• Wall Street Journal, Marketing Daily, Tuesday, May 11, 2010 10:45 AM

U.S. Cellular, the Chicago-based wireless carrier, named Mary Dillon its president and CEO yesterday, opening up the global marketing chief slot at McDonald's, Paul Ziobro reports. She replaces John Rooney, who is retiring. McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker says the announcement was not a surprise and indicated that there would be a smooth transition without divulging any other details.

"We have a very strong, experienced bench of marketing leadership, not just here in Oak Brook, but around the world," Riker says.

McDonald's has been on a roll lately, and it was also reported by Marketing Daily's Karlene Lukovitz that global same-store sales rose 4.9% in April. Dillon, who previously was president of PepsiCo's Quaker Foods division, is a proponent of developing insight into consumers. She created a Global Moms Advisory Panel to gather feedback on nutritional issues, and has been credited in boosting sales to the family market.

Read the whole story at Wall Street Journal, Marketing Daily »