Staffing

Global Franchise Group adds to exec team

Images: Provided

July 21, 2020

Global Franchise Group — the parent company of Great American Cookies, Hot Dog on a Stick, Pretzelmaker, Marble Slab Creamery and Round Table Pizza — has added a CMO and two vice presidents in culinary innovation and creative services, a news release said.

The company promoted its executive vice president of Brand Marketing — Annica Conrad — to CMO and hired Chef Jason Dowd as VP of Culinary Innovation and Jon Gordon as VP of Creative Services

"Global Franchise Group is mission-focused and the talent and commitment of our team is at an all-time high," Paul Damico, CEO of Global Franchise Group, said in the release. "We are building a shared service platform that will enable us to best champion our current and future brands. Our leadership team has the industry experience and know-how to get us there."

Conrad joined the company two years ago and spearheaded the new identity and experience for Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery and the concept's co-brand locations.

Dowd was previously head of Global Food & Beverage/Director of Culinary Innovation for InterContinental Hotel Group, where he established IHG's first test kitchen and Food & Beverage training center, while evolving its branded restaurant and bar concepts across 5,400-plus properties. He previously served in executive roles for Focus Brands, Consumer Capital Partners and Darden Restaurants Inc.

Gordon was most recently senior vice president and executive creative director at Focus Brands, where he led the in-house agency team supporting Moe's Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky's, McAlister's Deli, Carvel, Cinnabon and Jamba. He launched The Content Kitchen studio consisting of photography, videography, editing and content creation to support the brand's production needs from concept through execution. He was previously with J Walter Thompson in Atlanta and Solomon Says.

GFG supports more than 1,400 franchised and corporate stores across all brands located in 16 countries and has system-wide sales close to $1 billion. The company is based in Atlanta.