With new products and marketing practices always on the horizon, quick service restaurants are one of the most competitive and fast-paced markets there is, but that’s what Kristie Forbes likes about it.
As regional marketing specialist for McDonald’s restaurants in Ontario, Forbes and her team create competitive action plans to help offset the impact of competing restaurants. If a competitor opens a new location or markets a new sandwich, Forbes draws up the battle plan–developing and executing tailored promotions and engaging local media to maintain a competitive advantage.
Given McDonald’s footprint (over 500 restaurants in Ontario alone) this keeps Forbes quite busy. As of press time, she had completed 19 plans this year and had another 14 on the go. Similar attention is paid to a restaurant’s grand opening, nine of which Forbes has successfully managed in 2014. Though metrics are not publicly available, her work has increased sales and guest counts.
“Ontario is a very competitive market when it comes to quick service restaurants, so we do have a lot on the go. And, while we’re a global brand, we try and look at each individual neighbourhood when we’re looking at Ontario and how our restaurants operate,” says Forbes.
Forbes’ regional efforts have benefited the national organization. She played a significant role in an out-of-home campaign called “Friends Fries” – a digital display in a west Toronto mall that enabled diners to engage with the screens using their smartphones for a chance to win a medium order of fries. The limited-run effort was more of a test than a campaign, allowing McDonald’s to try digital technology to engage with its consumers in-store.
“It was really great for me, even though it was a smaller scale promotion, it was a chance for us to put it through the McDonald’s system, see what challenges we experience, see what works and what doesn’t and it really sets the stage for us to do unique programs like this at a larger scale,” she says of the effort that ran last June.
Forbes’ work was again the focus of national attention when her Ontario-based multimedia campaign for the Cadbury Crème Egg McFlurry in April 2014 went country wide once the national marketing team saw its potential, says Chuck Coolen, senior marketing manager at McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada. Forbes played a strong role in bringing that campaign to life, he gushes, which saw phenomenal results.
And making a difference is exactly what Forbes is doing as a valued member of the McDonald’s team. “She has very strong fundamentals in terms of project management, time management, being able to handle multiple projects at once and she also combines that with very strong interpersonal skills,” says Coolen. With those kinds of accolades, it’s easy to see that Forbes’ star is quickly on the rise.
But Forbes says the highlight of her career is knowing her efforts have helped franchisees. “Being able to participate in local restaurant marketing has been rewarding because we get to see the needle move right after plans have been executed,” says Forbes. “It’s always powerful to know what you’re doing has made a difference.”
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