Smashburger has named parent company Consumer Capital Partners’ CMO Josh Kern its first chief marketing officer, the company said Monday.
Kern was previously chief marketing officer at Consumer Capital Partners, or CCP, the Denver-based private-equity firm that owns Smashburger. CCP also owns the restaurant concepts Live Basil Pizza and Tom’s Urban, along with the cycling race USA Pro Challenge.
Before joining CCP, Kern was executive vice president of commercial sales for The Comex Group and vice president of marketing for the restaurant group American Blue Ribbon Holdings. Earlier, Kern was vice president of marketing at Quiznos, which at the time was also owned by the Schaden family, which controls CCP. CCP sold Quiznos in 2012.
Scott Crane, Smashburger’s chief executive, said Kern’s expertise in “successfully defining and driving the direction of accomplished restaurant, retail and consumer brands will be invaluable as we continue to grow our better-burger footprint across the country and internationally.
“With his proven skills, disciplined approach and enthusiasm for Smashburger, he is the ideal candidate to lead our passionate marketing team, and I look forward to Josh’s contributions to the brand’s success,” he said.
Kern’s appointment is the latest change to Smashburger’s marketing team. Jeremy Morgan, Smashburger’s senior vice president of marketing and consumer insights, left the company in July to become chief executive of Tava Indian Kitchen.
Smashburger has more than 290 corporate and franchised locations in 34 states and five countries.
This story has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: Nov. 10, 2014 Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story misstated Kern's first name. It is Josh.
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