New Marketing Leadership
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB) is installing Scott Hudler as chief marketing officer, effective September 8, ending a roughly 16-month interim arrangement that had Russ Klein holding the seat since April 2025. The hire signals the casual-dining burger chain's intent to sharpen guest-frequency tactics and loyalty engagement across its nearly 500 U.S. and Canadian units.
Hudler arrives with a resume built squarely in foodservice and adjacent consumer categories. Most recently he served as senior vice president and CMO of Whataburger, where he oversaw brand positioning, digital channels, and customer engagement for the privately held regional QSR. Earlier stops include Torchy's Tacos, Dunkin' Brands, Popeyes, and Mars — a cross-segment arc that spans fast casual, QSR, and CPG. His retail experience at DICK'S Sporting Goods adds a loyalty-program and omnichannel lens that Red Robin's own Red Robin Royalty program could put to use.
Scope of the Role
In his new seat, Hudler will own brand strategy, advertising, digital marketing, the Royalty loyalty program, culinary innovation, guest insights, and marketing communications — essentially the full commercial marketing stack. That breadth is notable for a chain navigating the dual pressures facing casual dining: consumer trade-down toward value-positioned QSR and the ongoing need to justify full-service pricing through experience and menu differentiation.
Dave Pace, president and CEO of Red Robin, framed the appointment around the chain's "First Choice" strategic platform — an initiative aimed at positioning Red Robin as the preferred casual burger destination rather than a default or occasion-based visit. Hudler's mandate will be to accelerate that positioning through frequency-driving programs, loyalty personalization, and culinary LTO pipelines. Klein, who provided commercial discipline and data-driven rigor during the interim period, will remain in a consultative capacity through year-end 2026 to support the handoff.
Casual Dining Context
The CMO transition lands at a consequential moment for the broader casual-dining segment. Chains in the full-service burger category have leaned heavily on off-premise mix and digital ordering to offset softer dine-in traffic, while loyalty programs have become a primary lever for driving repeat visits and improving per-visit check averages. Red Robin's Royalty membership base and its online ordering infrastructure for to-go, delivery, and catering give Hudler existing platforms to build on rather than rebuild from scratch.
For franchisee operators, a stable, experienced CMO with QSR and fast-casual credentials can translate directly to unit-level performance — national advertising funds deployed against sharper creative, loyalty redemptions that lift average check, and LTO calendars that drive daypart trial. Red Robin's franchise and company-operated portfolio across nearly 500 locations means any meaningful comp-sales lift from improved marketing effectiveness would register at scale. Hudler's track record of brand-building in high-frequency foodservice formats positions him to pursue exactly that outcome.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
