Dive Brief:

• Starbucks promoted Brady Brewer to CMO from VP of digital customer experience, CEO Kevin Johnson announced in an internal letter to employees that was reported in Adweek.
• In his new role, Brewer, who's been with Starbucks since 2001, will oversee the coffee chain's marketing plans, digital customer experience, data and analytics and food and beverage portfolio. He will report directly to Chief Operating Officer Roz Brewer.
• Brady Brewer fills in for Matthew Ryan, who will stay on in an advisory role until November for transitional purposes, a spokesperson told Adweek. Ryan's departure was a "personal decision," the spokesperson said.

Dive Insight:

Brady Brewer's prior experience at Starbucks keys into where the chain is looking to center its marketing strategy moving forward, namely in making the in-store and digital experience more seamless.

As VP of digital customer experience, the 18-year company veteran helped guide the brand's efforts in areas that are driving growth for Starbucks and the QSR category broadly, including pick up and delivery. Before that, Brewer also helped oversee the development of the Starbucks app that lets customers pay for orders via their smartphone, per Adweek.

In particular, Starbucks is looking to ramp up its consumer-facing efforts around delivery. Delivery is now available at 75% of U.S. locations, COO Roz Brewer announced during a recent call discussing Q1 earnings, and the brand has started to rollout a national marketing program supporting the push. In January 2019, Starbucks had delivery at 115 stores, but no marketing behind the service, as noted in Restaurant Dive.

Starbucks was an early innovator in the mobile space, but has seen the QSR category quickly catch up as the demand for digital capabilities grows among consumers, especially desirable young audiences like millennials and Gen Z. Chief rival Dunkin' has also ramped up its transformation efforts in recent years, including through a revamp of its app, loyalty program and in-store digital offerings.

Dunkin' earlier this month promoted Jill McVicar Nelson to a newly-created VP of marketing strategy position as part of a team realignment that looks to better link strategic and go-to-market functions. Nelson helped guide the brand's transformational Blueprint for Growth project that included dropping "Donuts" from the company name. Dunkin' is still searching for a CMO to replace Tony Weisman, who stepped down last year.