The logic of fast-food marketing has always contained a small paradox: the brands that need no introduction spend the most money on introductions anyway. McDonald's, which operates roughly 14,000 restaurants in the United States and serves a meaningful percentage of the American population in any given week, nonetheless maintains one of the largest advertising budgets in the country, as if worried you might forget about the place on your way to work.
Alyssa Buetikofer, who has served as chief marketing officer for McDonald's U.S. operations since 2022, offered a glimpse into the company's current thinking during a recent interview, and her emphasis was notable for what it prioritized: frequency over reach.
"Frequency matters more than penetration," Ms. Buetikofer said, which is another way of saying that McDonald's is less concerned with finding new customers than with persuading existing ones to return more often. This is not a revolutionary insight — the company has understood for decades that its real competition is not other hamburger chains but rather the refrigerator in your kitchen — but it does suggest where the marketing dollars are flowing.
Ms. Buetikofer also spoke of the need to balance what she called "broad appeal" with "cultural relevance," a formulation that sounds reasonable until you try to define either term with any precision. (Broad appeal is presumably what you have when 70 million people recognize your jingle; cultural relevance is what you claim when a rapper mentions your chicken nuggets on a podcast.)
The growing role of creators — the preferred industry term for people who make content on social platforms — also figured in her remarks, suggesting that the golden arches will continue appearing in places that do not resemble television commercials.
None of this represents a dramatic departure from recent practice. But then, when you are already everywhere, the strategy is mostly about staying there.
Original story published in adage.com: "McDonald's US CMO Alyssa Buetikofer on next marketing moves - Ad Age"