McDonald's USA marketing chief steps down as US sales slip.
Alyssa Buetikofer, chief marketing and customer experience officer of McDonald's USA, is leaving the company, according to an internal note seen by Marketing Dive. Two long-serving executives will share her duties while McDonald's looks for a new US CMO.
Marketing Dive reported the move on 5 November. Buetikofer, a 15-year McDonald's veteran who took the US role less than two years ago, will stay until 18 December to help with the handover. The note says she is leaving to spend more time with her family and credits her with the return of Snack Wraps and Monopoly, a new beverage platform and a Grinch collaboration.
In the interim, Morgan Flatley, global CMO and head of new business ventures, adds the job of interim chief creative officer. Flatley ran US marketing from 2017 to 2021 and is described in the note as the force behind the "Famous Orders" platform and the "Fan Truths" strategy. Charlie Newberger, at McDonald's for more than 17 years and most recently corporate vice president and global category head for beverages and desserts, becomes interim senior vice president and US chief marketing and commercial officer, running marketing operations.
The change came a day after McDonald's reported that US comparable sales fell 0.2% in the third quarter, while global comparable sales rose 1.5%. Last month the company also ended its FIFA World Cup sponsorship. McDonald's has not publicly commented on the move in the sources we found, and no timeline for the search has been given.
McDonald's restaurants in the Gulf are run by local licensees with their own marketing teams and agencies, so the US change has no direct effect on them. Our read: Flatley's interim creative role is the one to watch, since global platforms such as Famous Orders can be picked up by licensee markets.
Why it matters
One of the world's biggest advertisers is reshuffling its US marketing leadership after a weak quarter, with its global CMO also taking on creative in an interim role.
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