In 1984, 'Papa' John Schnatter loved two things: cars and pizza. But one had to go. So, in ‘84 he sold his beloved 1971 Z28 Chevrolet Camaro for USD 2,800 to save his father’s struggling tavern and begin selling pizzas out of a broom closet in the back of the bar.Twenty-five years later, Papa John’s Pizza is the world’s third-largest pizza company. Yet, John still longed for his Camaro, which epitomized all that he sacrificed to fulfill his 'American Dream'.So, as part of the company’s 25th Anniversary celebration, Papa John’s wanted to retell the story of Papa John’s beginnings and the company’s entrepreneurial spirit.We responded with a 'Road Trip' that included a nationwide hunt for the Camaro, trips with John to 10 states meeting hundreds of thousands of people, adventurous stunts/events in each city, and blogs, videos and augmented reality to capsulate the 2 ½ month voyage. After more than 1,960 stories, 2,300 Tweets, and thousands of messages of support from fans across the country and millions of pizzas sold, 'Papa John' achieved what everyone thought was impossible: he brought his Camaro home.

- Created high-profile consumer/media events in 10 states.- Designed web site to serve as virtual hub for campaign’s social media tools (www.papasroadtrip.com).- Trained two interns to serve as Road Trip 'sidekicks', mastering details of blogging and producing content for Facebook/ Twitter/YouTube.- Developed 'Augmented Reality' mark to print on 30 million pizza boxes and be used with webcam for virtual road trip.Upon discovery of John’s original Camaro, a new phase of the campaign quickly came to fruition through the following:- Determined authenticity of the original Camaro through analysis of archived bi-state personal property and vehicle records – found when the original owners saw an interview with John regarding the search during a football game.

- Produced a media-friendly reunion event at Papa John’s headquarters with John exchanging USD 250,000 check for keys to Camaro.-Implemented national free pizza giveaway to all Camaro owners the day after Camaro reunion.

- Elevated status/influence of founder by increasing awareness of Papa John’s Camaro heritage story during 25th Anniversary.

- 1,960 media placements, 387 million impressions .- Event attendees exceeded 200,000.

- Engaged consumers through social media to drive Facebook fans, Twitter followers and increase online orders .- 676,000+ unique visitors to www.papasroadtrip.com.

- 1,298 user comments on Road Trip blog.

- 312,000 additional Facebook fans; 3,372 new Twitter followers; 2,300 unique Tweets, reaching 675,000 people -17,500+. Augmented Reality downloads.

- 38,000+ YouTube video views.

- Percentage of online orders systemwide rose from 22 to 28 percent during promotion.

- Drive trial, sales, and preference of Papa John’s products .- Nearly 1 million free pizza slices distributed during Road Trip.

- Earnings up 2 percent, when overall category was down.

- 36,000+ free pizzas redeemed on 'Camaro Reunion Day' raising comparative sales 25 percent.