Irony, anyone?
McDonald’s announced with great fanfare the hiring of Rick Wion, its new Director of Social Media.
I read about it while sipping on a latte and skimming through my reader. When I saw AdAge’s coverage of Wion’s new position, it caught my attention. I might not have had another thought about it, but then I saw the line about Wion’s responsibilities including “using social media to build the business, manage customer problems and beef up outreach to target groups such as mommy bloggers.”
Mommy bloggers? Really? (Aside: Jessica, I hope like hell you sink your teeth into this one. And if you don’t know who I’m talking to folks, you will. Trust me on that one).
I may be out of touch on a few things, but this I know. I raised one crop of children in the 80s. I was a kid, having kids. I didn’t know any better. I took my kids to McDonald’s on a regular basis and their food was an integral part of our lifestyle. Today, I am raising another crop of kids. And I’m no longer a kid myself. I actually care about healthy eating and pay attention to the crap I let my kids eat. And McDonald’s is so not on our radar screen. Make no mistake, my kids eat plenty of junk. Fruit snacks, Cheetos and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish are a regular part of life around these parts. But those habits are counterbalanced, at least in part, by lots of fruit and veggies and yogurt snacks and other things that are darn good for them. But McDonald’s – maybe a random trip once or twice a year, in an emergency, and that’s about it for this mom.
I know there are lots of McDonald’s lovers out there and I, too, think of their fries from time to time with a wistful sigh. But put that in my kids’ bodies on a regular basis – just so not going to happen.
And so, @McDonald’s, count me as officially paying attention. I can’t wait to hear more about your outreach to mommy bloggers. In fact, I’m pretty much sitting on the edge of my chair on this one. And let me give you a tip, Rick, if you really care about outreach, you ought to consider making a healthy donation to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution campaign – and put your money where your mouth is when it comes to healthy eating.
And by the way, I won’t even mention Wion’s poor choice of wording when mentioning his responsiblity for “handling customer problems” …. what about not assuming that all customer interactions are negative ones and just calling it “managing customer relationships” … well, that’s a whole ‘nother blog post, folks.
What do you think? Am I crazy or is this more than just a little ironic?
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”
