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Four questions for Taco Bell CEO Creed [The Orange County Register]
[July 24, 2013]

Four questions for Taco Bell CEO Creed [The Orange County Register]


(Orange County Register (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 24--Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed spoke with the Register about the thinking behind the Irvine chain's announcement Tuesday that it's pulling kids meals from its menu. Below are excerpts from our interview: Q. You've said you're trying to position the brand for millennials, and that you've wanted to get rid of these meals since you joined the company in 2001. Why wait so long? A. It sort of just dropped off the radar screen. We were so into launching Doritos Locos Tacos, launching Cantina Bell, making sure our value proposition was strong.



Q. How will you reallocate those resources? A. We're about to open a test market (Thursday) on Power Protein -- high-protein, low-calorie food that tastes great and isn't expensive. We're working on the next Doritos Locos Tacos, working on the next Cantina Bell idea and other innovations that will differentiate us, but also make it really appeal to the millennials.

Q. Did the decision to pull the kids meals have anything to do with negative sentiment from health advocates? A. No, not really. I mean obviously we hear all that. You can't deny that you don't hear the discussion and the dialogue that's going on. But this was really about us being much clearer and much more focused in our brand positioning.


Q. You've said this was a bold move. Was it really, if you weren't getting such an impact on sales? A. Everybody believes everyone has to have kids meals, and we're the first brand that says, you know what, no.

On the move Geoffroy van Raemdonck is the new CEO of St. John Knits, an Irvine-based luxury clothing company. He was previously president of the South Europe market for Louis Vuitton. This is the second former executive of a French company to recently join the company. Bernd Beetz, a former CEO of Coty Inc., was named chairman of the board last week.

Gary Campanaro has been appointed CFO of Johnny Rockets, a burger-restaurant franchiser based in Aliso Viejo that was recently sold to private equity firm Sun Capital Partners. Campanaro previously held that same position at El Pollo Loco and Claim Jumper.

Joseph DaMour, a Newport Beach native who was CFO of beleaguered Anaheim-based Fisker Automotive until last year, has been appointed vice president of finance at J.D. Power & Associates, a Westlake Village-based marketing information company known for its car-quality surveys. Before joining J.D. Power, DaMour was CFO at Via Motors, an electric-vehicle development company.

Roland DGA Corp., an Irvine-based distributor of large printers, recently made three executive changes. Andrew Oransky has been promoted from director to senior director of marketing and product management. Joe Dawson is now senior director of sales. Lori Babigian has been hired as marketing director. She was previously director of global marketing communications at Printronix.

Laurisa Quella is now a senior manager at PowerStone Property Management Inc., a firm based in Irvine that provides services to homeowner associations. Quella was previously a vice president at Lake Forest-based Professional Community Management of California Inc.

Noel Whitley is now vice president of intellectual property at Netlist Inc., an Irvine-based computer memory manufacturer. Three years ago he held that title at Broadcom Corp., a semiconductor maker also based in Irvine, before he became CEO of Ladera Consulting Inc.

Hiro Seki has joined Acacia Research Corp., a Newport Beach-based company that buys and licenses patents, as senior vice president in charge of business development in Asia. Seki was previously chief intellectual property officer at Renesas Electronics Corp., a Japanese semiconductor maker.

Chris Van Dusen is the new director of digital strategy for Skiver Advertising, a Newport Beach agency that has done work for national brands ranging from Boy Scouts of America to Hooters of America LLC. Van Dusen was previously director of business development and new media at Rief Media Inc. in Newport Beach.

New American Funding, a mortgage lender headquartered in Tustin, hired Amy Scruggs as a business development manager for the San Diego region.

J.L. Patterson & Associates, a civil, track work, environmental and structural engineering firm in Orange, hired Harry Steelman as senior construction manager.

New ventures CoreLogic, an Irvine-based property information company, has purchased flood-zone determination and tax services operations from Bank of America for an undisclosed amount. The companies have agreed that CoreLogic will continue to provide flood and tax services to Bank of America.

ResearchDx LLC, an Irvine-based business that helps biopharmaceutical companies develop diagnostic products, has moved into a 30,000-square-foot facility that it purchased in Irvine. The new location is more than three times bigger than the company's previous building and has custom-designed laboratory spaces.

Leadership Stephen Piccolo has been appointed executive chairman of the board of directors at Kurion Inc., a nuclear-waste management company based in Irvine. He takes the place of Ralph DiSibio, who will remain as a director. Piccolo was executive vice president for the URS Global Management & Operations Service Group before retiring recently.

Laura's House, a nonprofit organization in Ladera Ranch that focuses on domestic violence, has expanded its board of directors with four new members: Eric Chamberlain, associate general counsel, senior vice president for the consumer banking services division of Bank of America; Laverne Friedmann, president of Friedmann & Friedmann Insurance Services; Linda Lewis, practice consultant at Allergan; and Kerri Strunk, partner with Hittelman Law Group.

Overheard "There's about 7,000 banks across the United States ... We feel the banking industry is going to consolidate down to 4,000 to 3,500 banks." -- Jason Hull, director of business development at Sabal Financial Group, discussing mergers and acquisitions trends in a video posted on Facebook Marni Usheroff and Cameron Moore of the Register contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-796-3589 ___ (c)2013 The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) Visit The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) at www.ocregister.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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