Niccol started his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble.[7] At P&G, he spent two years as a brand manager for ThermaCare, then moved to represent Pringles in December 2002.[8]
In 2005, Niccol moved into the restaurant industry by joining Yum! Brands as a vice-president of strategic marketing.[9][10] He led a research study that identified fathers as important customer segments, helping to increase sales at Yum's Pizza Hut brand and improving the chain's market share by an additional point.[11] Two years later, he was appointed the chief marketing officer (CMO) of Pizza Hut.[7][12]
One of Niccol's primary challenges at Pizza Hut was helping the restaurant chain navigate the Great Recession.[13] Throughout his tenure, Niccol introduced initiatives to help Pizza Hut's digital marketing. In January 2008, the pizza chain introduced the option for customers to use their mobile phone to place orders via text message or through their website.[14] A year later, Pizza Hut released a mobile app on the iPhone, enabling customers to make meal orders remotely.[15][16] After just two weeks, the app was downloaded 100,000 times from the App Store,[17] and within three months generated $1 million in sales.[18] Pizza Hut announced in October 2010 that they would be partnering with Foursquare to reward loyal customers with free breadsticks.[19]
Less successfully, Pizza Hut briefly experimented with a new logo simply called "The Hut" throughout the first half of 2009. This was eventually retracted after poor public reception.[20][21] Niccol said that the truncated name "ties in nicely with [today's] texting generation", explaining that the company wanted to make the phrase "common vernacular" for Pizza Hut.[22]
Taco Bell (2011–2018)
In October 2011, Taco Bell named Niccol their new chief marketing and innovation officer. Niccol joined Taco Bell during a time when sales had stagnated.[23] The brand had spent millions of dollars to fight a class action lawsuit regarding the quality of its beef.[24] While the lawsuit was dismissed, Taco Bell sales dropped 5% in Q2 2011, which the company attributed to damaged consumer perceptions of its food.[25] In January 2012, the brand introduced a breakfast menu, as well as a more upscale "Cantina Bell" menu to compete against fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle Mexican Grill.[26] These plans helped reverse Taco Bell's fortunes, with the company posting an 8% increase in fiscal year 2012.[27]
On January 1, 2015, Niccol was promoted to chief executive officer (CEO) of Taco Bell.[28] He presented an ongoing plan for Taco Bell to be appealing to Millennials and future generations.[27] Niccol led a successful turnaround effort at Taco Bell as CEO.[29]
Chipotle Mexican Grill (2018–2024)
In 2018, Niccol became the CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, replacing founder Steve Ells.[30][31] During his tenure, he helped double Chipotle's revenue while its profits increased almost seven times. The stock price of Chipotle has increased by almost eight times under Niccol. Niccol also increased salaries for Chipotle's retail staff and expanded employee benefits.[1][32][33]
Starbucks (2024–)
On August 13, 2024, Niccol was named the incoming chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks.[32][33][34] Niccol will replace Mellody Hobson as the chairman and Laxman Narasimhan as the CEO.[2] On the day of the announcement, shares of Starbucks gained 24.5%.[34] Niccol will receive a starting salary of $1.6 million and a $10 million starting bonus.[35] He will also receive an additional $75 million in equity grants which are designed to pay out over time and an annual cash incentive opportunity at a target of 225 per cent of his base salary.[35]
Niccol was on Bloomberg's The Bloomberg 50[39] and Fortune's Businessperson of the Year, both in 2019. He was also on the University of Chicago Booth School of Business's Distinguished Alumni list in 2020 and EatingWell's American Food Heroes list in 2021.[5]
Controversies
In 2024, as CEO of Starbucks, Niccol was reported to be using the company-owned jet to commute roughly 1,000 miles from his residence in Newport Beach, California to Starbucks' headquarters in Seattle where he is expected to work in person at least three times a week.[40] This has sparked criticism by environmentalists who are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.[41][42]
Under Niccol's leadership, Chipotle closed a store in Augusta, Maine in 2022 after employees there tried to make it the company's first unionized location. The workers filed a complaint at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which ruled that the closure was an illegal act of union-busting.[43]
