campaign set to debut in the fall
- Shares have fallen 23% year to date
After the third largest pizza chain’s former CEO was caught saying a racial epithet, they hired Endeavor Global Marketing, which is led by its parent company’s new CMO Bozoma Saint John. Papa John’s (PZZA -2.75%) is going through a major identity crisis and has tapped diversity evangelist Saint John to repair the damage.
Why This Matters: The former Uber, Pepsi (PEP -0.10%) and Apple (AAPL -0.97%) executive is tasked with helping the embattled pizza chain earn back the trust of its customers. She’ll also have to make sure the brand demonstrates its commitment to being inclusive, something that’s highly questionable after the the company’s founder slipped up and used the n-word.
Endeavor will reportedly begin working across all of Papa John’s channels. The new marketing campaign is set to debut in the fall. “This isn’t an apology ad campaign,” Saint John told Adweek.
Investors will also be paying close to attention as to whether or not this new marketing campaign is going to be successful, as shares have fallen 23% year to date. Earlier this month Jefferies upgraded its rating of Papa John’s stock to buy from hold. The firm also also raised its price target to $58 a share from $52 a share.
Situational Awareness: This all started when Schnatter got involved in the NFL’s protests against police brutality. Last November, the then-CEO claimed the protests were affecting pizza sales. Many in the industry pushed back on this line of thought as a mis-characterization. It will be interesting to see what Saint John and her team are able to cook up for the fall season ad buying season.
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