Papa John’s Contest Pulls 12,000 and New Marketing Ideas…Maybe

Papa John’s pulled in 12,000 entries to its recent contest that asked entrants to create new pizza recipes. Three finalists each received $1,000 to market their pizzas, which began appearing on the regular Papa John’s menu yesterday and will remain an offering through Aug. 29.

The finalist who sells the most pizza will be declared the winner and receive a slice of the sales, up to $10,000, free pizza for life and the chance to appear in the next Papa’s in the House commercial.

So the race is on and Facebook is playing a big role for the finalists: Blair Dial of Springfield, IL, who created the “Big Bonanza,” Barbara Hyman of Los Angeles—”Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu,” and Kendra Chapman of Ball Ground, GA—”The Workin’ Fire.”

On Facebook, Dial’s “Big Bonanza” was way out in front yesterday with more than 600 “likes,” while the other two had 100 “likes.”

While the winner of the Papa John’s Specialty Pizza Challenge
will be enjoying plenty of pizza, Papa John’s may be the real winner, stocking its marketing toolbox with innovative and creative ideas generated by the contestants that might prove to be winning campaigns.

Chapmin has taken to grassroots marketing, distributing flyers around her community. Hyman was planning to wrap her car with Papa John’s “Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu” advertising and promises that a portion of prize money would be donated to the National Wildlife Federation.

“While $1,000 obviously won’t fund a massive ad buy, we do hope our three finalists will find creative and cost-effective measures to raise awareness and initiate sampling of their pizzas, as the highest-selling recipe will ultimately be determined the winner,” said Andrew Varga, Papa John’s chief marketing officer, in a release. “We’ve been really impressed so far with their enthusiasm and initiative, whether it’s designing flyers, organizing pizza parties, or even promising part of the prize money to charitable causes.”

The entries were narrowed down in July by a panel of judges that included the Food Network’s Ted Allen and Rich Eisen of the NFL Network. On Thursday, the three finalists will travel to Papa John’s headquarters in Louisville to tour the facility and make their pizzas for the company’s corporate staff.