Embracing a Customer-Centric Approach to Growth

According to Neil Golden, former Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s, the successful evolution of a behemoth business, like McDonald’s, requires laser focus on customer behavior. It also requires a commitment to discovering “system ideas”- an approach to tapping the collective knowledge of disparate business channels. Golden also notes that continual growth and innovation are crucial to achieving brand strength and maintaining trust. Golden sits down with GLG to discuss the importance of understanding customer behavior, the stages of idea testing, and how to measure the success of marketing initiatives.

Neil Golden has more than ten years of C-level and national leadership experience, having served as the Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s from 2007 to 2014. In this role, he helped contribute to record visitation, sales, profits, market share, and stock valuation. Over the course of his career, Golden was also the interim Chief Marketing Officer for Toys-R-Us.

Golden currently serves as an independent board director for Restaurant Brands International, a multi-national quick service restaurant company comprised of Burger King and Tim Hortons, and is an executive consultant with Revenue Management Solutions. In addition, he sits on the boards of Home Partners, Mark Anthony Group, and Data Source, and is a Faculty Adviser at Northwestern University.