Papa John’s is rolling out a new campaign to get more customers signed up for its mobile rewards program by offering bonus points for a limited time.

The mobile rewards program created by Papa John’s is one of the first in the industry, and the brand is pushing it for all it is worth. This campaign is an attempt to drive up sign-up numbers in order to make its rewards program more fruitful.

“With Papa Rewards Perks, you can score big with three new ways to receive and redeem Papa Rewards bonus points,” said Robert Thompson, senior vice president of marketing at Papa John’s.

Mobile promotions
As mobile has proliferated, brands and retailers have increasingly turned to smartphones as the new primary way to engage their customers.

The strategies taken by brands that want to take advantage of mobile have been varied, but perhaps none has been as effective as the mobile loyalty app.

Mobile loyalty programs provide an excellent way to keep customers engage, reward them for being return customers and offer them special offers that they cannot get anywhere else, driving up the value of being a member and encouraging more consumers to join.

The customer who returns more than once is far more valuable than a new customer, as any retail expert can tell you.

That is why Papa John’s is rolling out a new campaign to get even more customers signed up for its mobile rewards program.

The campaign will see the brand giving out bonus points to its customers at specific times and for purchases in an effort to drive up install numbers and inflate their user base.

The bonus points will come in three forms.

Starting yesterday until this weekend, customers can receive double points for any transactions.

From Thursday, March 2 to Sunday, March 5, customers will randomly receive 10 bonus points, encouraging consumers to sign up before then for the chance to be a recipient.

Finally, from Saturday, March 11 to Tuesday, April 4, consumers will receive 25 bonus points for every purchase they make that totals over $15.

Deadline
The timing of these promotions is a strategic move on Papa John’s part.

By tying the incentives to a specific time frame instead of offering them as evergreen promotions, Papa John’s is positioning them as immediate reasons for consumers to sign up.

The sense of urgency the deadlines provide is meant to ensure that the most amount of customers will sign up.

Papa John’s understands that mobile has sped up the entire retail world and that consumers need the push to download and install its mobile app over the countless others floating around.

This move is consistent with Papa John’s recent mobile strategy that has seen the brand place an increased amount of importance on its mobile app.

Late last year, the pizza chain took its mobile app international in an attempt to create a more globalized brand (see story).

More recently, Papa John’s offered a free pizza to its mobile users on Valentine’s Day, another attempt to drive up install rates (see story).

These moves clearly show a brand that is committed to mobile innovation and is trying to get its customers to feel the same way.

“Simply go online to www.papajohns.com to enroll and receive your loyalty bonuses,” Mr. Thompson said.