Building a global platform with local soul.
The scent of something tasty in student halls
Papa Johns wanted to use National Pepperoni Pizza Day as an opportunity to push its ever popular Pepperoni Pizza in a creative way to reach and raise awareness of the brand with younger audiences.
National Pepperoni Pizza Day falls at the end of September, just as students start university jumping feet first into independently cooking and cleaning for themselves, often for the first time. We created a scent-led campaign with the world’s first pepperoni pizza-scented diffuser, delivering Papa Johns into student halls and homes an unexpected way, aligning with student life and the craving for comfort food.
The sensory joy the smell of pizza brings is undeniable, so the limited-edition reed diffuser was designed to smell like a fresh Papa Johns pepperoni pizza, turning heads and sparking curiosity. It was a bold, earned-first idea, (not) to be sniffed at.
We aligned the launch with Papa Johns’ September student deals to ensure relevance and reach. High-quality imagery was captured to fuel PR and social coverage, while standout mailers were sent to top-tier media and influencers with a significant student-age audience. The result was a cohesive campaign that delivered across earned, owned and influencer channels.
This activation added a new layer to Papa Johns’ brand story that celebrated bold flavour as well as sensory indulgence. By turning a pizza into a lifestyle moment, we created a narrative that could evolve into future product drops, seasonal activations, and student-focused storytelling.
