GRILLiT, Inc. announced that it has elected Rob Elliott to serve as chairman of the board of directors.
Elliott has served in senior executive or consulting roles for Little Caesars Pizza, Quiznos, Friendly's Restaurants, Firehouse Subs, Papa Murphy's Pizza, and Hungry Howies Pizza.
Elliott is an accomplished senior marketing executive recognized for the development of several successful brands through the implementation of aggressive business strategies, focused creative materials, and solid media planning.
GRILLiT plans to leverage Elliott's 25 years of experience in restaurant franchise system development, marketing, branding, and operations in order to help carry out its strategic expansion plan for its chain of healthy, fast-casual restaurant locations.
"I am pleased to be a part of this growing company," Elliott says. "I have been a part of several large success stories in the restaurant chain sector, and to get the chance to step in at this initial stage of GRILLiT is a great opportunity for me. I believe the company has a fantastic concept, approach, and team with the potential to develop into a significant player in this industry."
Elliott served as vice president of marketing for Little Caesars Pizza from 1979 to 1996, the period of the company's most significant growth. The Little Caesars brand was established under his direction, and he was instrumental in expanding the number of store locations from 150 to 5,000 under his guidance and leadership.
Elliott served as executive vice president of marketing for Quiznos Corporation from 1999 to 2002. While there, he directed all marketing and advertising disciplines, including creative, media, and promotions with full profit and loss responsibility.
His accomplishments include leading the expansion effort in growing store locations from 200 to 2,000, increasing average sales volume by double digits, and overseeing the advertising budget (local and national), which grew from $4 million to $35 million.
From 2002 to 2004, Elliott was executive vice president of marketing for Papa Murphy's Corporation, where he was responsible for all marketing disciplines, including brand strategy and positioning, product development, creative execution, and media placement.
While at Papa Murphy's, he was instrumental in creating and building a new brand for the company, which included everything from establishing core values to creating the new retail store design and environmental graphics.
The execution of this turnaround plan resulted in double-digit sales increases in 2004 and 2005.
Elliott most recently serves as vice president of strategic marketing for Hungry Howies Pizza, which operates more than 545 locations in 21 states.
From 2009 to 2011, Elliott served as group director for Zimmerman Advertising, and as a senior member of the account team, where he managed all internal advertising disciplines for several restaurant brands.
He is the owner and president of Elliott Adworks, a full-service advertising agency, which he founded in 2004.
His clients have included, among others, Quiznos, Zoup!, and Spicy Pickle.
