Biography

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Chili’s® Grill & Bar

George Felix

George Felix serves as senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Brinker International, Inc., one of the world’s leading casual dining restaurant companies and home of Chili’s® Grill & Bar, Maggiano’s Little Italy® and its virtual brand: It’s Just Wings®.

George is responsible for all U.S. Chili's brand marketing efforts, as well as the marketing strategy and initiatives to grow Brinker’s emerging virtual brand business. This includes enhancing the digital Guest experience, menu innovation and bringing the Chili’s brand to life across all marketing channels including advertising and social media. He also oversees advanced analytics, which provides value across the organization by leveraging the power of Guest, Team Member and business data and insights.

Before joining Brinker in July 2022, George was chief marketing officer of Tinder, where he led the global brand vision, strategy, and marketing operations. He has also served as chief marketing officer of Pizza Hut U.S., where he oversaw marketing, media and public relations for the brand. During his time at Pizza Hut, he led the development of a new brand positioning and advertising campaign that helped deliver three consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth including Pizza Hut’s best quarter in over a decade. Prior, George was director of marketing for KFC Global, where he was responsible for the brand communications strategy and positioning across 140 countries. He also served as director of brand communications for KFC U.S., leading national advertising, product packaging and restaurant merchandising. During his time in the role, the brand grew sales for three consecutive years behind the award-winning ‘Return of Colonel Sanders’ advertising campaign.

Prior to joining KFC, George worked in brand management at Procter & Gamble for six years. During that time, he worked on the Old Spice brand where he led award-winning advertising campaigns.

In 2018, Ad Age named Felix its "Brand Marketer of the Year" and in 2016 he made the outlet's 40 Under 40 list. During his career, he has been at the helm of several award-winning campaigns including 14 Cannes Lions, four Effies and an Emmy for Best Commercial. During Felix's tenure with KFC, the brand was named to Ad Age's 2016 Marketer A-List as one of the top 10 brands of the year.

George holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

George and his wife of 16 years, Mary, live in Dallas, Texas with their two children, Eleanor and Wilson. George is an avid sports fan — particularly professional and college football and basketball. George and Mary love to travel, try new restaurants in Dallas and hold Felix family movie nights most Friday nights. George and Mary are active volunteers at their kids’ schools, and George coaches Wilson’s basketball team.

His favorites at Chili’s? Southwestern Eggrolls