Starbucks’ New Boss Brian Niccol Is the Latest CMO-to-CEO Success Story

Starbucks has joined the growing list of brands putting former marketers in the top seat, hiring former marketer Brian Niccol as chief executive and chairman.

Niccol has served as Chipotle’s CEO since 2018. Before that, he was CEO at Taco Bell—a role he took on after serving as chief marketing officer and later president of the brand. He’s also held senior marketing positions at Pizza Hut and P&G.

The unexpected announcement from Starbucks will see Laxman Narasimhan, who was named interim CEO in October 2022 and took on the remit permanently in April 2023, step down with immediate effect.

The leadership reshuffle comes as the Seattle-based coffee giant grapples with an ongoing sales slump, consumer boycotts sparked by the Israel-Gaza war, stiff competition from independent coffee shops, and a push from staff to unionize.

Another CMO-to-CEO success story

In March, Starbucks unveiled a new structure in which regional CEOs take responsibility for the business in each market, working alongside regional marketers.

As part of that, it promoted its global CMO, Brady Brewer, to CEO of its international business.

With two former marketers now filling CEO positions, the cafe chain is among several big brands betting big on marketers to lead. Other examples include:

CMOs are moving to other C-suite roles as well:

• Mars Petcare CMO Leonid Sudakov was recently named president for growth, digital and platforms.
• Molson Coors’ Michelle St. Jacques took on the role of chief commercial officer in 2023, with a remit of sales, marketing, innovation, and digital.
• Charisse Ford Hughes moved from CMO of The Kellogg Company—now known as Kellanova—to chief brand and advanced analytics officer in 2022, and chief growth officer a year later.

With CMOs wearing so many hats as the job continues to evolve, it’s no surprise that their skills could translate to entirely different offices in the C-suite.

Discussing this trend with ADWEEK recently, Ewan McIntyre, vp analyst and chief of research at Gartner, said this leadership shift reflects a growing impetus on the marketing function to deliver growth. 

“This isn’t just about a trend of CMOs moving into CEO roles,” he noted, arguing instead that a “new breed” of highly mature, experienced CMOs who are laser-focused on customer growth are being cherry-picked for CEO—sometimes via promotions within their own brands.

Brand turnaround brewing

Starbucks will be hoping Niccol’s marketing mindset can help turn its fortunes around.

In July, it reported global sales had declined 3% in Q3—more than forecast by analysts, and the latest in a string of disappointing financial results.

Niccol is credited with turning around Chipotle’s fortunes after a 2015 E. Coli crisis hit sales hard. Under his leadership, Chipotle’s revenues have doubled and its stock value has rocketed by 800%.

He will start in September. Starbucks chief financial officer Rachel Ruggeri will serve as interim CEO until then. Mellody Hobson, Starbucks board chair, will become lead independent director.