DineEquity Appoints IHOP Chief Marketing Officer

DineEquity Inc. in Glendale has appointed former CKE Restaurants Inc. executive Brad Haley to oversee marketing initiatives for its IHOP brand. He will assume the post Aug. 14. As senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Haley will be responsible for developing marketing campaigns, culinary strategies and promotional menus. Haley most recently spearheaded public relations and marketing operations for Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. brands as the chief marketing officer of CKE Restaurants. Prior to joining CKE in 2000, he held senior-level marketing roles at Church’s Chicken and Jack in the Box, where he was credited with orchestrating the brand’s turnaround following an E. coli outbreak at its restaurants in the 1990s, according to Bloomberg. “(Brad’s) award-winning industry experience, history of working collaboratively with franchise operators and innovative approach are the perfect ingredients for the future success of this iconic brand,” IHOP President Darren Rebelez said in a statement. DineEquity did not return calls by press time requesting comment on the departure of Kirk Thompson, IHOP’s previous chief marketing officer. DineEquity, which is also the parent company of Applebee’s Bar and Grill, is slated to release its second-quarter earnings on Aug. 10. IHOP saw year-over-year same-restaurant sales slip roughly 2 percent during the first quarter, according to the company, while sales at Applebee’s dropped 8 percent in the same period. DineEquity is expected to report earnings of $1.17 on revenues of about $156 million for the second quarter, according to Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. DineEquity stock (DIN) fell 79 cents, or about 2 percent, on Tuesday to close at $38.12 on the New York Stock Exchange.