McDonald's rips up corporate structure in attempt to regain lost customers

[brooklynite]

Source: The Guaridan

The chief executive of McDonald’s admitted on Monday that the world’s largest burger chain is “not on our game” as he announced sweeping changes designed to revitalise the company which is rapidly losing customers to new a breed of customer-focused fast-food chains.

“The reality is our recent performance has been poor. The numbers don’t lie,” Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s new president and CEO, said on Monday as he ripped up the company’s global corporate structure in a plan to “shape McDonald’s future as a modern, progressive burger company”.

Easterbrook, a Briton who took over as CEO on 1 March, said he would “return excitement to our proposition and brand”. In a 23-minute video presentation he said: “The message is clear we are not on our game … We must improve, or we will be selling our customers short and leaving open opportunities for competitors.”

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/04/mcdonalds-revitalisation-plan-customers

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So, making a better hamburger didn't test well?

[muntrv]

1. Get rid of pink slime.

[shenmue]

2. How about burger buns that aren't dry and featureless?

[Fearless]

7. I thought it was a gym mat recycling program

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. a 'progressive burger company'.

So they're immediately going to jump to $15/hr for all employees, and require all franchisees to do the same? And source organic, antibiotic-free, growth hormone-free grass fed free range cattle until such time as lab-grown beef muscle tissue is economically feasible and they can stop slaughtering animals?

[leftofcool]

4. How about you start by paying a living wage?

You will get a lot more business if the majority of the people believe you care about your employees.

[William Seger]

5. McDonalds would sell a lot more burgers if the minimum wage went up

That's what's wrong with the argument that a higher minimum wage would hurt business: It ignores that minimum wage earners are also consumers who immediately spend virtually everything they earn, as proved every time the minimum wage went up.

[Mosby]

38. what fast food chain pays well?

Mcdonalds probably pays the same as taco bell, burger king, subway et al.

Even chipotle pays near minimum.

The only place I ever go into anymore is taco bell, they still have some good cheap food.

If I want a "better" burger I go to the Habit or Culvers.

[Recursion]

49. In & Out and Five Guys both pay well. Actually McDonalds does too

Corporate-owned McDonalds pay above average wages for the industry, and the company has lobbied for an increase in the minimum wage.

Franchise McDonalds are another thing, and something the company needs to come to terms with...

[cstanleytech]

42. I have better odds of winning the megamillion on tuesday and the powerball the next night than

seeing McDonalds pay a living wage to all its workers within my lifetime.

[Recursion]

48. The previous CEO lobbied for a minimum wage increase

And employees at corporate-owned McDonalds make well above minimum wage; it's the franchises that are the problem.

[Pharaoh]

6. Make real food

And pay your employees a living wage!

[homegirl]

8. McDonalds sandwich!

which looks like a burger in the color photo consists of a tiny bun, something that is supposed to be a beef patty, ketchup and a small amount of chopped onion. That will never compete with Burger King.

Improve the product.

[candelista]

9. Yep. That'll make their burgers taste better. A corporate shake-up!

Great idea. Change the flow chart. It always works.

[SoapBox]

11. ...shit always flows from the top down.

I doubt that old adage will change.

[SoapBox]

10. As with all fast food type chains...

been there, done that.

Our house had tired of these places and their products...we may go out to different locally owned, small restaurants about twice per month and then cook from scratch at home the rest of the time.

Eating out, even at cheap places, is no longer cheap.

I doubt that making the employees say "welcome to the Post Office (opps, McDonalds), may I help the next customer in line please" in a repeated, robotic fashion, is going to help.

[closeupready]

22. "Eating out, even at cheap places, is no longer cheap." +1000.

Was just having that conversation with a good friend of mine this weekend. I used to eat out all the time. But as costs have skyrocketed, I can no longer afford to do so as I once did. And even then, it's some place modest.

[workinclasszero]

30. Back in the day

5 people could eat at McDonald's for 5 bucks or so. Now it's more like 7 dollars and up for one.

Cheap food, no longer cheap. I can go to local gas station chain and get fast food for half or less of that 7 bucks.

McDonald's ought to pay a living wage, that would motivate lots of people to make sure they are a success.

But yeah America hates workers so....

[tridim]

12. Going back to natural fats like lard and real potatoes would be a start.

I still don't understand why they ever thought that chemically refined vegetable oil would be a good replacement for healthy, natural fat.

[SlipperySlope]

16. Re: vegetable oil

Saturated fat?

[tridim]

19. Saturated fat is healthy, refined (fake) fat is not.

Refined vegetable oil is sub-junk food.

[jeff47]

18. Because it wasn't a "healthy, natural fat". At least for a time.

There was a time when we were absolutely sure that saturated fats like lard and butter were killing us all. KILLING US ALL!!

So McDonalds switched to an unsaturated fat for frying. It was healthy, because it wasn't saturated. Went along with "healthy" choices like switching from evil, saturated fat-full butter to unsaturated fat margarine.

Time went on, and the initial research matured a bit. And discovered how terrible trans-fats are. They were killing us all. KILLING US ALL!!

So McDonalds switch to vegetable oil. Not saturated, and not trans-fat. Though it won't be long until we find something new that is killing us all. KILLING US ALL!!

Nutrition is not a terribly mature science. We understand how to avoid malnutrition. Beyond that, we don't have much. The vast majority of the research is correlation studies. "People who eat less of this are healthier, so it must be bad".

Until we figure out the body doesn't quite work that way. For example, it turns out eating cholesterol doesn't to change blood cholesterol. In a study, they doubled cholesterol in the victim's...er...participant's diet, and blood cholesterol remained the same.

But there's a fortune to be made making claims based on those correlation studies. A correlation study showing fat is killing us all? Time to make low-fat Pop-Tarts. They're healthy! A new correlation study showing carbs are killing us all? Time to make low-carb Pop-Tarts. They're healthy!

[tazkcmo]

13. Give them raises.

You get what you pay for. Minimum wage equals minimum effort.

[n2doc]

14. How about paying your workers a living wage?

Progressive my ass.

[GreatGazoo]

15. My co-worker insisted on McDonald's last week

Drive-thru, their cash register did something they couldn't clear. 3 employees all touching it's touch screen. Nothing. 5 minutes goes by. Then they tell us pull up to the 2nd window, another 3 minutes or so. Another employee rang and cancelled the order on another reg: $14 for two burgers, fries and on coke.

They gave us one wrong burger (regular instead of deluxe), we ate it anyway because I didn't want to go through any more delays where they can't operate their own gear. Bun kind of stale, lots of acid in some of the sauce, raw white onion very prominent. No ketchup for the fries because we forgot to ask after all the sitting still. Got indigestion immediately.

How could they fix that? I don't care anymore. Just won't go back.

[eggplant]

26. The plural of anecdote isn't data.

[GreatGazoo]

35. Um yes it is. Might not be great data but it is data nonetheless.

Those who have collected data in the real world, done focus groups, or who do multivariate analysis deal with data that is less than pristine and clear cut. Comes with the job.

Sorry but not everything fits into a neat little box. You may prefer strict mathematics if plural real-world anecdotes are too wild for your taste.

[joanbarnes]

17. They'll never get me back, in fact I wish I could return everything I ever ate there long ago!

[Auggie]

24. LOL

[rurallib]

20. hard to support a company that screws over its employees so badly

and spends so much money making sure they can continue to do so.

Last I recall they were selling the same stuff they sold in the 60s. May well have been made in the 60s also.

But then I haven't been there for a decade or two, so I really do not know what they do anymore.

[Populist_Prole]

21. I can't get over how tone-deaf or clueless upper managements can be

Over the years ( decades actually ) I've seen this same type of top-down "reinventing" scores of times from so many corporations in so many industries. As always, fixing the sizzle, not the steak.

Clueless. They don't get it and never will.

[Lindsay]

29. "Fixing the sizzle, not the steak."

Perfect. And true not just of McDonald's, but most of the rest of our "consumer economy" as well.

[sendero]

56. I've done a lot of reading about McD...

... over the last weeks. I've read some insights that I believe are essentially true and they don't bode well for McD.

McD has branded itself as a purveyor of cheap "artificial" food. When their prices reflected that it wasn't too much of a problem. But now, their prices are the same as outlets with much better reputations for vending decent food, and so now it is a problem.

McD management apparently thinks they can just tune up the brand to be something other than the low-end. History shows that is next to impossible.

[gvstn]

23. I was in my McDonald's for the first time in 15 years last week.

I had been boycotting them over some undercooked burger (when they once went to on-demand cooking system many years ago) and a bad attitude.

I was not impressed. The decor went from family friendly to austere straight lines. Rather dark like a coffee shop but without the warmth of a coffee shop. It was about 6:30p.m. and there were only two other people in the place (It used to take 15 minutes to get served because of how crowded it would be.)

I got the filet-o-fish meal. Soda station was filthy--which is a turn off right there. The fries were not really hot but passable. Not much flavor other than salt and a bit greasy since they weren't quite hot enough. The fish filet itself was just as I remembered and I enjoyed it. Piping hot and the flavor I remember. Roll was compacted and cheese flavorless (so pretty much same as it has always been). Thing is they were only 55 cents 20 years ago. Now they call it a $3.29 sandwich. I don't think it is worth $3.29.

I have no desire to go back.

Edit: I wanted to add that although the CEO didn't go into specifics about changes to the menu that they tried this before coming up with a "grown-up" menu. They increased the size of things like the fish filet and added lettuce and sometimes tomato to other sandwiches. They also increased prices and lost some of their teenage customers. They went back to the old menu within a year. I'm not sure who their core customer is now if kids are eating healthier other than the senior coffee crowd in the morning.

[Auggie]

25. As they chased profit, the food got worse and worse. And their business model is passé.

[PADemD]

27. When was the last time the CEO ate at McDonalds?

He should eat there every day until he's tried everything on the menu, then think about what McDonald's is feeding the public.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

28. I can't eat their burgers because they don't customize the toppings.

I am allergic to tomatoes and they won't make it without onions, ketchup and pickles so they can go hang.

I call them the Hamburger Nazis because they refuse to customize the toppings. I once told a manager
Do you know why Burger King says "have it your way"? He had no comprehension of what I was saying about individualizing burgers for people who don't want or CANNOT EAT "everything on it".



I can eat the fish sandwich if I'm desperate.

[gvstn]

31. I always get a filet-o-fish without sauce.

Never had a problem. And I know parents probably order no onions on their kid's burgers.
You're just asking them to leave things off?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

39. Yes, and they are incapable or unwilling to follow directions.

That's why Burger King said "have it your way".

[gvstn]

41. Odd.

Maybe it is only a "no sauce" thing that is easily understood. I don't really go there anymore, I said upthread that I had only recently been there for the first time in 15 years but they did the no sauce thing without blinking an eye.

If I want fast food, I go to BK (my Wendy's is hit or miss).

[AwakeAtLast]

46. We special order

When we do go to a McDonald's. My daughter gets "cheeseburger, ketchup only". Takes a bit more time, and they usually get it right.

I suspect it is that franchise owner that is causing your issue, which is a whole other problem for McDonalds.

[whatthehey]

32. The predictable responses ignore their business model

Fast food was never, is not, and probably never will be about making the highest quality tastiest healthiest food. That goes for those seeing burgeoning or failing financial data. McDonald's et al. tried and failed to add healthy options (Satisfries?) which just complicated their menu and slowed their service. A burger chain apperals to burger eaters, and there are enough of those out there to keep the chains doing well if they remember who their market is.

It's not health nuts, food snobs or culture purists. Any thread mentioning the company here shows what that bloc thinks of the company and always will, even if they offered beansprout kale smoothies and tofu. By toying with attempts to penetrate the impenetrable target they have slowed their drivethrus by a full minute, made their menus harder to understand, and lost their core focus.

Fast food is supposed to be cheap, filling, unchallenging and predictable, not a gourmet healthy experience for the sophisticated palate. You can't have 27000 locations making burgers by hand from local farm products and have them be any of those but possibly filling. Wendy's had a strong growth year in 2014 both same store sales and unit growth, and they offer bugger all that is sophisticated or healthy or custom made. But you can get through their drive through over 70 seconds faster than McDonalds, about 35%, and they haven't added dozens of new items or stopped selling, yes small and hardly wonderful, cheap fast food.

If McDs wants to be a trendy hipster coffee bar with burgers, they will fail. That market would never be seen dead in their stores based on decades of branding and image. If they want to sell cheap mass produced predictable greasy burgers to people who like that kind of thing they need to pare down the choices, speed up the delivery (which is the same thing, as menu extension = delay), maintain a strong and prominent value-price offering and concentrate on consistent error-free service (yet again easier with a simpler menu).

Being a better restaurant will mean abject failure. Being a better cheap fast food burger joint will likely keep them going and growing for quite a while.

[hobbit709]

34. There's a local burger place here that has quite tasty food

Cooked fast and the way you want it. They use natural meat without hormones and additives. Cost is about 25% higher than a big chain but the food is worth it to me.

[closeupready]

37. Completely agree. I occasionally hit McD's if I failed to brownbag

and I need something cheap, but lately, their prices seem so high that it makes more sense to hit Five Guys for 25% more, and enjoy a huge cheeseburger with tasty, oversized order of fries. In neither case is the lunch healthy or nutritious, but in the latter, it's definitely tastier and closer to organic (as well as hipper, for those to whom that is important).

They need to bring prices down. Period. IMO

[XemaSab]

54. In&Out works because they serve four things: burgers, fries, shakes, and sodas

You can get your burger with any toppings you want. Hell, you can get it without the burger if you want. You can get it without the bun. But 99% of what they serve is the basic bun, beef patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, and spread.

The fries are cut fresh from real potatoes right there in the restaurant.

You can get a shake.

You can get a soda.

That's it. That's what they serve. You want something else, you go somewhere else.

The McDonald's menu is at least 4 times too long:

http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/full_menu/full_menu_explorer.html

At least.

I'm counting 18 variations on beef+bun, 8 variations on chicken+bun, 11 wraps, 7 salads, 33 ice creams and beverages (not counting each soda choice separately!), and 24 breakfast choices, plus the McRib and the fish and the nuggets and whatnot.

I'm feeling slightly queasy now.

[hobbit709]

33. If they improved the "food' and their corporate attitude, maybe they wouldn't lose customers.

[freshwest]

36. Ooooh! They wanna be progressive now? Is it coming back in style? Go Dems! n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

40. I ate at Five Guys.

A couple of months ago in the city. I did not know who they were due to a serious lack of alternatives in food where I live (Shitville).

I stumbled into a Five Guys on a trip to the city and really liked the burger and fries. Portions were way too big for me but it was good.

There are not any locally owned burger places where I live or in the next county as well.

[eloydude]

50. I love the Five Guys! I don't eat there often

but one just opened up close by, so it may be worth the trek to go siddown and get a few juicy cheeseburgers with the fixins!

Love their overload of fries!

[AngryAmish]

43. My prom date is fairly high up in McDonalds corporate.

Hope she still has a job.

[Aerows]

44. Juicy cheeseburgers

have become a thing of the past, and that is why nobody wants to eat at McD's and Wendy's.

A cheeseburger that is juicy and thick stands on it's own with no sauce or anything else.

They USED to be that way, but they are so damn dry now, you have to slather them with extras to disguise the fact that they are dry and have that peculiar freezer burn taste to them.

If I eat a cheeseburger these days, I make it myself. Otherwise, it's just a waste. They have industrialized the taste right out of beef in the fast food industry. I want my burgers slightly scary - medium rare and juicy.

[romanic]

45. Crap food and crap pay

Equals crap service which equals loss of customers. What McDs should do is:

1. Raise the wages to something livable. I don't think going all the way up to $15 is realistic, but I would say at least $12 for all workers. Also offer full-time for at least half of the staff.

2. Use fresh ingredients.

3. Simplify the menu, get rid of all the stupid wraps and salads - no one goes to McDs to eat healthy.

[4_TN_TITANS]

47. My poor teenage daughter has to

endure at least this many opinions on how to improve McD's, and just about as many requests for custom or non-menu items, every shift she works.

[JCMach1]

51. Dirty restaurants, irritating drivethrough design, happy means with apples instead of fries

-NO ONE wants health food from McDonald's.

-Quality of food and service would go up if you retained employees through better wages and benefits.

-It isn't rocket science... Burgers, Fries, Shakes, and Sodas need to be good and inexpensive. That's your business model.

-Clean the damn restaurants... Hire one person (at least) to remove trays, sterilize tables, clean and sweep... Bring back the days when it wasn't YOU who had to become a self-service janitor.

-simplify your menu... deep six the fish, chicken sandwiches, McRibs, Cappucinos and simply follow your business model for food...

[truthisfreedom]

52. Cooking fries in lard would be quite an improvement.

Whatever they call beef could be improved on as well. And sesame seeds on their buns sounds like a great idea.

I occasionally eat one of their fish sandwiches. Somehow my childhood memories of the flavors at Mickey D's seem different from today's versions.

Why do their little cheeseburgers taste better than the quarter pounder?

[truthisfreedom]

53. Cooking their fries in lard would be a welcome improvement.

Whatever they call beef could be improved on as well. And sesame seeds on their buns sounds like a great idea.

I occasionally eat one of their fish sandwiches. Somehow my childhood memories of the flavors at Mickey D's seem different from today's versions.

Why do their little cheeseburgers taste better than the quarter pounder?

[Jamastiene]

55. Add some damn ketchup and more than a tiny little micro spoonful of onions

to the hamburgers and I will eat them again. I can't stomach that dry ass perma-bread and that rubbery ass burger without something to help make chewing it a little bit easier. Make Chicken McNuggets not feel so gristly and rubbery too. And most of all, if you say on your menu that you have a salad, actually have the damn salad. I quit going to McDonalds for their salads when I kept being told they didn't have that salad. It's on the damn sign. Getting in and out of that McDonalds is a nightmare. Finding out they don't have what you want, NUMEROUS TIMES, even though it is on the menu, is beyond just irritating. Answer the damn phone when someone calls ahead to see if you have that salad in stock before coming over too. They hardly ever answer the damn phone. I just won't go back. Fuck 'em.