Papa John’s

Connecting the brand to the employee experience

To turn around a year-long decline in sales, Papa John’s refreshed their brand in 2019 and approached Strive Group to cultivate a brand experience for their employees by enhancing the appearance and dynamic of the HQ, containing elements of a new genzennial audience. Papa John’s wanted to promote this switch with their employees and keep the target market ‘front and centre’ with a strong connection between brand, customer and employee. 

The existing office space was a plain magnolia expanse which lacked tone and had a shortage of zoning, features and talking points throughout. Papa John’s identified the reception area and separate training facility to be those with maximum exposure and footfall and wanted these areas to reflect the new store experience that Strive Group had already created.  

The project began by holding a workshop and discussion with Papa John’s employees who use the building daily. The workshop allowed staff to voice opinions, be bold, and steer the initial ideas for the project. After condensing feedback and identifying a core team to liaise with, a reflective mood board advanced the creative process, clarified tone and confirmed direction. Strive Group performed a building audit which led to recommendations for key areas including bespoke graphics, signage and glazing manifestation installs to transform the space, create conversation and bring the new target audience to mind.

“We are delighted with the work Strive Group produced, transforming our office into a vibrant, cool and fun environment encapsulating Papa John’s vision for the working space and aligning with our target audience. The colourful and bright design has lifted our workspace and in turn employee experience fulfilling the brief. Strive demonstrated expertise in design and innovative implementation on the finishes creating a workspace to be proud of as the company goes from strength to strength”.

Liz Williams, Managing Director UK & Major Markets

Throughout the collaboration and the audit, large storage units and walls within HQ were identified as areas to showcase bespoke ‘Pizza Loves’ graphics demonstrating brand personality.  The graphics tell emotive stories about lifestyle, eating choices and key pizza eating occasions within the calendar year.  The highly visual graphics are bold and dynamic with exaggerated sharp angles and shapes to represent how the pizza is sliced, vibrant colour combinations to grab interest and add energy while also representing the fresh ingredients from the product range. 

The results create a fresh new feel to the building, making it fun, attractive and relevant. The reception area is transformed from a magnolia landscape to an urban, on-trend space, which sets the the tone for the workspace and employee experience. The genzennial mindset is represented in the gaming breakout area, with bold, playful, energetic feature graphics and expression. Using mixed medias and innovative finishes, the scheme has brought the HQ to life; it reflects the new brand narrative and connects the brand and employee experience. The office and training centre is a manifestation of Papa John’s for both employees and visitors. The project has received wonderful feedback; connecting the refreshed brand to the employee experience has bolstered the growth of the company and Papa John’s have experienced an up-turn in results.