Jack Hinchliffe is to be promoted from marketing director to CMO at KFC UK and Ireland following the announcement of Meghan Farren’s departure.

Hinchliffe has spent nearly seven years at KFC, joining in 2015 as senior marketing manager and quickly gaining promotion to head of innovation later that same year.

He was then named innovation director in 2016, before becoming marketing director in 2019.

Now, with Farren moving on to take over as chief customer officer at Asda in October, Hinchliffe is set to take over the top marketing job.

Asda appoints KFC’s Meg Farren as top marketer

“Jack is the perfect choice, having played such a huge part in transforming our brand in recent years working alongside Meg and the team,” says KFC UK and Ireland general manager Paula MacKenzie.

“His outstanding ability to pair his deep commercial understanding and operational expertise make him a great leader, not just a great marketer. As Meg hands the baton to Jack, our brand health has never been in a better place or our sales performance so strong.”

Hinchliffe says he is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.

“I’m hugely proud of the achievements of the last few years and equally as excited about writing the next chapter of this iconic brand’s story,” he says.

“I am honoured to be leading a team that represents the very best marketing talent in the industry and as our creative effectiveness continues to climb, I am focussed on continuing to make KFC a great experience for our customers and more profitable for our franchisees.”

MacKenzie says Farren will be “dearly missed”, in a tribute to the outgoing CMO.

“I’d like to use this moment to thank Meg from the bottom of my heart, who leaves KFC with an impressive legacy of nurturing talent and as such, a best-in-class marketing team that I know will continue to take the brand from strength to strength.

“Over the past five years, the transformation of our brand has been nothing short of exceptional driven by Meg’s inspiring, strategic leadership and clarity of focus.”

Farren has been praised across the industry for her work in transforming the KFC brand from one resembling a “fading old man” to one with a sparkling cult appeal across younger generations.