Meet the creative minds behind viral social media campaigns at Social Media Week, May 12-14 in New York City. Register now to save 35% on your pass.
Yesterday (Jan. 27), McDonald’s announced that its chief marketing officer (CMO), Tariq Hassan, resigned.
The fast food giant’s USA president, Joe Erlinger, posted a message on the company’s site announcing the leadership change. The note states that Hassan, who led marketing at McDonald’s since 2021, resigned shortly after the holidays.
Alyssa Buetikofer, McDonald’s CMO of Canada, will succeed Hassan as U.S. CMO, effective Feb. 15.
“There is great comfort knowing my team is not only in capable hands, but Alyssa is a leader who will continue to challenge and inspire them to elevate McDonald’s marketing to new heights,” Hassan wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
Here’s what you should know about the new CMO:
She’s got a heavy lift
Stepping into the U.S. CMO role, Buetikofer will have her work cut out for her.
In November, McDonald’s announced that it was investing $35 million in U.S. marketing—and more than $100 million overall—to help boost sales following an E. coli outbreak linked to its Quarter Pounder onions that began at the end of September.
In its latest earnings call from October, the company reported that U.S. comparable year-on-year sales increased 0.3% due to what the brand described as “effective value and marketing campaigns.” However, the E. coli outbreak wiped out its stock gains for 2024.
Additionally, Buetikofer will have several other initiatives on her plate.
For instance, to continue marketing its mascots after the success of Grimace, McDonald’s opened its first beverage and snack-focused CosMc store in 2023.
The concept store was named after its alien character, who appeared in its ads in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. After testing the concept with several locations across Texas, the brand plans to close three of its larger locations in favor of opening two smaller-format stores.