Nigel Travis is forming a new team as he gets comfortable in his role of president and CEO at Dunkin' Donuts. New hires over the last month include chief marketer John Costello, who brings experience from top marketing positions at several companies including The Home Depot and Sears and brand operations officer Paul Twohig, formerly of Starbucks. Starbucks recently settled a lawsuit with Twohig as a result of the new hire. In August, he also announced new senior vice presidents of human resources and communications.
Travis has chosen to take on the role of president that will be left vacant at the end of the year with the departure of president and chief brand officer William Kussell. The former CEO of Papa John's, Travis took the helm of Dunkin' last January.
In an article in Advertising Age (subscription required), Travis said he plans to make the company more operations oriented, from providing "franchisees with all of the tools they need to run their business" to opening more locations. Travis and Costello said they have been meeting with key franchisees to listen to their concerns and to learn what they see the company doing right.
