Objective
McDonald’s relied on DMI Music & Media Networks foremost to create employee messaging that was fun, engaging, timely, consistent, and that would actually be listened to.  Within the fast-paced environment behind the counter, it’s not easy to get employees to remember to wash their hands, fix their uniforms, or sign up for training or team-building events.  McDonald’s also wanted us to create a lively second-zone for their customers.

Solution
We sat down with McDonald’s marketing and branding teams, as well as outside agencies, to write, voice, and produce custom employee messaging that would not just be heard, but enjoyed and paid attention to.  The result is a bilingual in-store radio station that creates a behind-the-counter experience that is upbeat, youth-focused, and filled with high-energy music custom selected just for employees.  The program also includes trivia games, personalized birthday announcements and other such messaging—along with those reminders to wash hands.

And McDonald’s Radio is not just an auditory bulletin board.  It reaches out to employees in a way that boosts their morale, addresses human resources issues, and motivates teams through a medium that can cut through their busy schedules and often hectic pace.

Of course, there’s a second zone to McDonald’s Radio that entertains the customers with great music as well, and seamlessly integrates upsell announcements and customized spots to promote specials.

Results
McDonald’s Radio has delivered across the board.  The employees really enjoy hearing their names called out during birthdays, the music has won rave reviews for keeping the right pace in the crew zone, the customers have had nothing but good things to say about the music out in front, and store managers have enjoyed the station’s flexibility to meet their needs as well as its ability to take several communications responsibilities off their plate.

“McDonald's Radio is great because not only do we upsell to our customers, but we also we have the ability to custom advertise to our crew.  Our staff loves it.  We advertised a staff picnic on the in-store radio and it worked really well.  We had a lot of turnout for this picnic, it was the biggest turn out in our company.

Plus, we can add reminders to it as well, which has been a big plus, too.  If a team member forgets to do something, they hear it on McDonald’s Radio, ‘wash your hands,’ and we have it set as specific times for ‘check your uniform,’ and it works great.”

-Robert Bowie
Operations Manager and Owner/Operator
McDonald's
Houston, Texas