UK Coach John Calipari Delivers for Papa John's...

Are you looking for new ways to leverage collegiate endorsers? Are you looking to create a sales driving promotion in support of a pizza partner?

In August 2009, the University of Kentucky's head basketball coach John Calipari announced that he was partnering with Papa John's to create a promotional offer in support of the Calipari Family Foundation for Children (CFFC). The promotion, entitled "The Coach Cal 3-Pointer", offered consumers the chance to purchase a large, three-topping pizza on PapaJohns.com (using the promotional code CHCAL) for just $10. The agreement called for one (1) dollar of every $10 order to donated to the CFFC and benefit the Kentucky Children's Hospital.

Coach Cal used his Twitter and Facebook pages (with 850K fans combined) to promote the offer on a daily basis.  Fans were encouraged to submit their favorite topping selections to Coach Cal's social media platforms for the chance to have their submission selected as Coach Cal's Office Pizza of the Day.

The Program Results?

In just nine (9) weeks, the "Coach Cal 3-Pointer" promotion raised $50,000 for the CFFC (meaning Papa John's drove in $450K+ sales). Incredibly, 60% of the online promotion redemptions came from outside the state of Kentucky, demonstrating the magnitude of the UK fanbase.  

The promotion served as a great way for Papa John's to strengthen its commitment to the University of Kentucky Athletics Department and align with one of the most sought after coaches in the country... not to mention benefiting a great cause.  Papa John's is following up the Coach Cal 3-Pointer promotion with another offer that enables UK fans to order a large 3-topping pizza and Coach Cal's new book, Bounce Back, all for just $30 by going online to PapaJohns.com and using the promotional code "BOUNCE".

Source: CoachCal.com, Reuters