The McChronicles just wrapped up another losing season of the McDonald's Monopoly game. The best we've ever done is to score some free fries.
We would think that there would be a little quality control on the signs for a major promo program (not that WE haven't typo'd before ourselves).
The McChronicles recently reported on a very focused store called QUARTER POUNDER. This very unique McDonald's has only two items on the menu: quarter pounder with cheese and double quarter pounder with cheese (you can also buy fries and beverages). There are 2 QUARTER POUNDERs, both in Tokyo.
The McChronicles' source added that McDonald's:
"... McDonald's has always had an understanding that charity is a good way to build good will. For the most part, it comports itself with dignity, very rarely discussing its charitable endeavors, most notably Ronald McDonald House."This is a quote from Bob Garfield, advertising critic and editor-at-large with Advertising Age. More on this subject can be read in an interesting article appearing in QSR Magazine.The article goes on to cite McDonald's for promoting diversity, awarding millions in minority scholarships, sponsoring workshops to help minorities enter college, and for their Ronald McDonald House.
Today, McDonald’s launched www.nuggnuts.com , an online fan community dedicated to honoring the devoted fans of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets. The site launched this morning to pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of the popular menu item. Fans will have the opportunity to show why they deserve a coveted spot in the Nuggnuts Hall of Fame, learn the official McNuggets pledge, and purchase exclusive Nuggnuts apparel.
Two of the five individuals www.Nuggnuts.com is featuring are:
· Kevin Byers, an expert juggler and self-styled “Nuggler”, Kevin once juggled three Chicken McNuggets (after eating the 4th), a record 112 times late one night. He also attempted creating the world’s tallest McNugget tower.
· Adam Cater is the founder of “I Love Chicken McNuggets®” on Facebook. “I am the biggest McNuggets fan and I was trying to find everyone else in the world who also loves them like myself. I’d love to talk all day about my love for McNuggets. When I’m not eating McNuggets, I feel sad and empty inside.”
Comments anyone?
Apparently there is a McDonald's restaurant in Tokyo, Japan called QUARTER POUNDER that sells only two items:
The second image is a grab from broccolicity.com website, where The McChronicles first heard of this interesting concept.
The McChronicles was offered a tremendous opportunity to experience McDonald's International Media Days 2008. What a better way to bring interesting information to the "customers" who are the very heart of our mission: "Chronicling the McDonald's Brand Experience From The Customers' Point Of View." We seized the chance and did our best to both experience the event and share it all with you in seven separate postings (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven).
We are totally convinced that McDonald's is a wonderful collection of talented, capable, passionate, and fun people who care very much about their customers' experiences, their company, and their place in society.
The McChronicles can also share that these people are never satisfied. They are constantly seeking ways to improve their brand, to improve their business, and to delight their customers and employees. We fully expect McDonald's to accelerate their growth in product and concept development, leading to further enhancements of customer satisfaction.
Mainly because we are a customer, and we experience McDonald's from OUR side of the counter. Now we know that McDonald's appreciates the feedback as well, and is eager to consider the customers' opinions. It's also clear that they aim to improve because of them.
This posting will wrap up The McChronicles experience at McDonald's International Media Days 2008. It was an incredibly rich 3 days of information, accessibility to people, and insight. Here is how it concluded.
She is the perfect age to get the playfulness of the kids, to be full of curiosity herself, and to also understand the ramifications of "moving it" for 1 minute. Of course, her fame is also very valuable for the program. Anyway, she was fully immersed in the activities - no "star" issues here - and certainly appeared to enjoy it all.
Even if McDonald's isn't responsible, it still may be a good way to keep us all visiting them. Interesting.
This morning The McChronicles was at the offices of DDB, one of McDonald's advertising agencies, for two very special announcements - and for a very special surprise.MADAGASCAR: Escape 2 Africa
Beyond the obvious technique of linking a (hopefully) popular movie with their product for promotional purposes, this move plans to use the movie's characters, as well as special events and information to help children move beyond pure physical well-being and add more fulfillment to their lives. At the heart of this effort is a new slogan: 1 minute to move it (one minute to move it).
Interestingly, the "I'm Lovin' It" campaign will not disappear.
PACKAGING UPDATE
According to Mary Dillon (image: as she delivered the info - standing in front of some over-sized examples of the new look), "This is the biggest packaging initiative in the history of our brand." That's big news for sure! She echoed a theme The McChronicles has heard all week when she said, "This packaging is all about 'simple, easy enjoyment' ".The company cited the four major goals of this packaging:
Examples of the packaging, as they will appear in various global areas, appear below. The actual materials of the packaging were previously upgraded to a more ecological mix, so the only change here is the graphics. The McChronicles likes the graphics as they feel crisp and fun. In addition, nutritional information is easy to find quickly. Also, look for a switch away from "lifestyle" imagery and for a much stronger emphasis on the actual product, its ingredients, and its nutritional information. The McChronicles thinks this looks good while moving health-related issues to the forefront.
The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Day 2 of McDonald's International Media Days was FULL of interesting information and insights. In the afternoon The McChronicles was able to meet with Chef Dan Coudreaut, Corporate Chef, USA, in his test kitchen. 
Chef Dan says he often begins with input or direction from his teammates in Marketing. After all, it is they who usually know what customers want, or which ingredients and product families contribute to profitability, sales, or optimal inventory utilization.
The McChronicles receives numerous requests for information related to The McRib. People ask:The McChronicles promised to seek the answers - and for this risky assignment we went straight to the top. Today The McChronicles held a face-to-face discussion with McDonald's Debra McDaniel, the Senior Director of U.S. Menu Management (pictured just seconds before she dealt with the McRib issue). This makes the second time that we consulted with Debra on the McRib in two days. Here is what she had to say:
"When we keep the McRib on the menu, orders eventually start falling off."So, there you have it McRib fans, straight from the source. In essence, when the McRib is allowed to remain on the menu, orders drop and the product is not sustainable. When the product comes and goes, we go wild for it and buy it like it is going out of style (which it is - until Debra brings it back).
Know one thing, Debra is a passionate McDonald's employee who truly loves her products and how they please us all. The McChronicles has seen this firsthand. She's not jerking us around - in fact, it seems like we are messing with her. The McChronicles concludes that we have met the enemy and it is us. To resolve the McRib issue we need to consistently order more McRib sandwiches. Deb would like nothing better than to make it a permanent fixture on her menu.
This has been a SPECIAL REPORT from The McChronicles.The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: iRyanHD (poster), Debra McDaniel (The McChronicles)
Next up on Day 2 of McDonald's International Media Days 2008 was Senior Director, U.S. Restaurant Design, Max Carmona who outlined the company's Green Building Strategy. And, if you think this is just about the building, you will be surprised.
The bottom line of Max's assignment is to create a functional and environmentally progressive facility that "satisfies both the customers' perception and the crew's satisfaction".
Max outlined critical elements of his program, grouping them into four major categories:
Then, Max delivered The McChronicles to the actual Green Restaurant, on the corner of 42nd and Ashland on Chicago's South Side (a community known as "Back Of The Yards"). There we were met by Doug Kimball (pictured) who provided an extremely detailed tour of this living laboratory. The tour started with two drawings of the facility, a site overview and a building detail.
The site and building exterior feature innovations including: 
LED signage that consumes tons less energy,permeable paving that allows rainwater to soak into the water table versus swamping the public drainage system, a cistern that collects storm water used to water the native vegetation - both on the ground and on the roof, skylights, and a heat recovery system. Trust The McChronicles - there is lots more.
Doug then headed indoors where he handed The McChronicles over to John Rockwell who pointed out features such as: low-flow plumbing features saving water per flush, LED lighting and a computerized system that measures natural light and adjusts artificial lighting accordingly, multiple recycling stations, and building materials (tables, chairs, divider walls, decorations, etc.) made from recycled materials such as milk and detergent containers, ceramic floor tile made from 40% pre-consumer waste material, and decor made using low-emitting materials.
Honestly, it was difficult to take it all in on the first pass.
The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.
This morning started out with a presentation on McDonald's Strategic Beverage Initiative. Speaking was Mr. Lee Renz, Vice President of U.S. National Beverage Strategy (top image). Mr.Lenz stated that it is McDonald's goal to become, "a beverage destination". In addition to the company's carbonated and bottled beverages, and the shakes, coffees, etc., McDonald's is moving into latte's, espressos, frappes, and smoothies. These beverages will come to us from an increasing number of McCafes.The full rollout of the U.S. McCafe project will conclude near the end of 2010 and has already started. Renz added that McDonald's "has tons of great ideas" for the expansion of the project. It seems that this idea has a great chance of florishing beyond the current scheme
Later in the day The McChronicles sampled existing and prototype McCafe beverages. From hot chocolates, to caramel and coffee frappes, to smoothies - this product suite seems to have something for most everyone. The McChronicles does NOT like coffee, yet we found the caramel and coffee frappe very tasty - even with the distinct coffee flavor. Interesting!
The next event began when Bob Langert, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility (bottom image), took the stage. Bob started McDonald's Corporate Responsibility blog - a very meaningful tool for both reaching out to, and opening up to, the world. Do make the link.
Bob took this opportunity to announce the McDonald's 2008 Corporate Responsibility Report (being released later today). You can read the report using the link, so we will stick to Bob's presentation and discussion.
Bob continually emphasized "responsible food" and said, McDonald's wants to go beyond rhetoric and "bring corporate responsibility to life".
The McChronicles wants to thank Bob for taking the more difficult high road and continually making McDonald's activities more transparent while being a part of the team making McDonald's actions increasingly exemplary. For these (and other) efforts, "The Roberts Environmental Center at Claremont McKenna College has given McDonald's an A+ for the quality of our voluntary reporting on environmental and social issues. We are the only company in the food services sector to receive so high a grade."
The McChronicles' bottom line is, "Chronicling the McDonald's Brand Experience From The Customers' Point Of View", so, as customers, we really appreciate any and all efforts to make both our McDonald's dining experience, as well as our time here on Earth, a more enjoyable, responsible, and sustainable event.More to come! Stay tuned.
The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.
The second part of our first day of McDonald's International Media Days (see part of McDonald's International Media Days 2008) was much less formal and a lot more hands-on. And since it was getting to be about that time, The McChronicles is talking about hands on LUNCH!
Now, while The McChronicles WAS hungry, it was still all about, "Chronicling the McDonald's Brand Experience From The Customers' Point Of View." Here's what we learned (in between bites and while touring the facility):
There are some very dedicated professionals working hard behind the scenes to make this all happen for us.PIPELINE:
A discussion and demonstration and video of experimental equipment led up to the cool new products that were under consideration. While we didn't get to sample any of the "concepts" The McChronicles can report that all sorts of food products are being evaluated, from vegetables, to beverages, to traditional sandwiches made in new ways.
INTERNATIONAL MENU:
The McChronicles dove into a table full of food that can only be found in McDonald's around the world. As loyal readers know, The McChronicles travels extensively, but having such a variety of meals in one room at one time was special, even for this experienced traveller. We enjoyed the (sort of) previously-reported on Shaka Shaka Chicken (it was potato in our report from 2006). This version of the Japanese Shaka Shaka concept is a real winner. The concept is to receive an already tasty piece of chicken in a semi-sealed bag, insert your personal favorite selection of spices, shake it up (shaka shaka) and enjoy it. The McChronicles tried the lemon pepper spice and LOVED it, a lot.
Another of the several awesome regional products is THE CBO. CBO, from France, stands for Chicken, Bacon, Onions. With the proper garnishment, a slice of cheese, and sauce, this sandwich is awesome.
The McChronicles' favorite was the Canadian Angus Burger. All we can say is, Wow! The garlic mayonnaise is just right and adds the perfect flair to the basic large burger. Loyal readers will recognize, by studying the 3 photos of the Angus Burger, that McDonald's is using the "McPamper" concept suggested by The McChronicles in 2005. See the three photos at the top of this post. This sandwich, and others, can be silghtly unwieldy and juicy, and the extra support from the included piece of tissue paper really helps.
Thanks, McDonald's.
There were others, but these were our highlights.
PROCESSES:
Fry lovers - occasionally disappointed by fries that are: undersalted, oversalted, undercooked, overcooked, too cold, cooked in less-than-perfect oil? Sure you are. The McChronicles witnessed a new machine called the LOV Fryer (low oil volume) that uses less oil and less energy while frequently filtering the oil (keeping it cleaner), using less oil so the oil can be changed more frequently, while automatically salting the fries with the proper distribution and volume. We sampled the machine's output - best McDonald's fries we ever tasted!
BETTER EXPERIENCE:
McDonald's demonstrated some new software the allows us, the customer, to place our own order (like we do when checking in at an airpoirt, for example) from a very intuitive, simple to use touch-screen menu. It not only is easy to find what you are looking for, change it, go back in mid-order and delete things, etc., but it also presents more choices than the traditional wall-mounted menu has space for. Curmudgeons and traditionalists may not like it, but anyone under 40 has been yearning for such control (and speed) for a long time now. Yeah!
DEDICATED PROFESSIONALS:
The concept of a "McDonald's Engineer" is probably not in most of our heads, but such people do exist - and they are working hard to make our McDonald's experience better. The McChronicles had the opportunity to chat briefly with a few. Truth be told, they are almost geekily into automation, process excellence, pareto charting, focus grouping, video monitoring, and the like. Hey, we don't need them at our parties, we just appreciate the fact that they make our lunches more consistent, safer, and faster. The last photo is one we snapped while in the top secret Innovation Center. Stand down McChronicles legal counsel - we were granted permission for this long-distance shot.
That's it for today. More tomorrow.
The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.
The McChronicles is currently participating in McDonald's International Media Days. This event (the 4th of it's kind in recent times) is being held in various cities near McDonald's global HQ (near Chicago, Illinois, USA).
The first event was a question and answer session with top McDonald's corporate executives: Jim Skinner: Vice Chairman and CEO; Ralph Alvarez: President and COO; Pete Bensen: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Don Thompson: President - McDonald's USA; Jose Armario: President - Canada & Latin America; Dave Garland: Vice President & CFO - Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa; and Denis Hennequin: President - McDonald's Europe. It was quite an opportunity to listen to their prepared remarks as well as their answers to the media's questions.He also discussed his corporate program, called "Plan To Win" , which emphasizes people, product, place, price, and promotion. This theme came to the surface during other presentations throughout the day.
The McChronicles has learned, through interviewing restaurant managers, that offering "friendlier" service is a corporate priority. Therefore, it was interesting to hear those exact words from Ralph Alvarez when he said, "We are friendlier, faster, and more accurate than we were five years ago."
Pete Bensen, corporate number cruncher, was aligned when he commented that, "At McDonald's, the most important number is number 'one' (a reference to an earlier statement that the customer is number one). If we don't get these 'ones' right, all the other numbers don't matter."
And on it went. Don Thompson saying things like:
Both Jim Skinner and Don Thompson did a good job of describing how information and education are being created to enable store owners and managers to educate, train, and coach their crew. Later in the day more info on this topic arose when The McChronicles saw how processes, software, and even equipment are designed and built to make the crews' efforts more effective - with the two-part goal of making their time with the customer warmer and more friendly AND enabling their activities to produce more consistent food faster.
More on Day 1 in the next post (off to dinner now).The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.
The McChronicles enjoyed yesterday's double cheeseburger so much that ... well ... you know.
then went online to see what McDonald's are telling us they SHOULD look like (sold).
Fans of The McChronicles will recall vividly how The McChronicles discussed the "goings-on" related to the double cheeseburger. Here is more info.
According to a comment posted at Netflix's MOVIE FANS site, and pointed to by a McChronicles commentor:
Kudos to the Johnstown, NY McDonald's. It seems that every time the McChronicles drops by, things are in great shape.
Wordle offers a cool tool that enables a person to create a word cloud based on a blog. So, The McChronicles went to work. Here is what we look like in a word cloud.
Coca Cola has introduced what some are calling the "beverage dispenser of the future".
