McDonald's > NEXT Strategy Launched to Boost Quality & Efficiency

Earlier this week, McDonald’s announced a new corporate strategy called McDonald’s > NEXT. After years of economic uncertainty that have driven many guests to cut back on fast-food spending, the brand is working to win back more frugal guests while simultaneously making operations easier for franchisees.

“McDonald's > NEXT is how we'll unlock our next phase of growth and productivity, by bringing in more customers more often and improving unit economics,” CEO Chris Kempczinski wrote in a message sent to the system. “NEXT is the what. Our shared destination. You’ll write the how, with your own path shaped by your market, your customers, and your crew.”

As automation increases at the restaurant level, franchisees reap operational benefits, but it becomes even more important for teams to make a real effort to provide value to the guest. The brand’s ambition is “to be [the] customer’s first choice, every time,” and this will require reimagining the menu, guest interactions, restaurant-level experiences and productivity, and the personal approach to hospitality.

“Customers also depend on us for compelling, predictable value, and even more so with unprecedented inflation. While perceptions of our value have rebounded in most markets, it’s a reminder that we need to earn, and re-earn, each and every visit,” Kempczinski wrote. “We can’t ask our customers to choose. Hospitality or speed. Great taste or convenience. Value or quality. They want what Ray [Kroc] called the total of everything. They won’t trade one for another because they don’t have to.”