Competitive Advantage - Emil Brolic

A strategic brand builder, Emil Brolick is a driving force behind the Yum! principle of insight marketing, and a firm believer that there is still a lot of growth potential in the company's five U.S. brands. Brolick, after 30 years in the fast-food business (most recently as president and chief concept officer of Taco Bell), was selected to head the newly created post of Yum! Brands' president of U.S. brand building.

Brolick was named to his new position in December 2006 after six years as Taco Bell's president and chief concept officer where he led the restaurant brand to five consecutive years of sales, transaction and profit growth. Taco Bell is the second most profitable quick service restaurant brand in the U.S.

David Novak, chairman and chief executive officer of Yum! Brands, commended his qualifications with these words: "Emil Brolick has demonstrated he is one of the most talented brand builders in the entire restaurant industry. Under his leadership, Taco Bell has strengthened its differentiation and value leadership, and has become the second most profitable restaurant concept in the U.S. I'm excited he will leverage his tremendous experience across all our U.S. brands to build powerful and sustainable growth."

Brolick works with the U.S. brand presidents to build even stronger businesses and is responsible for ensuring brand, sales and profit growth through a unique brand positioning, a fully stocked pipeline of new products, driving branded service and training, and seeking major productivity gains. Several months into his new role, Brolick said that one of the major things that Yum! Brands is focusing on in the U.S. is building category-leading brands.

"Each of our brands has tremendous heritage and great strengths and we're making them even more powerful by building greater relevance, energy and differentiation for our customers," said Brolick.