McDonald’s Philippines has long been a formidable leader in the quick service restaurant sector, but even then, it was not spared from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But true to its character of resilience, McDonald’s Philippines was able to regain its bearings with its fundamentals intact and mission to recover from the pandemic sharpened. Indeed, McDonald’s Philippines survived and thrived in 2020 as safety has always been integral in McDonald’s operating culture. McDonald’s stayed committed in ensuring the safety of their employees and customers, strengthening its fundamentals, continuously building relationships in communities where they are present, all while providing new ways to enjoy McDonald’s in the new normal.
Customer experience
One of the first major steps it took in 2020 was to launch the M Safe campaign, which served as the company’s guiding principle. The company believes that if their people stay safe, their customers will be safe, too. Ultimately, the M Safe campaign yielded its highest third-party food safety audit results in recent history and has helped improve customer perception on safety and trust.
In turn, this helped encourage more people to visit McDonald’s knowing that no effort was spared to ensure their safety while in the premises. Knowing that it cannot be blind to the difficulties Filipinos are going through, McDonald’s launched in March 2020 the McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen, with the initial goal to serve 50,000 meals to support front-liners and marginalized communities amid the pandemic. To date, the Kindness Kitchen has already served close to 500,000 meals across different communities in the country. The success of the project highlighted the importance of public-private collaboration in supporting the needs of marginalized communities. Another notable initiative done during the pandemic is McClassroom—an initiative launched during the celebration of Teacher’s Month, which was put in place in recognition of the challenges faced by educators who had to suddenly shift to online teaching. Over 220 McClassrooms were opened all over the country which didn’t just allot safe spaces to teachers to conduct their classes, but also provided free access to Wi-Fi and McCafé coffee.To further its commitment in serving the community, McDonald’s Philippines has also supported the government’s effort in battling the pandemic along with other companies in the private sector with Task Force T3. McDonald’s played a very active role in helping the economy bounce back through its participation in Ingat Angat, a campaign which aimed to rebuild consumer confidence by empowering Filipinos with vigilance.To elevate the customer experience despite the modifications brought about by health and safety concerns, McDonald’s brought to the market exciting innovations, which gives customers other safe ways to enjoy their McDo favorites.
These include the introduction of the chatbot for McDelivery Service, championing rider/vehicle inclusivity with Ride Thru and Park-Order-Pay, Bike n Dine, and enabling safe celebrations at home with Party-To-Go and McDelivery Send to Many.Growth opportunities
Green shoots of recovery have emerged, and McDonald’s Philippines is well positioned to take advantage of the growth opportunities that will inevitably arise for it has already started on the path to recovery.
Propelled by its digital transformation, agile organization and clear vision, McDonald’s was successful in scaling and innovating several business segments, like drive thru and McDelivery, allowing consumers a frictionless customer experience with the brand amid the challenges posed by the pandemic. McDonald’s Philippines, was able to open 16 new stores in 2020, including its largest store in the Philippines, in Capital Town, Pampanga, and will continue to open more new stores this 2021.
McDonald’s Philippines is indeed making all the right moves, bolstering chances that as the Philippines recovers from the pandemic, it will be more than ready to ride the next growth wave.
