OKLAHOMA CITY — Sonic Corp. has announced a new leadership alignment to support the company’s increased focus on technology.
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| Todd Smith, c.m.o. and president of Sonic |
Todd Smith, chief marketing officer, has been named president. He will retain his current position, overseeing advertising, consumer insights and customer relationship management, with added responsibility over retail technology architecture and brand technology systems. Mr. Smith joined the company in 2012 as vice-president of marketing. Sonic’s proprietary digital menu technology has grown and evolved under his leadership.
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| John Budd, executive v.p. and chief development and strategy officer of Sonic |
John Budd, chief development and strategy officer, has added the title of executive vice-president. In addition to leading the implementation of in-store retail technologies at more than 3,500 Sonic drive-ins, Mr. Budd assumes leadership for technology support in his expanded role. Mr. Budd joined the company in 2013 to oversee the strategy and development functions and has since added supply chain and implementation of Sonic’s new point-of-sale system and other technology over the past two years.
“Technology permeates every aspect of our business,” said Cliff Hudson, chief executive officer. “No longer can the technology organization exist in one group, and our re-alignment today signifies the realities of technology design, testing and implementation as a critical part of many key functions of the business.
“We believe that housing specific technology functions with the core business units supported by the technology will allow us to bring consumer-facing technology to market more quickly, and internally support our franchisees as they implement technology at the drive-in. I have the utmost confidence in Todd and John as they lead their respective teams and propel the brand forward.”
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| Michelle Britten, v.p. and chief accounting officer of Sonic |
