McDonald’s to launch online music, loyalty and mobile ordering services

The multi-disciplined team is based in the US where it works closely with the company’s IT division. It was set up following the arrival of digital chief Atif Rafiq last October and is currently recruiting for global digital, product and music and entertainment directors to execute what it boasts are “bold plans” for the customer experience.

A series of job ads posted recently by the fast food business reveal it is prioritising the development of an online music service.

Customer and product roadmaps for digital music and entertainment experiences will be developed once the marketers are appointed as the business seeks out alternative ways to drive footfall. This could lead to a similar partnership to the restaurant’s Justin Timberlake “I’m Lovin it” collaboration several years ago with the business on the hunt for a marketer who can liaise with music and entertainment executives.

McDonald’s first hinted at plans to make music a bigger part of its offering at the start of the year through its work with music agency Music Dealers around the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The team will also usher in global ecommerce service and mobile ordering services. Both initiatives will likely use insights from the tests the business has conducted worldwide over the last year. It piloted a mobile coupon app in Amsterdam in 2013 and has also been trialing a click-and-collect service in the US in recent months.

A job ad for a product director for loyalty confirms long-running rumours the restaurant is planning to develop a reward scheme. It tied with mobile marketing company Front Flip last October to launch an electronic loyalty scheme in around 570 locations across the US. McDonald’s has cited winning over younger consumers among its biggest hurdles to reversing declines in key markets such as the US.

The team is to be led by the company’s first US vice president of digital Julia Vander Ploeg, who joined from Ticketmaster yesterday (20 August).

Digital has been pushed to the top of the company’s marketing agenda in 2014 after it admitted its focus on maintaining short-term margins during the economic downturn. The restaurant told analysts earlier this year that future digital plans would better bridge customer insights into actions and create stronger awareness for the brand worldwide.