Ask McDonald’s

In “Measure What Matters” Katie Paine explains the importance of having a trustworthy and believable reputation with your entire audience. As I read through this chapter, I thought of McDonald’s. The global franchise may have one of the worst reputations I can think of next to Wal-Mart.

As Katie explains, this poor reputation can make handling crises a chore. The public doesn’t trust McDonald’s, so when a bad story breaks it is almost impossible to change the opinions of customers. This made me think of all the crazy myths people believe about the disgusting production of food in the restaurant. For example, people believe there is pink slime in the hamburger meat.

Katie explains you must know what your customers are saying about you, what they believe and what they do as a consequence. Currently, people are saying pretty gross things about the food at McDonald’s, just take a look at the documentary “Super Size Me”. Because of the negative comments, people believe all of the accusations found on the Internet. As a result, McDonald’s is not doing very well, but that is all about to change.

The biggest surprise of my week was learning McDonald’s is using social media as part of its new marketing strategy to change consumers’ common misconceptions and questions about the fast food chain. The unlikely giant corporation is letting you ask them questions on Twitter, and the business is actually responding!

In addition to answering your inquiries on Twitter, McDonald’s is using YouTube and Facebook to post video evidence answering your burning questions. In fact, Grant Imahara from MythBusters is sponsoring a series of videos that take you behind the scenes of the production facilities creating the food we eat at McDonald’s. If you have a question, maybe Grant will personally answer it himself.

It is about time McDonald’s begins engaging with its customers through social media to improve its reputation. In the past, the franchise ignored rude posts on its page, but now the company is honestly responding in a very transparent and honest way. If you check out the company’s twitter page, you can see how often McDonald’s is responding.

You can see the campaign is working. People are beginning to say more positive things about McDonald’s, and they believe the content McDonald’s is delivering. It is a matter of time before the company can see if sales are increasing. The new marketing strategy is so convincing, I may have to go buy a Happy Meal.