Wendy's has appointed Tariq Hassan to the newly created role of Chief Marketing and Customer Growth Officer, effective immediately, as the Dublin, Ohio-based QSR chain accelerates a companywide turnaround plan. Hassan reports directly to President and CEO Bob Wright and joins the Senior Leadership Team, replacing outgoing U.S. CMO Lindsay Radkoski, who will support a transition over the coming weeks before departing.
The Digital Loyalty Mandate
The hire is explicitly tech-forward in scope. Hassan spent years at McDonald's as Senior Vice President and U.S. Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, where he led efforts to modernize marketing infrastructure, scale digital channels, and deepen loyalty engagement — work that overlapped with McDonald's aggressive MyMcDonald's Rewards buildout and app-driven ordering push. That background maps directly onto the strategic gaps Wendy's needs to close: the chain has lagged competitors on loyalty program scale and mobile ordering penetration even as digital sales have become a primary battleground across quick-service. The newly expanded title — "Customer Growth Officer" appended to the traditional CMO designation — signals that Hassan's mandate extends well beyond brand advertising into CRM, digital activation, and first-party data strategy across more than 7,000 restaurants worldwide.
Why the Timing Matters
Wendy's decision to restructure the marketing leadership role rather than simply backfill a CMO slot reflects a broader industry shift. QSR operators are under mounting pressure to drive average check growth and cover counts through personalized digital offers rather than broad-reach media alone. Loyalty platform investment has accelerated across the segment: Restaurant Brands International, Yum! Brands, and McDonald's have each reported measurable same-store sales lifts tied to loyalty member frequency and higher digital order values. For Wendy's, which has been working to stabilize traffic trends, a seasoned operator who understands how to connect data infrastructure to culturally resonant creative — and translate both into franchisee-level restaurant performance — represents a pointed bet. Wright called Hassan "a proven brand and team builder with a distinctive ability to connect culture, technology and consumer insight to drive measurable growth," citing digital activation and menu innovation as priority levers alongside franchisee engagement.
Hassan himself framed the opportunity in customer-experience terms, emphasizing presence "everywhere our fans meet us" — language that encompasses in-app ordering, kiosk touchpoints, loyalty personalization, and delivery platform integrations alongside traditional dining-room visits. For operators and technology vendors watching the QSR space, the appointment reinforces that the CMO seat at a major chain now carries direct accountability for digital channel performance, not just brand equity. That has downstream implications for POS data flows, third-party delivery take-rate negotiations, and the CRM platforms that underpin personalized promotions at scale. Coverage of loyalty and digital ordering trends in the broader restaurant technology sector is available in our loyalty and CRM and digital ordering coverage areas.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
