News

Papa John's names former Subway, McDonald's marketing exec as global CMO

March 28, 2019

Papa John's International has named Subway Senior Vice President of Marketing/North America Karlin Linhardt as its global CMO, a news release said.  At Subway Restaurants, he led brand management and guest experience for 30,000 restaurants and designed the company's global brand transformation plan. Linhardt has also held executive positions at McDonald's and  Anheuser-Busch and Accenture.

"The addition of Karlin as Global Chief Marketing Officer is one of the many significant steps we've taken to improve our brand differentiation, which includes enhancing our quality positioning in the category," Papa John's President and CEO Steve Ritchie said in the release. "Karlin's combined restaurant, franchise and consumer brand experience make him an excellent addition to the Papa John's leadership team."

The release said that at McDonald's, Linhardt led initiatives around children and families (Happy Meals), value (Dollar Menu) and premium burger products (Big Mac, Quarter Pounder). He also led partnerships with brands such as Disney, Walmart and Coca-Cola, and served on the Perkins and Marie Callender's Restaurants boards. 

"I'm a fan of Papa John's high-quality product and I look forward to helping tell that quality story to customers in new ways,"Linhardt said in the release.