Tressie Lieberman, the incoming global chief brand officer at Starbucks.
Courtesy: Starbucks
Starbucks has been pressed Chipotle alum Tressie Lieberman as global chief brand officer, a new position and the latest executive shakeup under Brian Niccol after he left Chipotle to take over as CEO of the coffee chain last month.
In Niccol’s first week on the job at Starbucks, he outlined his plan to turn around the chain’s declining sales in the U.S. For the past three quarters, Starbucks has reported a decline in same-store sales for its domestic market as casual customers buy less. macchiatos and refreshments.
Among the top four priorities Niccol outlined in his plan was improving the company’s branding. He wants to remind customers of the chain’s coffee expertise and special coffee experience, according to his open letter.
“Starbucks is a brand that people love. It’s time to tell our story again and reintroduce Starbucks to the world. Tressie is the perfect person to help us do that. She has a proven track record of building strong commercial brands, developing exciting products, creating great customer experiences and innovative marketing,” Niccol said in a statement on Friday.
Niccol created a similar global chief brand officer role at Chipotle when he took over there in 2018.
Lieberman will start at Starbucks on Nov. 4 and report to Niccol.
Most recently, he served as chief marketing officer for Yahoo. Prior to that role, he was vice president of digital marketing and offsite at Chipotle between 2018 and 2023. He also overlapped with Niccol when both executives were at Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, which are owned by Yum Brands.
In addition to hiring Lieberman, Starbucks said Friday that Dawn Clark, the company’s executive creative director, and Angele Robinson-Gaylord, who leads store development, will now report to Sara Trilling, president of Starbucks North America.
The company is also consolidating its global communications and corporate affairs divisions into a single group.
Previously, Starbucks announced that Michael Conway, the company’s North American CEO, is retiring. Niccol’s predecessor, Laxman Narasimhan, had appointed Conway to the role last year. After his departure, the company eliminated the position, rather than adding Lieberman’s new role. Trilling also now reports directly to Niccol.
In China, Molly Liu is now the sole CEO, having split the position with longtime head of that unit, Belinda Wong, since last year.
Starbucks’ business in China has been struggling, hurt by the country’s sluggish economy and the proliferation of local coffee chains that can undercut its prices. Last quarter, the company’s same-store sales fell 14 percent in China, its second-biggest market.
Before his ouster, Narasimhan had said Starbucks was in the early stages of exploring strategic partnerships for the Chinese business.
Niccol is expected to share more details about his turnaround plans during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Oct. 30.