Starbucks hires ex-Chipotle executive to lead brand revamp

Starbucks Corp. hired a former Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. executive to lead a key priority for new boss Brian Niccol: restoring the company’s coffeehouse vibe. Tressie Lieberman will join Starbucks on Nov. 4 as chief brand officer, the company said in an emailed statement Friday. She will lead marketing, product development, digital, creative and analytics. Lieberman was most recently chief marketing officer at Yahoo Inc. She has also worked at Chipotle, where Niccol was previously CEO, and at Yum! Brands Inc., where Niccol led the Taco Bell chain. In the statement, Niccol said Lieberman will “reintroduce Starbucks to the world.” The company said in mid-September that it was looking for a brand czar as it sought to deliver a “compelling and consistent” experience for customers. Earlier this week Starbucks hired WPP to oversee its U.S. creative business. The holding company created a bespoke team, dubbed “Team Starbucks,” which will draw upon talent from creative agencies including VML, Ogilvy and Landor. Starbucks is also bringing the leaders in charge of store designs and new openings under the direction of Sara Trilling, the chain’s president of North America, to “create clear accountability for the look and feel” of the company’s locations. Niccol, who took over as chief executive officer on Sept. 9, has been rearranging the company’s ranks and undoing some leadership changes that his ousted predecessor had implemented earlier this year. On his second day on the job, he unveiled the broad outline of a plan to stoke growth by making cafes more inviting, improving baristas’ experience and speeding up morning service. He said he was looking into concerns about understaffing, given that only 33% of retail workers say stores consistently have enough employees to run smoothly, Bloomberg News reported. Meanwhile, less than half of those polled said their store’s equipment is reliable. Starbucks customers facing widespread inflation are visiting the chain less frequently, contributing to two straight quarters of sales declines at stores open for at least 13 months. A bleak economy in China and boycotts in the Middle East have also hurt the business. Analysts are expecting another sales decline when Starbucks reports results for the latest quarter on Oct. 30. —Bloomberg News with contributions from Ad Age

Starbucks hires ex-Chipotle executive to lead brand revamp

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