Singapore McDonald's Offers REWARDS Program

Kind of like a frequent shopper program, the McDonald's in Singapore offer a program where customers can register and receive points towards future benefits. Points are gained by purchasing McDonald's products.

The McChronicles dropped into Singapore this week to explore this as well as to check out the heavy promotional activities going on for the FAN-tastic rice sandwich (more on that in another post).

To register for the McDonald's Rewards Program, a customer has to go online, to www.McD.com.sg, register, and declare membership during each order. It seems a bit clumsy, but let's wait and see how it goes. It is billed as "the best rewards programme ever", so it ought to be a big hit. We couldn't determine what the rewards actually are without registering.

McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Image: Screen grab from www.McD.com.sg

McDonald's Murals

Some McDonald's offer up some tasty murals that depict either a theme or their local beauty.

Here are two examples:

The first is a recent submission from a McChronicles field reporter.
This shot was grabbed in the Cincinnati, OH airport. It reflects the "old school McDonald's" theme.

The second is a picture we've shared in the past - another old school theme, this time it depicts a nostalgic view of historic Johnstown, NY.

The McChronicles thinks these murals are pretty cool. We don't think every store should have one, but they certainly do have their place.

Send in your photos of McDonald's murals (mcchronicles at gmail.com). If we get a handful we'll post them all together.

McDonald's Advertisement in Foot Locker Store

While grabbing up some post-Christmas sales in a local mall, a McChronicles reporter walked by a Foot Locker store. Unbeknownst to us, McDonald's had bought ad space on Foot Locker's in-store video network. Imagine our surprise! Not that this is a new development.

This is a good way to reach very specific demographics. A quick Google search gave us the background we craved.

An interesting Business Week article on the general topic (from last year - we're kind of out of it on this one) includes this quote:

"McDonald's now devotes a third of its U.S. marketing budget to television, compared with two-thirds five years ago. Money that used to go for 30-second network spots now pays for closed-circuit sports programming piped into Hispanic bars and for ads in Upscale, a custom-published magazine distributed to black barber shops. To sharpen its appeal to young men, another of its prime target audiences, McDonald's advertises on Foot Locker Inc.'s (FL ) in-store video network. The company zeroes in on mothers through ads in women's magazines such as O: The Oprah Magazine and Marie Claire and on Web sites like Yahoo! (YHOO ) and iVillage Inc. (IVIL ). "We are a big marketer," says M. Lawrence Light, McDonald's chief marketing officer, echoing Stengel's disavowals. "We are not a mass marketer."

We weren't able to grab an image for this posting - we'll try.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Happy Holidays!

To McDonald's Crew people worldwide - Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa - from The McChronicles.

Thanks for caring, for all the hard work, and for the great times we enjoy - all because of you.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Images:
top: Canastota, NY McDonald's Christmas Tree: The McChronicles.
middle: The Official Kwanzaa Website
bottom: Wikipedia

Reader's Digest Magazine Gives "Thumbs Up" To McDonald's

The current issue (January 2006) issue of Reader's Digest Magazine gives McDonald's a "thumbs up" rating (p.24).

The positive nod was given to, "McDonald's for saying it'll add nutritional info to packaging for most menu items. Might be better to add it to the actual menu, but this is a good step toward biting into our obesity woes."

Elsewhere on the RD site, there appeared this amusing and related joke:

As my five-year-old son and I were heading to McDonald's one day, we passed a
car accident. Usually when we see something terrible like that, we say a prayer
for whoever might be hurt, so I pointed and said to my son, "We should pray."
From the back seat I heard his earnest voice: "Dear God, please don't let those
cars block the entrance to McDonald's." — Joke contributed by Sherri Leard

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: Reader's Digest.com website

McDonald's Opens First Drive-Thru In China

Great news on PRNewsWire.com:

"McDonald's celebrates 15th anniversary in China DONGGUAN, Guangdong, China, Dec. 10"

"McDonald's China today announced the official Grand Opening of its first Drive-Thru restaurant in China. The all new 645 square meter McDonald's Drive-Thru is located in heart of the central business district of Dongguan Guangdong Province. With over 50 parking spaces and many new features it represents the next generation of McDonald's restaurants in China, providing customers with an entirely new and exciting dining experience."

Cool!

The McChronicles has spent a fair amount of time visiting McDonald's in China. This is a big deal. ANYTHING with 50 parking spaces is a big deal in China. We plan to visit there in the next few months to experience this awesome new McDonald's.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

McDonald's Arch Card (part 2)

The McChronicles has blogged about the McDonald's Arch Card before, and we bet we will do it again. It's a good thing. This time we are commenting on the pervasivness of the promotional activities.

A contributor to The McChronicles delivered a small "memo" and a complimentary arch card to our offices. They received it as part of a promotional mailing from their American Express credit card account manager. Wow! This card is being promoted at McDonald's restaurants, on TV, as free gifts to Southwest Airlines customers, and now through third-party direct mail.

As we posted previously, we like this idea and offer only one suggestion - allow the amount to be any value desired. Why limit the consumer to $5, $10, $25, or $50 increments? What if Aunt Mary's price point for a gift for each of her little nieces is $15 or $30?

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Image: The McChronicles

McDonald's Crew: Behind The Scenes

For those who think that the McDonald's crews of the world are not into their jobs, please take a look at the "McDonald's Talk" community in LiveJournal.

According the the site's Community Information page, "Anybody who has had an encounter with the McDonald's Corporation, whether as an employee or a customer, is invited to comment in this community. This community was started as a place for both workers and customers to gripe about McDonald's, but some positive input is welcome, too." Sounds a bit heavy on the "griping" side - and the founder even created an "i'm hatin' it" logo for the community.

Interestingly, the members (most of whom seem to be active McDonald's employees) have taken this site quite positive. In it you will see people complaining a little, sharing ideas, having fun, verifying rules & regulations, and CARING. Face it, if these 166 people didn't care, they could easily find better things to do with their lives than chat about McDonald's in their free time.

One chat thread involves various widely-scattered crew members supporting and guiding another crew member as they approach a serious and important inspection (most don't know each other). This is clearly NOT the work of people who don't care. In this thread we witness pride of ownership, the spirit of togetherness and teamwork, and great care for the company, coworkers, and customers.

What a refreshing glimpse into the side of McDonald's that will NEVER receive any media coverage - the positive side. It feels great to know that these dedicated crew members really care.

THANKS!

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's

Image: LiveJournal website.

Winter Haven, Florida McDonald's Re-Arched

Whenever the actual "Golden Arches" are involved, it is really cool. A friend of The McChronicles files this exciting report:

The local McDonald's was just rebuilt and they were putting up the arches today... the store opened tonight and when I drove by they were
missing part of one of the arches.

The local owner has always been very progressive, i.e. he had touch screen ordering for at least 4+ years and they use wireless handhelds to take orders in the drive-thru. Like I said, they demolished the old store and built this new one. I think total turnaround was about a month. The location is at the corner of 9th ST SE and Cypress Garden Blvd., Winter Haven, FL.

Exciting, indeed. Is there anything quite like a newly-opened McDonald's? We'd love to see some photos of the opening ceremony, of the interior.

Thanks for the report!

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Image: Courtesy of Hyku (more images on his site)

NO SOUP FOR YOU!

McDonald's offers hearty warm Campbell's soup for those people in winter climates. The McChronicles has two comments:

1. a soup-craving McChronicles field reporter has been denied soup two out of two attempts. Once they were told that there was no more soup. The second time they were denied due to "trouble with the soup well". NO SOUP FOR YOU!
2. quick quiz: What is the #1 most-popular Campbell's soup? According to the Campbell's website, "Our two most popular soups are Chicken Noodle and Tomato. These soups are among the top 10 food items sold in grocery stores". According to the McDonald's website (search for soup), they offer: vegetable beef, Italian wedding, cream of potato, chicken, and broccoli cheese. NO (tomato) SOUP FOR YOU! The McChronicles wishes for tomato soup.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's

Image: Badger Herald website

McDonald's Bloggers Fear For Safety

Last winter The McChronicles blogged about the safety conditions outside of the New Hartford, NY McDonald's. This year looks to be a repeat of the same situation. We literally take extra care when visiting this store.

Here is an image taken today at lunch time. It hadn't snowed for about 24 hours, and it was partly-sunny and warm all morning. At the time of this image it was about 36F (and had been above freezing for a couple of hours).

McDonald's should do what countless old ladies and jr. high school-aged kids do at this time of the year - grab a shovel, a scraper, some salt and show some pride.

Here we have the moment of truth - a customer buys into the promotional stream, decides to purchase from the business, drives there, and is faced with a really low-class and dangerous environment. So, at first glance, just what kind of place are we visiting?

Admittedly, today's conditions aren't REALLY bad (we've seen it much worse). But many customers MUST walk over this ice. The real point is this: we all know that winter is here. Ice always builds up near this door. Customers hate risking their safety as they struggle to grab a quick lunch. So, please deal with this chronic situation. If not for the sake of the McDonald's brand, but for the sake of your customers and crew.

McDonald's Blog Reports Service Is Too Slow

The McChronicles has been plagued by frequent "slow service" experiences while visiting McDonald's. Today is a good example.

With only three customers ahead of us, and with an apparent full crew on duty, it took way too long to get served. Here's how it played out:

• Store: #825, New Hartford, NY, USA
• Time: 1:35PM
• Order: Big Mac Value Meal, regular, for inside
• Line Wait: 3.5 minutes (that's too long, but it depends on the people in line)
• Order Wait: 3.5 minutes (too long, no excuse, it's all up to the crew/system)
• Quality: Very good
• Cleanliness: Winter mud in the order area, some tables dirty. Otherwise very nice.

7 minutes is just way too long to wait for a simple order - especially when it is evident that there is no big demand on the crew. The term "painfully obvious" comes to mind as people queue up, McShuffled, awaiting their food as not much happens. Something is wrong.

Strangely, the crew sure looked busy. And this store has a very professional and dedicated crew (that's been proven repeatedly). We guess there is just something wrong with the system.

This is EXACTLY the kind of systemic issue that, over time, really damages a brand.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's

McDonald's Arch Card (debit card)

McDonald's has rolled out their Arch Card, just in time for the holidays. It's a great idea.

The McChronicles received our first Arch Card attached to a Premium Chicken sandwich (see image). Sweet!

First of all, they're giving away free money (in the form of a debit card that can only be used at McDonald's - if anyone doesn't like that, please send your cards to The McChronicles, we'll use them plenty fast!). Secondly, they are nice little "gifts" for anyone you know who is dropping into a McDonald's soon.

But the real beauty lies elsewhere (after all, a free "regifted" $1 gift is almost insulting, and you will surely end up spending more money along with this free dollar, so send them to us). The real beauty lies in the fact that, by getting us familiar with the McDonald's debit card concept at no cost, we all become desensitized to the use of the card, then accustomed to the routine. Eventually, we might purchase Arch Cards or any debit cards from McDonald's.

The McChronicles usually bristles at the concept of debit cards (giving an institution a free cash loan - with the risk of losing the card or leaving change on the card). But these cards offer a great way to give the gift of a nice McDonald's meal, in denominations as small as $5. That's cool especially around the holiday season.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Image: The McChronicles

Appreciate This

Today The McChronicles went out on a rare solo mission. The Clinton, NY McDonald's served as the laboratory today.

• Clinton, NY: store # 2499
• Line Wait: 4.0 minutes
• Order Wait: 1.0 minutes
• Order: one hamburger, one medium Coke
• Quality: Good
• Service: Poor
• Cleanliness: nothing noted, seemed fine

There were 3 people in line as I entered the counter area, with two lines/registers and, seemingly, a full crew in action. The line moved very slowly and there was virtually NO engagement with the customers. In other words, we were all left wondering why things were moving so slowly. Additionally, my order was extremely simple, and included only a drink and the trademark product - one hamburger.

So, why did it take one minute to pick up a hamburger that was sitting in the hopper and to fill one cup? Who cares why! It did.

And how can management not educate and empower their crew to be concerned with/responsible for the customer experience? Who cares how! That's the way it is.

The result? This "customer evangelist" was left feeling like I didn't matter. That I wasn't important, and that no one really cares.

But it's OK. A McDonald's spokesperson says, "we appreciate that customers who related to our brand are sharing their thoughts about McDonald's with others."

That's right.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Image: The McChronicles

McChronicles McDonald's Blog Featured in US News & World Report Magazine

The McChronicles McDonald's blog is featured in the current US News & World Report magazine. This issue includes a story on "customer evangelists" and features The McChronicles as one example. The story appears online, be sure to read all 3 pages The McChronicles appears on page 2 of the US News & World Report story).

An interesting quote from the story is, "Look how many companies seem befuddled about how to deal with pro-company bloggers like McChronicles, a blog devoted to one McDonald's fanatic's take on the Golden Arches. It's written by a guy in the Northeast--he didn't want his name used in this story--who visits McDonald's here and abroad, reviewing the restaurants for service, food quality, and cleanliness. Sometimes the reviews are critical, but often they're positive. And even the negative ones are written with a constructive attitude. It's clear that McDonald's holds a special place in his heart and stomach."

Read the entire US News & World Report story on customer evangelism, featuring The McChronicles.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Image: US News.com

McDonald's Banner Ad

The McChronicles dragged itself out of bed this morning (after a hard day of recovering from Thanksgiving) to find an interesting banner ad on Weather.com.

We don't recall ever seeing such an ad from McDonald's, so we were a bit intrigued. The ad was tied to our PC's internal clock so it knew what time it was at our office - and told us so in the ad. Cool!

Curious (hungry) the ad led us to a tantalizing (a matter of taste, we know) web page promoting McGriddles breakfast sandwiches.

We have to admit that it made us hunger for some breakfast. We're just not sure it would be prudent to leave The McChronicles central command in a cold, windy snow storm (see image). Maybe for lunch!?!? Time will tell.

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Images:
Top: Weather.com
Bottom: The McChronicles

Black Friday at the Sangertown Square McDonald's

The Sangertown Square Mall (New Hartford, NY) is THE place to shop in Oneida County - especially on Black Friday. The McChronicles spent a little time observing the activity at this restaurant, trying to see how they were handling this special day, and this special opportunity.

Kudos:

• The crew was well-staffed up (we were there around 3PM). There were many more people than we are used to seeing working behind the counter , and they did keep the line down.
• The crew was wearing special red "Happy Holidays" tee-shirts. Kind of festive and fun.

Missed Opportunity:

• As we watched the crew going about their business, and as we noticed that the mall was much busier than usual, we wondered what McDonald's had done to take advantage of this once-a-year special day. It appeared that, beyond staffing up to be able to process more customers per hour, nothing special was happening. We couldn't help but wonder how much more business they could have had, or how much they could have enhanced their brand/image had they done something special.

Now, we don't know what it takes to manage a McDonald's and we imagine it must be pretty tough. But we also know that there are precious few opportunities to make something special happen. Goals might have been to increase their share of all food sold in the mall's food court, to bolster their brand/image in the hearts of their community & customer base, etc. Specific activities could have included offering a package check service for holiday shoppers so they could enjoy a meal without having to manage their bags, sponsoring a local school caroling event, or they could have given out free "buy 1 get 1" coupons for french fries or something.

As fans of McDonald's, The McChronicles would have loved to see the company seize this opportunity to take a step forward.

Image: The McChronicles

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Old McDonald's Theme Song

And speaking of McDonald's Commercials, The McChronicles has unearthed these performances by some of yesterday's stars. They are all singing the "You, You Are The One" jingle from the old days (These take a minute to download. Best if you right-click and open in a new window):

• Main Street Singers (version 1)
• Main Street Singers (version 2)
• Latin Rhythm Instrumental
• Jose Feliciano
• Peggy Lee
• Stylistics
• Gladys Knight & The Pips

Old school is cool. We even dig the groovy skips, hisses, and pops off the vinyl records from which these files were made. (Please pardon our slip into '60s hip - we got into the moment. Hope you do, too).

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Image & Links from wfmu.org

Awesome McDonald's Commercial

Go ahead and name a cool McDonald's commercial that you've seen lately.

Yeah, us neither. The McChronicles gang thought about it for a while, then, when stumped, turned to the internet. It seems that the last really great ad from McDonald's was way back in 1993. The ad, called "Showdown", pits Michael Jordan against Larry Bird in an outlandish game of "HORSE" (or "PIG", depends on where you come from, or how much time you've got). Videolink compliments of our good friends at FastFoodWebLog (you should check these guys out).

Another great McDonald's commercial is the 1971 "Clean Up". It is said that this ad spawned the "You deserve a break today" jingle. The photo above is from that award-winner. No video link. Anyone?

We even unearthed a 2002 USA Today review of McDonald's that offered this tip, "For decades, McDonald's was almost as widely recognized for its advertising as for its food. In fact, some say the image created by the chain's early ad campaigns — "You deserve a break today" — helped establish the image of McDonald's as a place that is clean, wholesome and special. Its current slogan, "We love to see you smile," has little direct connection to the food, Hickok complains. It is rare, he says, for a fast-food campaign to be successful when it doesn't focus on the food. "

It's time to bust one loose!

Image: AdAge Website

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.

Jackie Huba Mentions McChronicles McDonald's Blog

Media Maven Jackie Huba of the Church of the Customer blog named The McChronicles McDonald's blog as one example of citizen marketing.

This time she discussed us on the TomorrowConnecting.biz website. We have also been the subject of discussion on her site, Church of The Customer, not once, but twice. Okay, three times.

Media pundits feel that average citizens, like us, like you, like the regular Joes that enjoy a handy, warm McDonald's value meal, are an increasingly-important voice. And we agree. That's why we are glad to speak out. Feel free to join us. Comment anytime.

Thanks Jackie.


Image: taken from TomorrowConnecting Website

The McChronicles: A blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.