Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) today announced it has appointed David
Gibbs, 50, as President of its Pizza Hut business in the U.S., and Jason
Marker, 43, as General Manager of its KFC business in the U.S. Gibbs
will report to Scott Bergren, Pizza Hut Chief Executive Officer; and
Marker will report to Micky Pant, KFC Chief Executive Officer. Both
appointments are effective immediately.
In November 2013, Yum! Brands, Inc. announced it would reorganize its
business to drive greater brand and geographic focus. Effective January
1, 2014, the reorganization became effective and the Company combined
its Yum! Restaurants International (YRI) and the U.S. individual
divisions for KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Yum! Restaurants China and
Yum! Restaurants India remain separate divisions given their strategic
importance and enormous growth potential.
At the time of the reorganization announcement, David C. Novak, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer, Yum! Brands, Inc., said, “We believe that
having 100% focused brand teams will enable us to more aggressively
accelerate growth. The next logical step was to organize our division
leadership and resources by Brand, as we are now doing,” he added.
David Gibbs joined the Company in 1989 and has risen through senior
management since that time. He began his career in development and his
roles included Vice President of Development at KFC and at YUM. In 2006,
he was promoted to Chief Financial Officer of Pizza Hut in the U.S.,
then to CFO at Yum! Restaurants International, and most recently served
as President and CFO of YRI. During that time, Gibbs improved the
business model at Pizza Hut and led the development of a new vibrant
restaurant asset base and significant supply chain savings. “David Gibbs
is a champion for growth,” said Scott Bergren, Pizza Hut Chief Executive
Officer. “He is an outstanding business leader, with strong strategic
and brand building skills, and a demonstrated ability to work
effectively with franchisees, share best practices, and build people
capability.” Gibbs steps into the role vacated by Bergren, who was
promoted to global brand leader for Pizza Hut during the recent
reorganization.
Jason Marker joined the Company from Unilever over 10 years ago as a
marketer in the South Pacific region, based in Australia. He then was
promoted to the Chief Marketing Officer and was a key force in
developing product and marketing ideas that were first successful in
Australia and then exported across KFC’s global system. Marker was
relocated to Yum! Restaurants International as the Vice President of
Global Branding and Marketing. He most recently has served as Chief
Marketing Officer of KFC U.S. “Jason Marker is the ideal candidate to
lead the KFC business in the U.S.,” said Micky Pant, KFC Chief Executive
Officer. “He has excellent commercial skills, with a deep understanding
of consumer insights and concept development. He is also detail-oriented
and works effectively with franchisees and has demonstrated leadership
skills cross-functionally.” Marker replaces John Cywinski, who has
served as KFC U.S. President for the past three years and has made the
personal decision to resign from the Company to pursue other
opportunities.
“I want to thank John Cywinski for his leadership and wish him every
continued success with his new ventures. As we move forward, I couldn’t
be more confident that the best is yet to come—for our customers, our
associates and our franchisees—as we leverage our brand portfolio to
grow our business around the world. I am pleased that David Gibbs and
Jason Marker, two seasoned executives who have risen through our system,
will establish a seamless transition to grow our U.S. Pizza Hut and KFC
businesses, respectively,” Novak added.
About Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, has over 40,000
restaurants in more than 130 countries and territories. Yum! Brands is
ranked #201 on the Fortune 500 List with revenues of over $13 billion in
2012 and in 2013 was named among the top 100 Corporate Citizens by
Corporate Responsibility Magazine. The Company's restaurant brands -
KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell - are the global leaders of the chicken,
pizza and Mexican-style food categories. Outside the United States, the
Yum! Brands system opened on average over five new restaurants per day
in 2012, making it a leader in international retail development.
Copyright Business Wire 2014