Taco Bell has appointed Brian Niccol as its chief marketing and innovation officer, a new position for the brand, parent company Yum! Brands Inc. said Thursday.

Niccol most recently served as general manager and previously chief marketing officer of Pizza Hut, which also is a division of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum. He replaces David Ovens, who stepped down as Taco Bell CMO on Aug. 25.

In his new role, Niccol will oversee marketing and public relations, as well as menu research and development. He is expected to start on Oct. 24.

Niccol joins 5,200-unit Taco Bell as the quick-service chain turns to marketing and its menu to reverse negative same-store sales ahead of its 50th anniversary next year.

RELATED: Yum marketing: The next step

The chain’s sales have suffered this year after a mostly positive 2010, and following a consumer lawsuit filed in January that questioned the contents of its seasoned ground beef. Same-store sales were flat in the first quarter, down 5 percent in the second quarter and down 2 percent for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 3.

Yum chief executive David Novak said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call that turning around Taco Bell’s sales would be key to improving the company’s U.S. results, and that Yum has a “breakthrough” product planned. By the end of the first quarter of 2012, Taco Bell expects to introduce a product that “reinvents the taco,” he said.