LOUISVILLE, KY. — Karlin Linhardt has joined Papa John’s International, Inc. as global chief marketing officer.
Mr. Linhardt was most recently senior vice-president of marketing for North America for Subway Restaurants. Prior to Subway, he was a senior consultant of business and digital strategies at Accenture, a global professional services company. Earlier in his career, Mr. Linhardt spent 10 years with McDonald’s Corp. as senior director of marketing, and before that he was a marketing region manager for Anheuser-Busch. He also has led partnerships with companies such as Disney, Walmart and Coca-Cola, and he has served on the board of directors for Perkins and Marie Callender’s Restaurants for seven years.
“Karlin is a seasoned marketing executive who I am confident will contribute to our ‘Better ingredients. Better pizza.’ brand value proposition,” said Steve M. Ritchie, president and chief executive officer of Papa John’s. “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. Karlin’s combined restaurant, franchise and consumer brand experience make him an excellent addition to the Papa John’s leadership team.”