Subway has appointed former PepsiCo beverages marketer Greg Lyons as global CMO, effective May 19, according to a press release. Lyons will join the sandwich chain’s executive leadership team, reporting directly to interim CEO Carrie Walsh, who took on the top job following John Chidsey’s retirement at the end of last year.
As marketing chief, Lyons is tasked with spearheading Subway’s global marketing, data and insights, digital platform and culinary initiatives, along with other business transformation teams. He will work hand-in-hand with Publicis Groupe’s Leo New York agency, which won Subway’s creative account at the start of the month from rival Dentsu.
Leo is the product of the ad-holding group merging Publicis Worldwide and Leo Burnett in January. Together, Subway and Leo aim to refine what the release called a “transformative, guest-centric marketing strategy.” Subway is known for ads featuring elite athletes like Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Simone Biles and an “Eat Fresh” tagline.
Lyons departed PepsiCo late last month after a long stint as CMO of the company’s sprawling U.S. beverages unit, which houses brands including Mountain Dew, Starry and Gatorade. He left the food and beverage giant at a time when its flagship Pepsi brand is struggling to grow market share and as PepsiCo ramps up bets on the prebiotic soda category through its $2 billion Poppi acquisition. Mark Kirkham, another PepsiCo veteran, took on Lyons’ old job earlier this week.
PepsiCo and its Frito-Lay snacks subsidiary are long-standing Subway partners and last year extended their contracts with the QSR. Interim Subway CEO Walsh previously served as the brand’s global CMO and is taking over a turnaround plan from Chidsey that has involved several menu refreshes, extensive restaurant remodelings and a raft of new franchise agreements around the world.
The expansion plans mark a reversal from the period before Chidsey’s tenure, when Subway was shrinking its store footprint in key markets and embroiled in franchisee spats. Subway in 2023 sold to Roark Capital, which owns restaurant giants Inspire Brands and Focus Brands, for nearly $10 billion.
