Dunkin' Insight Head Leaves for New IHG Brand Team

Dunkin' Brands' head of Insight Regina Lewis has left to join IHG, the group which owns hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, as part of its newly formed worldwide brand management leadership team.

Nina Bibby, Senior VP, Worldwide Brand Management, will head up the team and report directly to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Peter Gowers until his promotion to Asia Pacific CEO takes effect on November 1, 2007. A new CMO is being recruited.

Lewis, who becomes Vice President of Consumer Insights and will report to Bibby, was Dunkin's VP of Consumer and Brand Insights for more than three years, following spells as a consultant to firms including Amazon and GlaxoSmithKline. Her team's innovative approach to insight and the firm's willingness to be driven by it were discussed in an in-depth interview in the MRWho supplement in February / March last year ( see www.mrweb.com/drno/frm-dunkin.htm ), and contributed to Dunkin's deposing coffee giant Starbucks in customer loyalty ratings for the first time in March this year (www.mrweb.com/drno/news6530.htm ).

The new IHG team will oversee areas including innovation, insights and planning across all brands, and take direct responsibility for developing the brands of Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Crowne Plaza. Regional brand teams will execute the platform developed by the worldwide team.

Lewis joins Mark Snyder, Senior VP, Worldwide Brand Management for Holiday Inn in the Americas, who will also take global charge of branding for both Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express. Kevin Kowalski extends his role overseeing the Crowne Plaza brand in the firm's Americas region to become the brand's Senior VP, Worldwide Brand Management. Isaac Collazo continues as VP of Performance Strategy and Planning. Tom Stringer moves across to the team as Portfolio and Innovation Strategy Director and Jon Harding moves across from a VP role in HR to become Senior VP, Worldwide Capability Development. The last two will be based at IHG's global headquarters in Windsor, UK and the remainder at the company's regional head office in Atlanta, USA.

The company's flagship brand InterContinental Hotels and Resorts will retain its own worldwide team led by SVP Jenifer Zeigler.

The company has 3,700 hotels in nearly 100 countries worldwide, with more guest rooms than any other hotel company, and is online at www.ichotelsgroup.com.