Popeyes has hired longtime PepsiCo marketer Bart LaCount to fill its open chief marketing officer role overseeing the U.S. and Canada. Popeyes also announced the promotion of Matt Rubin to the new role of chief digital officer for the same region.

The leadership moves come as the chicken chain promotes new items such as chicken wings while continuing. to invest in its rising digital sales channel.

LaCount joins the chicken chain after an 18-year PepsiCo career, most recently as VP of international beverages, overseeing brands including Gatorade, Aquafina, Bubly, Rockstar, Mtn Dew and Sting. He previously worked for Ford Motor Co.

Jeff Klein had held the CMO role at Popeyes until he was promoted to president of Popeyes U.S. and Canada in March.

“Bart brings an incredibly well-rounded marketing background to this role as we look to deepen brand relevance in communities where we are loved and expand relevance where Popeyes should be better known—all as part of the strategic plan built with and endorsed by our franchisees,” Klein said in a statement.

Rubin has held various roles at parent company Restaraunt Brands International for the past eight years. “He took on the responsibility of the restaurant technology team a few months ago in addition to his digital scope and has proven the effectiveness of combining the power of both teams under one leader,” RBI stated. 

Popeyes’ comparable sales slowed in the second quarter with the chicken chain eeking out 0.5% growth, compared to the year-earlier quarter gain of 4.4%, according to results reported last week. That beat the results from sibling brands Burger King and Firehouse Subs, which each posted 0.1% declines. RBI’s Tim Hortons chain performed the best in the quarter, with a 4.6% comparable sales increase. The company’s consolidated comparable sales grew 1.9% and net income rose 13.5% to $399 million in the quarter.

The slowing same-store sales growth came as the restaurant industry continues to deal with sluggish spending amid pesky price inflation. McDonald’s posted a 1% decline in quarterly global same-store sales, its first such decline since 2020.

RBI CEO Joshua Kobza alluded to the “softer consumer environment” on Thursday’s earnings call, according to a transcript. “We certainly were planning for better absolute top-line results. However, relative to the overall performance of our industry, we've continued to outperform key competitors in some of our largest markets,” he said.

Popeyes is banking on menu innovations such as the addition of chicken wings—a move that was supported by a Super Bowl ad from  McKinney. It recently added boneless wings and is promoting them with an ad starring comedian Jimmy O. Yang that plays into his change of heart about the boneless variety. (In 2018, he wrote an article about how boneless wings are a “lie.”)

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But Popeyes must contend with competition from legacy wing marketers, including Wingstop, which is enjoying huge sales momentum, thanks in part to savvy sports marketing.

Kobza on the earnings call said: “While we aren’t yet seeing the uplift from wings and attracting new users, we are seeing strong traction from existing guests. Awareness, trial and consideration take time to build. And by continuing to focus on wings with the right promotional and advertising strategy, we are confident there’s a lot of runway for us to bring in new guests and take share in one of the fastest-growing chicken categories.”

He also touted Popeyes’ investments in digital sales, saying the channel grew 32% in the quarter, and now accounts for 27% of all sales.