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After a challenging few years for Starbucks, there’s been another change at the top of its marketing department. The coffee chain has hired Verizon Value’s chief marketing officer (CMO), Cheryl Gresham, as its svp, North America marketing.
Gresham announced the news on LinkedIn, saying she would now be responsible for finding “innovative ways for marketing to support” the brand’s ‘Back to Starbucks’ turnaround strategy, implemented by CEO Brian Niccol to help the Seattle coffee chain return to growth.
She joined Verizon in 2021 as CMO of its Visible Wireless brand before taking on her most recent role in 2023. Before that, she held senior marketing roles at TikTok, YouTube, and Mattel.
Gresham’s appointment marks 12 months of change for Starbuck’s senior team. Key moments and hires include:
- March 2024: Starbucks shelved its global CMO role, promoting Brady Brewer to CEO for its international business. At the same time, veteran Starbucks exec Michael Conway took on the newly created position of CEO for North America under a regional CEO structure. However, he has since retired.
- Aug. 2024: The coffee house appointed former marketer Niccol as CEO and chairman.
- Oct. 2024: Former Yahoo CMO Tressie Lieberman was hired as Starbucks’ first global chief brand officer. Her remit includes marketing, product, digital, creative, and data analytics and insights.
- Feb. 2025: Starbucks’ vp of product and marketing for APAC, Samuel Fung, stepped down after 12 years to take a career break.
ADWEEK has reached out to Starbucks for a statement on Gresham’s hire. At the time of writing it had not responded.
‘Back to Starbucks’
Amid slipping sales, CEO Niccol’s four-pronged turnaround strategy for Starbucks includes plans to reestablish the chain as a community coffeehouse and a “third space” for coffee drinkers between home and the office.
Operational changes, including quicker service times and mobile ordering capabilities, are essential to this transformation, but so is marketing.
The brand has shifted its promotional activity from discounts to a storytelling-led approach that highlights its brand story and the province of its coffee.
