Subway, which has been working with Accenture on its digital efforts, has now brought an Accenture executive in-house to run all of its North American marketing.
Subway named Karlin Linhardt to the new role of senior VP-marketing, North America. He oversees its North America marketing teams and core disciplines, including advertising, media planning and execution, menu innovation and development, research and analytics, corporate social responsibility, and tactical events and sponsorships, Subway said.
Linhardt was most recently a senior consultant for Accenture, a role in which he managed the "brand transformation initiative for Subway in conjunction with Accenture's design and construction of the Subway Digital platform," as the sandwich chain described the work in a statement Wednesday. Earlier in his career, Linhardt's marketing roles included years at McDonald's and Anheuser-Busch.
Now Linhardt is responsible for Subway's marketing in the United States and Canada, a massive market that includes more than 30,000 locations. He reports to Jack Luttrell, Subway's director for North America.
"Karlin strategically and operationally understands what we are doing, and the business challenges our franchisees face every day," Tripodi said in a statement. "He will be an impact player toward our objective of transforming Subway at every consumer touchpoint in North America."In June, Subway announced that it was working with Accenture on Subway Digital, a new division dedicated to improving people's experiences as they interact with the brand.
