McDonald’s  long-term qualitative research project

McDonald’s  long-term qualitative research project, its nationwide "listening tour," in part as a corporate response to the public outcry that its products contribute to childhood obesity. In this effort, McDonald’s leadership and key decision makers are gathering information firsthand on the company’s products, nutritional messaging, and sustainability initiatives. The listening tour is expected to continue at the regional and local level once the corporate program is completed.

The initiative grew from a question: "How do we get our leaders exposed to some of the conversations that are happen- ing out there, and how do we get those conversations and the people who are having them to have that unique contact with our leaders?" shared Ashlee Yingling, manager of U.S. media relations and listening tour programming at McDonald’s Corp. "The entire premise was based on a two-way dialog," ex- plained Yingling.

With each specific session, McDonald’s had a onald’s particular focus. Rather than a free-flowing conversation, each session sticks to a specific sustainability topic, like nutrition and well-being, sustainable supply chain, environmental responsibil ity, employee experience, and community. Unlike a focus group, each session of the listening tour had the participants and the ex- Mcdonald’s has learned they need to be more transparent, ecutives in the same room.

Participants speak one-on-one with and do a better job of communicating. "There’s a lot of things McDonald’s representatives in a casual, informal setting. "It gives we’re doing as a brand that are resonating with customers, but the ability for the audience to connect with them and vice versa, there is a lot of room for improvement, too," stated Yingling. "We spend some time before and after talking," described Yingling. need to do a better job telling our story."

Some of the stops on the tour included conversations with fe- The Center for Disease Control estimates that 17 percent of male bloggers, social-media savvy parents, PTA members and children and adolescents meet obesity standards. To be defined as educators, professional dieticians, as well as special interest groups obese, a child or adolescent must have a body mass index (BMI) at like the League of United Latin American Citizens, in locations from or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. coast to coast. For staff topics, McDonald’s used internal audiences. www.mcdonalds.com; www.cdc.gov