McDonald's Making 3 Changes To Win Back Americans

[Wrenry]

Quote:

McDonald's is testing new tablets that let customers build their own burgers.

McDonald's just posted the worst sales decline in a decade.
The brand faces competition from fast-casual chains like Chipotle and Panera Bread. Results also show that young people, millennials and children, are rejecting the brand for healthier, fresher food.

But McDonald's isn't going down without a fight.

Here are some drastic changes the brand is making to improve business.

1. Changing up the menu.

McDonald's is testing customizable burgers that can be topped with guacamole, bacon, or tortilla chips. This nod to Chipotle's strategy, where customers build burritos to their exact specifications.

In a bid to appeal to millennials last year, the brand introduced the McWrap. The wrap has between 360 and 600 calories and comes stuffed with chicken, veggies, cheese, and sauce.

McDonald's hopes that customization and healthier options will bring in a younger crowd.

McDonald's new burgers are part of a more upscale image.

But the menu will also get smaller.

McDonald's CEO Don Thompson has said the company is going to start paring down on items. The chain's offerings have expanded by 70% since 2007, which has contributed to an overwhelmed staff and longer wait times.

Some of the recent menu items to go are the Chicken Selects and Angus Third Pounders.

2. Improving customer service.

In addition to trimming the menu, McDonald's is working on speeding up drive-thru wait times.

The company is redesigning kitchens to be more efficient for workers and testing a mobile ordering app that allows customers to place orders from their phones and pick up in restaurants.

Thompson said that the company was sending corporate representatives in for a "service reset." This could include adding more workers and assigning new tasks to existing ones

The company is retraining workers to improve customer service.

3. Revamping marketing.

Thompson is aware that many view McDonald's as unhealthy junk food. This problem has been exacerbated by a food factory scandal in China. To improve public perception of the company, McDonald's is doing a global audit of the marketing department. Thompson said he planned to make new internal hires.

"We are also strengthening our creative messages by placing greater emphasis on the quality of our food and again re-establishing the emotional connection that our customers associate with the McDonald’s experience," Thompson said.

Source

Darnit, so guess they aren't going to bring the beer can in exchange for food program over here.

[JamesWN]

They're gonna need a lot more options than guacamole, bacon, and tortilla chips to win me over. ...They can start by grilling my onions and some bell peppers.

[Sakura Latte]

Nothing is ever going to make me eat at U.S. McDonalds.

[David2074]

Wrenry

Darnit, so guess they aren't going to bring the beer can in exchange for food program over here.

Sure they will.
Except now they'll give you a tofu wrap instead of a burger. smile

[Omnileech]

You'd think better tasting food would be on the list.

[Euphonious Cantabile]

I don't eat at McDonald's because nothing there is vegetarian-friendly (not even their fries, since I heard it's cooked in animal fat, and I don't go to McDonald's for a salad. I go to my own grocery store for that), but I want to see some of their international burgers here in America, like India's McVeggie burger and McAloo Tikki (potato and vegetable) burger. And even though I'm vegetarian, I'd still like to see Japan's shrimp burger here in America.

[zweet_dreamz]

Ah man, I hope that they don't discontinue the third pounder in other countries as well.
It's nice that they're trying to change the menu and all, but...are they still going to serve mystery meat?
If so, then they might as well close down everything.
People want to know where their beef comes from.
If the meat is still a mish mash of rejected cuts of beef, then there is not point in making your menu more 'fancy looking'.

[Prince Ikari]

No amount of changes could ever convince me to eat at a McDonald's again. I probably have not eaten at one in 10 years now. The food is completely inedible. I found piece of plastic inside of one of their chicken nuggets one time. I about choked on it. The service is terrible at best. They attract nothing but riff raff. Their corporate practices are unethical. And at least at my local McDonald's the sanitary conditions are extremely poor. It has the distinction of being the most unsanitary fast food place in the area. McDonald's is one place I will never waste my hard-earned money at ever again. Maybe the McDonald's abroad are better than the ones here. I however doubt that there is anything that they can do to remedy the situation at home at this point. They are in a state of permanent American decline. This year KFC lost the chicken mantle to Chick-fil-A. And KFC has over twice as many restaurants in the United States as Chick-fil-A does. KFC is unfortunately finding out that there is only so long that you can offer a crappy product with crappy service before people just get fed up and go with better alternatives. The same applies to McDonald's. They have to be in it for more than just the profit. We as consumers expect quality food and quality service.

[Keltoi Samurai]

zweet_dreamz

Ah man, I hope that they don't discontinue the third pounder in other countries as well.
It's nice that they're trying to change the menu and all, but...are they still going to serve mystery meat?
If so, then they might as well close down everything.
People want to know where their beef comes from.
If the meat is still a mish mash of rejected cuts of beef, then there is not point in making your menu more 'fancy looking'.

Taco Bell uses meat that's a mish mash off rejected cuts of beef, ground up and mixed with sand, and just making it more "fancy looking" has by and large worked for them.

[Hasuki Aatisuto]

I don't see anything on the list about improving food quality and cooking service, so I won't be going.

I caught food poisoning from them. Twice in a row. That was the time when I swore myself off McDonald's.

[xXFurygeistXx]

As long as they don't change the nuggets and fries, I don't care.

[xXFurygeistXx]

Teabo Milk Tea

I don't eat at McDonald's because nothing there is vegetarian-friendly (not even their fries, since I heard it's cooked in animal fat, and I don't go to McDonald's for a salad. I go to my own grocery store for that), but I want to see some of their international burgers here in America, like India's McVeggie burger and McAloo Tikki (potato and vegetable) burger. And even though I'm vegetarian, I'd still like to see Japan's shrimp burger here in America.

...the fries are cooked in peanut oil. Do you have any idea how expensive it would be to cook fried foods in animal fat? Nah. They do peanut oil, same as everyone else. Seriously, even high end restaurants don't cook in animal fat, that is the silliest bs I've ever heard in my life. Lard is way more expensive than peanut oil or veggie oil. Ain't nobody gonna waste money on that s**t unless they are specifically advertising it that way and are charging for it. However, if you are strict vegan or vegetarian, you should know that though some restaurants designate friers for meats and veg, a lot of the time they don't and even when they do, the employees don't always stick to it, especially during a lunch or dinner rush. Unless it's a higher end restaurant. They tend to pay kitchen staff enough money to care.

[belfaroooo]

I eat at McDickle's all the time cause there aren't really a lot of options here and I'm perpetually broke. But the thing is, I was also kind of hoping that "raising their employees wages" would be on the list, too, because thats kind of turning into a PR nightmare.

But ******** that! Not enough people eat at their restaurants, so let's do some Applebee's level s**t!

[David2074]

"We are a fast food restaurant.
We have a large clown as a mascot and a logo that looks vaguely like french fries.
We use mechanically deboned meat, pressed chicken, pig stomachs and other money saving ingredients in our food.

SOMEHOW, people figured out our food is SHITE!
We have no idea how THAT happened but now that it has our sales figures are dropping and we are desperately trying to figure out how to keep the profits propped up.
We are going to allow you to customize the toppings on your shite and use heavy marketing to try to convince you our shite is not shite. Also, we are going to make our franchise owners pay for even more time and motion studies for remodeling their kitchens (again) and tell their workers to work faster. We want fast and efficient shite like when you have the runs, not slow, lumbersome shite like when you are constipated."


Seriously, McDonalds can revamp and rebrand or whatever until the cows come home but unless they plan to change the basic essence of what they are (fast crappy food with perpetual price creep) they can revamp all they want and it is still going to be McDonalds.
If I am in the mood for burger and fries there are some much better sit down restaurants around here where for a about the same or a little more money I can get more food AND it does not give me a stomach ache the way McDonald's food often does.

[Euphonious Cantabile]

xXFurygeistXx

Teabo Milk Tea

I don't eat at McDonald's because nothing there is vegetarian-friendly (not even their fries, since I heard it's cooked in animal fat, and I don't go to McDonald's for a salad. I go to my own grocery store for that), but I want to see some of their international burgers here in America, like India's McVeggie burger and McAloo Tikki (potato and vegetable) burger. And even though I'm vegetarian, I'd still like to see Japan's shrimp burger here in America.

...the fries are cooked in peanut oil. Do you have any idea how expensive it would be to cook fried foods in animal fat? Nah. They do peanut oil, same as everyone else. Seriously, even high end restaurants don't cook in animal fat, that is the silliest bs I've ever heard in my life. Lard is way more expensive than peanut oil or veggie oil. Ain't nobody gonna waste money on that s**t unless they are specifically advertising it that way and are charging for it. However, if you are strict vegan or vegetarian, you should know that though some restaurants designate friers for meats and veg, a lot of the time they don't and even when they do, the employees don't always stick to it, especially during a lunch or dinner rush. Unless it's a higher end restaurant. They tend to pay kitchen staff enough money to care.

Oh, I remember someone saying that McDonald's cooks their fries in animal fat. They must have been wrong.