Our Work

Papa Johns

A piece of the pie: Elevating a beloved brand across Canada.

Opportunity

Papa Johns came to zag with a mission to increase its presence in a fiercely competitive market and deepen its connection with Canadian consumers. Not only did they need a strategic partner to amplify brand visibility and drive sales, but to cultivate lasting loyalty in an increasingly fickle category.

Approach

We embraced the challenge with a holistic strategy that combined sharp market insights, bold creative execution, and cutting-edge digital engagement. Our focus was on crafting targeted strategies, punchy copywriting, and eye-catching graphics — all designed to resonate deeply with Canadian audiences.

Execution

Creative Concept: The award-winning “However You Slice It” campaign was anchored in the universal appeal of pizza, using creative storytelling to highlight the diverse ways people enjoy Papa Johns. The concept emphasized personalization, making pizza moments unique and relatable.

Media Strategy: We deployed a multi-channel media strategy that spanned targeted digital ads, social media campaigns, and traditional media placements. Each channel was carefully selected to ensure maximum reach and engagement, with messaging that aligned seamlessly with the campaign’s inclusive theme.

Brand Engagement: The campaign’s visual identity featured vibrant, mouthwatering imagery combined with bold, playful typography. This was consistently applied across all touchpoints, including digital banners, in-store materials, and promotional merchandise, creating a cohesive and memorable brand experience.

Award-Winning Impact: This creative effort proudly brought home an Award of Excellence for Communication Management – Marketing, Advertising, and Brand Communication, underscoring the campaign’s success in driving both brand affinity and business results.

Results

zag continues to be the proud Agency of Record for Papa Johns Canada, the Ontario Marketing Group, and a myriad of individual franchisees, acting as the Canadian creative and media lead across all channels. This includes TV, radio, digital, social media, flyers, box toppers, and everything in between. Our integrated approach has solidified the Papa Johns’ competitive edge, ensuring consistent brand resonance and consumer loyalty across every medium and market segment.

Testimonial

“The However You Slice It campaign perfectly exemplifies why we choose zag. We were seeing a lull in our sales and zag responded with funny, eye-catching creative and strategic ad placements that resonated with our target audience and built our brand awareness, resulting in a significant boost in sales during and after its run!”