Papa Johns revives local marketing co-ops and launches new campaigns as the pizza chain seeks to reverse declining sales and regain momentum.
Papa Johns reported a 5% decline in North American comparable sales in the fourth quarter of 2025, marking the seventh quarter of negative growth in the past eight. The results underscore the challenges facing the pizza chain as it navigates a sluggish economic environment and shifting dynamics in the quick-service restaurant industry.
As part of its turnaround strategy, the company is reintroducing localized marketing through advertising co-ops across 50 markets in the United States, including most of its priority regions.
“These co-ops enable franchisees across regions to pool resources for more effective localized targeting and brand support,” Chief Executive Todd Penegor said during an earnings call last month. “Nearly half of our North American systemwide sales are now supported by advertising co-ops with collaborative local campaigns.”
The move reverses a policy adopted by previous leadership that made local advertising optional. In 2024, Papa Johns shifted toward a national marketing strategy, increasing the required contribution to its national marketing fund from 5% to 6% while eliminating a 3% local spending requirement.
Penegor, who joined the company in August 2024, has since described that decision as a “big miss.”
While executives expect the first quarter of 2026 to remain weak, the company believes the return to local marketing, combined with new product launches and a revised digital ordering strategy through delivery aggregators, could begin improving performance later in the year.
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A New Creative Platform
Papa Johns is also preparing a new advertising platform developed with Leo Chicago, which became the brand’s agency of record in December 2025 after a creative review. The Martin Agency had previously handled the account for nearly two years.
The upcoming campaigns will continue emphasizing the chain’s messaging around simple ingredients while expanding into what executives describe as “culture-forward omnichannel storytelling.”
Recent marketing efforts have included an unusual campaign aimed at earning a Michelin star and a promotional push around the brand’s pan pizza, supported by advertising across online video, television, social media, influencer partnerships and owned digital channels.
“Our messaging around pan is performing well, particularly among younger consumers, with strong purchase intent and desirability metrics,” Penegor said.
The new campaign will build on Papa Johns’ “Meet the Makers” platform, launched last March, which highlighted employees and ingredient sourcing across national television, digital media and social platforms. The campaign helped improve the company’s brand perception scores, Penegor said previously.
Marketing Led by Data
Papa Johns has also increased investment in marketing experimentation.
In 2025, the company allocated additional advertising funds to testing programs designed to refine its promotional strategy, customer relationship management efforts and media spending across channels.
“We are leveraging analytics and a strong testing protocol to optimize our marketing investments and improve return on spending,” Penegor said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call last year.
The company’s marketing strategy is led by Chief Marketing Officer Jenna Bromberg, who joined the chain in November 2024 after serving as director of core brand marketing at Pizza Hut.
Operational Changes Ahead
Marketing is only one component of Papa Johns’ broader turnaround effort.
The company plans to close about 300 underperforming restaurants and will remove menu items including Papadias and Papa Bites during the second quarter of 2026. Executives say the changes are intended to simplify operations and sharpen the brand’s positioning.
Papa Johns is attempting to regain momentum in a competitive pizza market that includes Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut and category leader Domino’s.
“The pizza category is certainly mature, but challenges at some competitors shouldn’t be mistaken for weakness in the category overall,” Domino’s Chief Executive Russell Weiner said during an earnings call last month. “Our competitors’ results are a reflection of our strength.”
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Papa Johns spent roughly $21 million in incremental marketing investments in 2025 and plans to allocate about $22 million more in supplemental marketing and franchise incentives this year.
Whether those efforts will be enough to reverse declining sales remains uncertain.
Analysts at BTIG recently noted that despite the return to local advertising co-ops, the company’s total advertising spending is expected to decline by a low-teens percentage this year. The shift toward localized marketing may help address regional performance differences, they wrote, though confidence in the impact of planned menu innovations remains moderate.
For Papa Johns, the coming year may determine whether the combination of new marketing strategies, menu changes and operational restructuring can stabilize the brand after several quarters of declining sales.
