Dive Brief:

• Starbucks announced changes to its executive leadership Monday, effective April 1, including the creation of a North American CEO post and an International CEO role intended to give greater autonomy to those regions. 
• Michael Conway, formerly Starbucks’ group president, international and channel development, is assuming the North American CEO role; Brady Brewer, the company’s chief marketing officer, will take on the international CEO role. The leadership of Starbucks China is not changing. The CMO role is being dissolved and replaced with regional marketing leadership.
• The changes are intended to give the company’s three regions — China, North America, and other international markets — greater end-to-end responsibility for strategy and decision making, a Starbucks spokesperson said in an interview.

Dive Insight:

Starbucks said the shakeup of its C-suite was intended to support its ongoing reinvention plan, but that these changes would not impact the timeline of the plan’s implementation.

The reinvention drive was first announced in 2022 and incorporates a wide range of changes to the brand’s store experience and employee relations. The reinvention plan also includes the gradual renovation of the brand’s North American units to include a new kitchen system optimized for cold drink production, and a series of menu changes including new beverage platforms. 

The regional CEOs will have oversight of operations, digital capabilities and marketing, among other functions. However, Sara Trilling, EVP and president, North America, is retaining her position, title, and responsibilities, particularly her oversight of operations and partner experience, the company said. Conway, by contrast, will be responsible for the other aspects of the North American market, freeing up CEO Laxman Narasimhan to have a more global role that is responsibile for the totality of the company, the spokesperson said.

The dissolution of the CMO role, Starbucks said, will give the regions greater flexibility in marketing and messaging. However, Starbucks is creating two new global marketing roles. The first, EVP, chief merchant and product officer, will be filled by Lyne Castonguay, a marketing executive who joins the company after leading her own consulting business, according to her LinkedIn profile. Castonguay will be responsible for developing the brand’s product and concept strategies, including development of new drinks, new channels and mobile product experience, the company said.

The second of the new marketing roles, global brand creative leader, has not yet been filled. But whoever takes that position will have broad authority for ensuring the company’s branding and marketing maintain a consistent global brand identity.

Starbucks said it was unlikely that the C-suite changes would lead to consumer-facing or store-level changes in the U.S. in the near future, and that the ultimate goal was to create regional leadership teams and prevent the company from overemphasizing one geographical region over another. 

At the same time, Starbucks said, it has centralized a number of functions that can be consistent across markets — the spokesperson mentioned IT, HR, global communications and finance — into a global center.