McDonald’s in the US has announced that Alistair Macrow (main photo) has been promoted to the global CMO role after a 12 months search.
Macrow has been with the fast food chain for 15 years and now becomes its senior vice president and chief marketing officer.
The business has been without a global CMO for over a year following the departure of Silvia Lagnado. Since then, Colin Mitchell, senior vice president of global marketing, has been heading the burger giant’s marketing team. Mitchell has announced his departure from the business.
Macrow, who previously was CMO of McDonald’s Internationally Operated Markets, will report directly to the company CEO Chris Kempczinski.
His remit will include overseeing global menu strategy, global brand, global insights, family and global marketing enablement.
Macrow also will work on strengthening the company’s marketing training programs and career planning to “develop the next generation of chief marketing officers for McDonald’s,” Kempczinski said in a letter to staff.
“He has a reputation for setting bold visions and driving meaningful results,” Kempczinski said in the note. “In his nearly 15 years with McDonald’s, Alistair has repeatedly tapped into his intimate knowledge of the customer to make holistic brand visions tangible.”
Kempczinski added that Macrow and McDonald’s’ chief marketing and digital customer experience officer, Morgan Flatley, would be working very close together.
“As we emerge from this global pandemic, consumers’ trust in the McDonald’s brand and compelling marketing programs in every country where we operate will be critical to re-establish the strong business momentum we enjoyed leading into this crisis,” Kempczinski wrote.
I’m confident Alistair and Morgan can lead McDonald’s to even greater heights following this crisis. More importantly, both personify the values of inclusivity and innovation that define McDonald’s, and that I expect from our senior leaders,” he said.
