News

Taco Bell names new CMO

October 13, 2011

Yum! Brands has named a new chief marketing and innovation officer for its biggest brand, Taco Bell, shortly after offering some turnaround plans for the chain.

According to Ad Age,  Brian Niccol will take over the role on Oct. 24.

The position was created specifically to build the Taco Bell brand through an "integrated, consumer-centric approach."

Niccol's duties will include marketing integration, food innovation, consumer insights, media, brand reputation and public relations efforts.

Former CMO David Ovens left Taco Bell in August, citing personal reasons.

Niccol most recently served as general manager Yum! Brands' Pizza Hut. Prior, he was that brand's CMO. He previously spent 10 years working at Procter & Gamble Co. in a variety of positions.

In the first half of 2011, Taco Bell spent nearly $140 million on U.S. measured media. In 2010 it spent about $275 million, up from $247 in 2009.

In the recent Q3 earnings report, Taco Bell, which generates about 60 percent of Yum!'s business, saw same-store sales decline 2 percent in the quarter, which is an improvement from -5 percent in Q2.

Taco Bell's sales continue to be affected by a lawsuit filed earlier this year questioning the beef content of its filling. The chain expects a turnaround by the first quarter of 2012, buoyed by the introduction of new products currently in the pipeline.

"What we think will get Taco Bell back on track is more category innovation and we've proven in test markets that we have exactly that coming. In conjunction with its 50th anniversary, we're reinventing the taco. We have major news coming around the end of the first quarter, and then we'll have significant uplift," said Yum! CEO David Novak, during the earnings call.

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