White Castle chief marketing officer shares a peek behind the Castle walls

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 31, 2025) — With more than 30 years of experience in restaurant and retail marketing, Lynn Blashford has made an impact within the industry. For her experience and successes, she has been selected as speaker for the Spring 2025 Irwin Warren Lecture in Advertising and Media.

Before Blashford entered the industry, she started her journey into the world of marketing and communication at the University of Kentucky. The two-time Gatton College of Business and Economics graduate completed her Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration at the university before entering the workforce. She will share stories and lessons from her professional experience from 5-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in UK’s Chemistry-Physics Building Room 139.

Blashford is no stranger to the world of fast food. Prior to leading the charge at White Castle, she held roles at Long John Silver’s, Donatos Pizza, El Pollo Loco and Domino’s. She also has advertising agency experience leading retail client accounts.

During her time as chief marketing officer at White Castle, Blashford has shifted the strategy of the restaurant and CPG brand to focus on “cultivating the next generation of cravers,” as she calls it, by means of homing in on aspects of nostalgia and fandom. In her 14 years with the company, Blashford has redirected White Castle to use its celebrity status as America’s first fast-food hamburger chain to accelerate them as a legacy brand.

But she didn’t stop there.

Blashford has also adapted to a more contemporary marketing strategy by partnering with influencers, such as hip-hop artists Eminem and Fat Joe. Through this tactic, she has been able to shape White Castle’s brand personality to be authentic and modern.

“I am honored to be invited to this special event and look forward to providing some meaningful, and sometimes fun, content in our look behind the Castle walls together,” Blashford said.

In support of the future of the marketing industry, Blashford is an advocate for the Association of National Advertisers on the Global CMO Growth Council with a focus on the Talent and Marketing Organization and Small/Mid-Size Businesses Committees. Blashford also prioritizes the success of White Castle as an educator within the White Castle internal learning and development curriculum to shape the future leaders of the company.

As a frequently sought out speaker and educator, Blashford has prioritized using her voice to educate the future learders of the marketing industry as an instructor at Ohio State University teaching Principles of Agribusiness Marketing.

“Investing in the next generation of marketers means we need to ensure we are creating a welcoming and thriving environment where all feel they are contributing to a shared purpose and business outcomes,” Blashford said.

To hear about Blashford’s professional journey, join the College of Communication and Information — in partnership with the Gatton College of Business and Economics — for the 2025 Irwin Warren Lecture. The annual lecture is a series hosted by the Department of Integrated Strategic Communication and the College of Communication and Information in honor of Irwin Warren, a pioneer in some of the nation’s leading advertising campaigns. During an advertising career spanning more than 40 years, Warren worked at Doyle Dane Bernbach, BBDO and other leading agencies; all before moving to McCann Erickson, the world's largest advertising agency, where he retired as senior creative director in 2006. This series was established in 2015 by Irwin Warren’s co-worker at Johnson & Johnson, Patrick Mutchler, a UK School of Journalism and Media graduate.