Case Study: Powering Papa John’s Global Franchise Expansion
Global Franchise Expansion: How We Helped Papa John’s Strengthen Its Worldwide Growth Strategy.
Accelerating the World’s #3
Pizza Brand’s Global Expansion
Papa John’s Pizza, the world’s third-largest pizza company, operates in 50+ countries and boasts 6,000+ stores serving millions of customers every day. Renowned for its “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.” ethos and multi-billion-dollar revenue, the brand continually seeks fresh ways to sustain its global momentum and attract new franchise partners.
To maintain brand consistency across diverse regions—spanning EMEA, APAC, and LATAM—Papa John’s needed a robust blueprint for franchise development and commercial growth and approached Urban Brand Creative to craft two key resources:
A Global Franchise Sales & Marketing Handbook that could unify messaging, brand standards, and onboarding processes for worldwide franchisees.
A confidential Commercial Document providing deeper financial and strategic insights under NDA, ensuring executive teams and top-level stakeholders could make data-driven expansion decisions.
These materials were designed to reinforce Papa John’s position as a leading QSR brand, enabling seamless market entry and operational excellence wherever the company sets its sights next.
The Opportunity
Papa John’s was in the midst of rolling out a refreshed global brand identity, aimed at highlighting the company’s evolution and solidifying its market positioning. While this new rebrand presented an exciting opportunity to modernize and unify the brand worldwide, it also brought unique complexities:
1. Interpreting & Applying the Rebrand
Urban Brand Creative needed to translate Papa John’s updated visual and messaging elements into cohesive franchise materials. This required aligning the new brand look, tone, and core principles with real-world operations—without losing sight of local market nuances.
2. Global Stakeholder Alignment
With stakeholders spanning Global HQ Legal teams, international marketing leads, and the Director of International Development, achieving consensus across multiple regions was essential. Each division had specific compliance needs, regional considerations, and strategic objectives that had to be reflected in the final handbook and commercial documentation.
3. Maintaining Consistency at Scale
Papa John’s operates in 50+ countries, each with distinct consumer preferences and regulatory environments. The challenge lay in ensuring one unified brand story—anchored by the newly introduced rebrand—while granting franchisees clear, relevant guidelines for their local markets.
Through close collaboration with Papa John’s corporate leadership and regional stakeholders, Urban Brand Creative set out to develop modular, globally adaptable franchise materials that would serve as a blueprint for ongoing expansion in EMEA, APAC, and LATAM alike.
Our Strategic Solution
To unite Papa John’s refreshed global brand identity with its ambitious international growth plans, Urban Brand Creative designed a comprehensive, two-pronged approach:
Interpreting the New Brand Across Global Markets
We dissected Papa John’s updated visuals, messaging, and positioning guidelines to create regionally adaptable materials that stayed true to the rebrand’s spirit.
Each page—whether referencing brand tone, creative assets, or operational standards—was shaped to reflect local nuances without diluting the core brand identity.
Global Franchise Sales & Marketing Handbook (Public Document)
Unified Guidance: A master resource covering brand ethos, sales messaging, and high-level operational benchmarks, ensuring every franchise location could seamlessly implement the rebrand.
Scalable Framework: Built modularly, so Papa John’s regional leads could easily customize relevant sections for EMEA, APAC, and LATAM.
Key Stakeholder Alignment: Multiple feedback loops involving Global HQ Legal, the Director of International Development, and regional teams ensured that each chapter reflected both corporate standards and local regulatory compliance.
Supplemental Commercial Document (NDA-Protected)
High-Level Expansion Insights: Provided executive stakeholders with strategic growth models, market entry considerations, and forecasts for new franchise opportunities.
Financial & Operational Clarity: Detailed investment highlights and ROI frameworks in a secure format, allowing leadership to make informed decisions without jeopardizing sensitive data.
Legal & Regulatory Consistency: Addressed region-specific requirements, giving Papa John’s top brass the confidence to expand quickly while adhering to international standards.
By combining brand-driven content with confidential commercial insights, this two-document solution served as a blueprint for Papa John’s continued expansion—enabling faster market rollouts, consistent in-store experiences, and unified messaging across every country in which it operates.
Proven Results
Through a dynamic blend of brand-focused documentation and confidential commercial insights, Urban Brand Creative delivered a clear, actionable framework for Papa John’s continued international success. The outcomes include:
Global Consistency Across 50+ Countries
The Global Franchise Sales & Marketing Handbook quickly became the go-to resource, standardizing Papa John’s brand identity and messaging in stores spanning EMEA, APAC, and LATAM.
Franchisees and regional leads gained a single reference point—minimizing confusion and ensuring a cohesive customer experience worldwide.
Streamlined Franchise Onboarding & Compliance
New and existing franchisees now have immediate access to updated brand assets, operational guidelines, and region-specific compliance checkpoints—all within one comprehensive handbook.
This dramatically reduced onboarding time and clarified legal requirements, thanks to the collaboration with Global HQ Legal and the Director of International Development.
Executive-Level Commercial Confidence
By combining top-level strategic insights, ROI frameworks, and market entry considerations in the NDA-protected document, Papa John’s leadership can make data-driven decisions for ongoing expansion.
From evaluating new territories to supporting existing franchise partners, the Commercial Document ensures decisions are both informed and aligned with the company’s broader growth strategy.
Endorsement & Momentum
Papa John’s promotion of the Franchise Handbook on public channels (including their official LinkedIn) signaled corporate-wide confidence in the materials.
This public endorsement underscored Urban Brand Creative’s role in modernizing the brand’s global presentation and supporting future milestones for the #3 largest pizza company in the world.
Collectively, these results have reinforced Papa John’s standing as a leading QSR brand, while equipping regional teams with the strategic toolkit needed to thrive in diverse markets.
Client Testimonial – Papa John’s
“Collaborating with Keith and his team at Urban Brand Creative
has been a transformative experience for promoting and developing our international franchise opportunities. They brought a level of professionalism, creativity, enthusiasm, and dedication that surpassed our expectations.
Their art direction was visually compelling, copywriting engaging for our global audience, and they solved complex challenges of adapting global brand standards. I highly recommend Urban Brand Creative for their commitment to excellence, client satisfaction, and ability to deliver high-quality, impactful marketing materials.
Working with UBC is a fun and memorable experience—something we intend to repeat, and repeat we will!”
Urban Brecko | Director of International Development
(Asia, Australia, Middle East) | Papa John’s
A Glimpse of Our Work
Your Growth. Our Solutions
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![Full Digital Growth Solutions]()
Full Digital Growth Solutions
From Brand Activation to Investment Readiness—We Do It All.
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![Strategy & Business Consulting]()
Strategy & Business Consulting
Data-driven strategies to scale, optimize, and dominate your market.
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![Branding, Rebranding & Activation]()
Branding, Rebranding & Activation
Craft a high-impact brand that attracts, engages, and converts.
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![Social Media Campaigns]()
Social Media Campaigns
Targeted content and ads that engage, grow, and convert.
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![Website & eCommerce]()
Website & eCommerce
UX-focused websites and eCommerce built to convert and scale.
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![Marketing & Growth]()
Marketing & Growth
SEO, ads, and campaigns that drive traffic, leads, and sales.
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![Content & Visual Production]()
Content & Visual Production
Photography, video, and design that sell your brand story.
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![Public Relations & Thought Leadership]()
Public Relations & Thought Leadership
Media, PR, and influencer strategies that build brand authority.
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![Valuation & Investor Growth]()
Valuation & Investor Growth
Position your business for funding, scaling, and exit success.
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![Franchise & Business Expansion]()
Franchise & Business Expansion
Franchise models and rollout strategies for scalable growth.
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![Performance Marketing & Lead Gen]()
Performance Marketing & Lead Gen
Dominate your market with high-converting ad campaigns, and strategic funnels,
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![Sales & Marketing Assets]()
Sales & Marketing Assets
Pitch decks and sales materials designed to close more deals.
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![Branding & Design]()
Branding & Design
Visual identities that attract, engage, and convert.
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![Creative Services]()
Creative Services
High-impact design, content, and campaigns that sell.
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![Training & Ongoing Support]()
Training & Ongoing Support
Workshops and mentoring to upskill teams fast.
Our Work in Action
We Don’t Just Talk About Growth - We Make It Happen.
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