Digital CPG Blog

The pizza brand Papa Johns recently released the details of it’s social media campaign, designed to “welcome customers into its R&D and marketing departments via a promotion on Facebook and Twitter.” The impressive contest allows the winner to get one percent of the sales of her creation, up to $10,000, plus $480 worth of free pizza a year for 50 years and a visit to Papa John’s headquarters.

“By mid-June, more than 12,000 recipes were submitted,” Papa John’s reported. “The company chose 10 semifinalists, based on taste, creativity and the quality of the description.”

To pull off such a integrated campaign, Papa John’s admits they had to break through some traditional silos. “The PR and research and development departments are working together with marketing on this,” says Jim Ensign, Papa John’s VP of digital marketing. “Our corporate chef is backing these [customer-created pizzas] as passionately as he backs his own creations.”

Papa John’s insists the campaign isn’t a gimmick, but rather that the social media elements are a “natural evolution of our use of word-of-mouth. The technology gives us more tools,” Ensign says.

And as more companies, particularly CPG brands, are looking to get insight into their customer’s minds and habits, social media holds a particular – and quick – allure. CPG brands have traditionally spent thousands, if not millions, on surveys and sampling without ever having receiving the full picture because retailers have always held onto the majority of data. Now, technology – as Papa John’s points out – is allowing brands to disintermediate and get rid of those layers so they can more effectively have a direct conversation with their customer. Through online marketplaces, social media outlets and more, CPG brands have more options than ever for customer feedback… let’s hope they use it!