How McDonald’s Turned Bad PR Into Good Strategy

You all may have read in the New York Times this week about how McDonald’s has been experiencing a strong resurgence. I won’t recap it all here, I’ll just provide the link so you can read it yourself.

The gist was that they listened. They absorbed all the negative criticism, most notably re-energized in their ill-fated #McDStories Twitter campaign, and they took stock. They then methodically went about answering these criticisms one by one. They updated their stores. They changed the menu to add more healthy choices. They reached out to mom bloggers and engaged them. They provided amenities like WiFi, couches, TV and high-end coffee. Then they told the world about it through social channels and massive advertising campaigns. As a result, McDonald’s revenue is up almost 13% year over year while their competitors–Burger King, Starbuck’s, Wendy’s–are losing market share.

It’s a simple lesson in how social media and marketing is supposed to work. When the public, your customer, speaks, LISTEN and ACT on what it tells you. It pays!