By Pooja Ranganathan
IMC ’01 alum Becca Martin was on campus at Medill last week to give a presentation about the marketing communications functions at McDonald’s. As the senior communications manager, Becca handles projects with McDonald’s’ internal communications initiative. This is a massive enterprise as the company has nearly 1.3 million employees worldwide.
McDonald’s work culture is built on the credos of being relationship-focused, entrepreneurial, and having an attitude they call “ketchup in our veins.” This phrase connotes the high level of employee involvement with the McDonald’s brand – they “eat, sleep, and breathe McDonald’s.”
The most significant approach to achieve this company culture is through open channels of communication – McDonald’s “Plan to Win” global strategy is shared with all of its employees so they are aligned on the company’s strategic direction. Other initiatives include the Access MCD website, an online resource for employees that addresses business-related topics in a conversational way. It features a “Have you ever been asked?” section that gives employees tips on how to field frequently asked questions about McDonald’s, like “Are Chicken McNuggets made with real meat?”
McDonald’s closes its feedback loop with surveys administered after running major communication initiatives. With this, they measure the efficacy of the program with respect to achievement of intended effects.
At IMC, we are all about measurement. Eric Ries’ post on “vanity metrics” recommends that all metrics be actionable, accessible, and auditable. In IMC we try to tie our metrics back to sales and profits. McDonald’s uses surveys to measure awareness, attitude, and other similar parameters within their communications functions. How actionable are these?
Taking things a step further – if these are the metrics for internal communication, how does McDonald’s measure the effect of communication targeted at the consumer? As a player in the retail segment, there cannot be a shortage of data available to the company. There is fascinating potential for McDonald’s to analyze customer behavior and use insights derived in communication strategies.
Does McDonald's communication demonstrate a deep understanding of their customers? How could they do better?
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Pooja Ranganathan is a blogger at Vitamin IMC and a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University's Medill School. She is now wondering what information McDonald's will get about her if she uses the promotional gift card she was given at this talk. She can be reached at PoojaRanganathan2010@u.northwestern.edu.
