Papa John’s Announces Chief Marketing Officer, Andrew Varga, Resigns to Take President Position at Zimmerman Advertising
Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) today announced that
Andrew Varga is resigning his position as Chief Marketing Officer of
Papa John’s International, Inc. (“Papa John’s”), after accepting the
role of President of Zimmerman Advertising, Papa John’s advertising
agency of record and one of the leading advertising firms in the United
States. Mr. Varga expects to begin his new position following a
transition period with Papa John’s.
“Andrew made many outstanding contributions to the Papa John’s team, and
we are pleased that he now has a wonderful opportunity to become the
President at Zimmerman Advertising,” said Papa John’s Founder, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer John Schnatter. “We are excited not only to
continue working with the talented team at Zimmerman, but also that
Andrew and his wealth of knowledge about Papa John’s and the pizza
category will continue to be an integral driver of the Papa John’s
brand.”
“When we created the CMO position nearly four years ago, we had the goal
of increasing the brand equity of Papa John’s,” added Papa John’s Chief
Operating Officer Tony Thompson. “Andrew helped to strategically
structure our marketing team to grow our digital, branding, and creative
capabilities, all of which contribute to the strength of our brand.
We’re confident our talented marketing team is well positioned to
continue the strategic marketing and partnerships that will drive our
results, and we will immediately begin the search for a new leader of
the marketing team.”
Varga added, “It has been my privilege to be a part of the great Papa
John’s brand for nearly four years. I am very excited to continue to be
involved with the quality leader in the QSR pizza segment in my new role
with Zimmerman Advertising, and am grateful for the positive experience
and learnings from John Schnatter and the team that have helped make it
possible for me to take on this new opportunity. I look forward to
working with John and the rest of the management team to ensure a smooth
transition, and to helping continue to grow the Papa John’s brand.”
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John’s International, Inc. (PZZA)
is the world’s third largest pizza company. For 11 of the past 13 years,
consumers have rated Papa John’s No. 1 in customer satisfaction among
all national pizza chains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index
(ACSI). Papa John’s also earned the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Pizza
Brand of the Year. Papa John’s is the Official Pizza Sponsor of the
National Football League and Super Bowl XLVII. For more information
about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John’s at www.papajohns.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release and other company
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of the federal securities laws. Generally, the use of words such as
“expect,” “estimate,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “will,” “forecast,”
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projections concerning revenue, earnings, margins, unit growth and other
financial and operational measures. Such statements are not guarantees
of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond
our control. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ
materially from those matters expressed or implied in such
forward-looking statements. These and other risk factors are discussed
in detail in “Part I. Item 1A. - Risk Factors” of the Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2012. We undertake no
obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of future events, new information or otherwise.
