Tariq Hassan, a veteran of McDonald's and more than three decades of global brand-building, is joining Wendy's as its first-ever Chief Marketing and Customer Growth Officer, effective immediately. The appointment signals a deliberate escalation of the QSR chain's ongoing turnaround effort under President and CEO Bob Wright, with Hassan reporting directly to Wright and joining the Senior Leadership Team.
Lindsay Radkoski, who has served as Chief Marketing Officer, U.S. since 2024, will leave the organization after a transition period with Hassan over the coming weeks. Wright credited Radkoski for her 15 years of service but made clear the new, expanded role reflects a step-change in ambition for Wendy's marketing function.
Hassan's QSR Credentials
Hassan's résumé is directly relevant to the challenges Wendy's faces. At McDonald's, he held the title of Senior Vice President, U.S. Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, where he led efforts to modernize the brand's marketing approach, deepened digital and loyalty engagement, and anchored campaigns in consumer-first data and cultural relevance. Before McDonald's, he built a track record across senior roles at major U.S. consumer brands and agencies, focusing on brand repositioning, customer experience improvement, and data-driven marketing.
For Wendy's franchisees—who operate the vast majority of the chain's more than 7,000 global locations—Hassan's background in measurable marketing ROI and loyalty platform development will matter as much as creative reputation. QSR operators have increasingly tied marketing investment to digital channel performance and loyalty program enrollment, areas where Wendy's has trailed some competitors. Our restaurant technology coverage has tracked how loyalty ecosystems have become a baseline competitive requirement across the full-service and quick-service segments alike.
What the Move Means for Operators
The creation of a "Customer Growth Officer" title—rather than a traditional CMO role—is itself a signal. The framing puts customer acquisition and retention metrics, not just brand awareness, at the center of Wendy's marketing mandate. Hassan described his focus as "reigniting that passionate connection" with the brand and said he sees opportunity to "reshape how we tell this story, starting with the food itself." That food-first framing dovetails with Wendy's longstanding positioning around fresh, never-frozen beef and made-to-order quality—a differentiator the chain has historically struggled to communicate at scale against larger rivals.
Wright called the hire "another meaningful step in returning Wendy's to profitable growth" and highlighted Hassan's ability to connect culture, technology, and consumer insight as central to his value. For franchisees watching the turnaround closely, the emphasis on talent development and new organizational capabilities suggests Wendy's is investing in marketing infrastructure, not just a figurehead appointment.
The move fits a broader pattern in the beverage and restaurant industry where legacy chains are raiding competitors' marketing ranks to accelerate digital transformation and loyalty-driven traffic recovery. Whether Hassan can translate his McDonald's playbook to Wendy's distinct brand voice and franchisee base will be the defining test of his tenure.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
