Before Darin Dugan joined Jimmy John’s in 2020, he saw it as a brand that was doing fine but could use a bit more of a storytelling approach.
Jimmy John’s needed “a little bit less of one-off retail executions and more of a campaign idea with a solid creative strategy behind it,” Dugan says on the latest episode of Ad Age’s “Marketer’s Brief” podcast.
Now, nearly a year into his tenure as the sandwich shop’s chief marketing officer, Dugan has hired a new creative agency, Anomaly, and is eager for Jimmy John’s to present more storytelling and innovation.
Jimmy John’s went big, running its first Super Bowl commercial earlier this month. The spot shows actor Brad Garrett starring as anti-hero Tony Bolognavich. The next day, it followed up with an ad focused on the chain’s first chicken sandwich, the limited-time Smokin’ Kickin’ Chicken.