Fred Ehle is first vice president–customer officer; Julia Vander Ploeg is first U.S. vice president–digital
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McDonald’s Corp. has named branding executive Fred Ehle as its first vice president–customer officer, according to a report in Crain’s Chicago Business.
Ehle, formerly a vice president of brand management for home builder PulteGroup, will report to McDonald’s chief marketing officer for the U.S. division, Deborah Wahl, who also worked previously for Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based PulteGroup.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Ehle was with PulteGroup since 2010. Prior to that, he served as managing partner of Brand Apart LLC. He was also an associate partner with VSA Partners.
According to a McDonald’s spokeswoman quoted in Crain’s, Ehle will be charged with improving the quick-service chain’s customer experience by focusing on “customer insights and enabling us to engage with our customers in a more powerful and relevant manner.”
Wahl has been reworking the marketing department to be organized by demographic — such as Millennials or families — rather than by product, the report said.
The hiring of a customer officer comes at a time when McDonald’s is working to turn around same-store sales trends. In August, the chain reported a global same-store sales decline of 3.7 percent, the worst monthly trend in about a decade.
McDonald’s also named Julia Vander Ploeg as its first U.S. vice president–digital, reporting to chief digital officer Atif Rafiq, the report said.
In a series of executive changes at the Oak Brook, Ill.-based operator, McDonald’s veteran Marlena Peleo-Lazar this month left the position of U.S. chief creative officer.
Last month, McDonald’s USA president Jeff Stratton said he plans to retire and will be replaced in October by former Logan’s Roadhouse Inc. chief executive Mike Andres.
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