New Papa Murphy’s ads emphasize take-and-bake format as chain expands

Papa Murphy’s, the nation’s largest “take-and-bake” pizza chain, is unveiling a campaign that for the first time puts a focus on the brand over its products. The new approach, Chief Marketing Officer Kim McBee told Ad Age, will help to introduce the brand to new geographies amid an expansion push, while reminding consumers of its unique proposition in existing markets. The new messaging and a revamped logo come from The Marketing Arm, the Texas-based creative agency that took over the Papa Murphy’s account a year ago from Mekanism. Don’t miss the latest news. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters here. The new ads begin with testimony in the kitchen of a Papa Murphy’s outlet, before the walls open to reveal a family kitchen on the other side. Here, a confident dad is preparing a pizza while absorbing gentle abuse from his wife and kids as they debate who’s ultimately responsible for the meal they’re about to share. Finally, the family and the Papa Murphy’s staffer interact with one another, showcasing what McBee calls an intimate, “combined effort” between the outlet and the home that is unique to the Papa Murphy’s experience. A new tagline—“We make great pizza so you can make the pizza great”—also conveys this notion. The commercials were shot in December and began showing in some regions this month. “Papa Murphy’s offering is unique—freshly made pizza you take home to bake and personalize yourself,” Harris Wilkinson, chief creative officer of The Marketing Arm, said. “With practical moving sets, an ongoing story of a father’s efforts to take sole credit for the meals, and the line ‘We make great pizza, so you can make the pizza great,’ we tell this complex story in a simple, compelling, and funny way.” Papa Murphy’s will continue to also utilize its longtime slogan “Change the way you pizza,” McBee said. The Marketing Arm was selected after a review conducted by the brand a little over a year ago as it sought to bring out the “experiential” aspects of the brand, said McBee. “We were looking to take a really deep dive into what our brand offered,” she said. “We have a lot of customers who've been with us for a long time. And though we have a really great following on the West Coast, we wanted to be sure we got the brand to customers in places that may not know us so well.” Papa Murphy’s oversees 1,250 franchisee-owned outlets in 37 states, with additional units in Canada and the United Arab Emirates. McBee declined to specify the number of new outlets the chain intended to open this year but said its growth would include some new U.S. states. Consumer dining trends—including a greater percentage of meals that have shifted to home preparation, and an increase in meals ordered online and picked up in stores—have been a tailwind for Papa Murphy’s, although the same trends have lifted competitors in the pizza category and in supermarket retail. The move toward “customization” has also aided Papa Murphy's, which prepares most of its offerings to order. The chain is smaller than major pizza purveyors such as Domino's, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars and Papa John's. "We take our product seriously, but as the ad shows, we don’t take ourselves too serious," McBee said. "We want to say, this is about feeding your family, and if we can get a laugh at dad’s expense while doing that, so much the better.” Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis. The new logo, which began rolling out to storefronts last year, represents the brand’s first design change in a decade. It replaces a script logo with a stylish capital font which makes the logo easier to read, McBee said. The new logo can also be rendered vertically within the same shaped crest as its predecessor. Vancouver, Wash.-based Papa Murphy’s traces its roots to 1981 when Petaluma, Calif.-based Murphy’s Pizza merged with Papa Aldo’s, a Hillsboro, Ore.-based chain. The founders agreed on a dough recipe that sparked its specialization in “take-and-bake” pizza. Montreal-based MTY Food Group acquired the chain in May 2019 for about $190 million. MTY's other foodservice businesses include the U.S.-based chains Pinkberry, Blimpie and Cold Stone Creamery.

New Papa Murphy’s ads emphasize take-and-bake format as chain expands

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