McDonald’s forms a new group to direct its IT strategy.
Chicago According to emails supplied to sister newspaper Meat + Poultry, McDonald’s Corp. announced the formation of a new executive role and team focused on improving the customer-facing digital experience at McDonald’s restaurants as part of its efforts to maximize investments made in digital technology.
CEO Chris Kempczinski stated that for McDonald’s to reach its full potential in the digital sphere, the company’s business, technology, and consumer goals need to be well-aligned in an email sent to all employees.
“In order to better engage customers and spur profitable growth, we must accelerate our focus on the digital experience by adopting a more holistic approach that drives value from our current customer-facing digital investments,” he stated.
Mr. Kempczinski announced that Daniel Henry, the global chief information officer, will be directly accountable to him in order to build momentum.
Furthermore, Lucy Brady was named chief digital consumer engagement officer, a newly created position. For three years prior, she held the position of senior vice-president for corporate strategy and business development. Ms. Brady was a senior partner and an active participant in the consumer and marketing, sales, and pricing activities at Boston Consulting Group before joining McDonald’s. She has previously held positions as an assistant portfolio manager at Trammell Crow Ventures and in brand management at General Mills, Inc.
Mr. Kempczinski stated, “Lucy and her team have been the driving force behind McDelivery’s rapid expansion since 2017, quickly growing the business from $1 billion to more than $4 billion in three years.” “Her team also made progress on the purchase of Dynamic Yield, an investment that is causing a noticeable increase in check growth and is already present in restaurants across the United States and is beginning to gain traction in other markets.”
In addition, Mr. Kempczinski announced the formation of a specialized team for digital customer engagement, headed by Ms. Brady and responsible for advancing worldwide digital projects like ordering, personalization, payments, loyalty, and delivery. Bob Rupczynski, the leader of marketing technology, and global delivery will become a member of the digital consumer engagement team and will be accountable to Ms. Brady.
McDonald’s had barely “…scratched the surface of our full potential, especially in our largest markets,” according to Ms. Brady’s letter.
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“To create world-class digital experiences including ordering, personalization, payments, loyalty, and delivery, the digital customer engagement team will be cross-functional, bringing together experts from marketing technology, finance, operations, marketing, insights, analytics, and other functions,” Ms. Brady stated. In order to establish our comprehensive digital strategy and make sure we get the most out of our work, we will work closely with market teams. We can create better solutions for our clients, provide more value, and operate more quickly and effectively if we collaborate and pool our skills.
“Although we will move swiftly to stay up with the outside world, it is crucial that we take the time to carefully consider the priorities for this team and position ourselves for success. We’ll pinpoint immediate benefits and significant steps that will provide value soon. Over the following ninety days, we will also solicit feedback from supplier partners, market teams, franchisees, and important functional groups. Early in April, we’ll try to assimilate those lessons and provide more information about the next steps.
The newly established Digital Advisory Council (D.A.C.), which consists of Mr. Henry, Joe Erlinger, President of McDonald’s USA; Ian Borden, President of International; Kevin Ozan, Chief Financial Officer; and Colin Mitchell, Senior Vice-President of Global, will collaborate with the Digital Customer Engagement team.
Furthermore, the business development and corporate strategy unit will now answer directly to Mr. Ozan. The business is trying to find someone to take over Ms. Brady’s prior position.