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CASE STUDY: McDonald's Incorporates Content Strategy into Its Portal

Written by Lisa Kirschner | Aug 25, 2014 3:11:56 PM

Here at Flair, one of the most frequent questions we receive is, "Have you done similar work in the past?" This is the first in a series of case studies that we'll be launching to provide you with more information about the types of projects we've done and the industries on which we focus.

Client:
McDonald's Corp.
Oak Brook, IL

Vertical:
Restaurants, Food

Challenge
McDonald's, a global leader in franchise restaurants, operates in more than 60 countries around the world. Restaurants are owned by owner-operators and franchisees with access to many of McDonald's global resources and departments, including Marketing, Restaurant Operations, Real Estate Development, Quality, Legal and Training, Learning and Development.

McDonald's struggled with developing an intranet that would serve all of its groups and needs, because the network of owner-operators is so vast and the information is so dense and globally distributed. An intranet redesign was needed, including the implementation of a content management system (CMS) to aid in maintenance efficiency and to ensure consistency across sites. Considerations such as multiple language options, connection speed within other countries, personalization and customized information made the redesign of their intranet a complex challenge.

Solution
Two of Flair's team members, including managing director Lisa Kirschner, worked closely with stakeholders across every department within the corporate headquarters to identify requirements and understand existing content and systems. We also developed a taxonomy, created a content migration plan, defined the new site's structure and functionality using UX best practices, and completed training and instruction for a huge group of global content managers who would be using the new CMS to maintain content on a daily basis.

The AccessMCD portal launched in multiple phases over time and is still live. McDonald's now enjoys a truly global intranet and has saved thousands of dollars in site maintenance and training costs.

Results:
IT, Marketing and content management stakeholders are able to plan and manage their content more easily and efficiently due to an improved CMS, well-defined processes and improved training materials. In addition, members of the IT department have a better understanding of content strategy and UX best practices and can incorporate those into other projects on an ongoing basis, resulting in more user-friendly content, better user experiences and more efficient workflows. 

Services provided:
Content strategy, content management, information architecture, user experience, content development, training

Do you need help with content strategy, user experience, strategy or web site development? Or do you want to see a case study for a different industry? Contact us today to learn more about what we do or to request a proposal.