Michael A. Miles

Michael A. Miles (1940–2013) was an American marketer and businessman from Washington, D.C., who served as Chief executive of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kraft Foods, and Philip Morris Companies, and as a director on the board of Time Warner, Sears Holdings Corporation, Dell Inc., AMR Corporation, and Citadel Broadcasting Corporation. From 1961 to 1971 he was an advertising executive at Leo Burnett Co. He was also a trustee of Northwestern University. He died on November 10, 2013 from complications of a brain tumor.

Education

Miles attended Woodrow Wilson high school in Washington, DC, and Northwestern University, where he was president of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He graduated in 1961, with a degree in advertising and journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.

Business career

Miles began his career at Leo Burnett & Co. in 1961 as a Media analyst, and progressed to the position of VP Account Supervisor. In 1972, he was hired by Kentucky Fried Chicken as VP of Marketing, and by 1977 was appointed President of the company. Through a re-evaluation of corporate strategy and a new marketing campaign declaring "We Do Chicken Right", Miles sparked a turnaround of the struggling KFC, reestablishing the company's relationship with founder Colonel Harlan Sanders and restoring trust with franchisees. He is in large part responsible for the company's large market share today.