McDonald's New Focus: An App is Personal Space

McDonald’s effort to increase its drive-through throughput is an ambitious effort. While their plan for delivery may be buzzworthy and their adoption of kiosks may be a natural evolution, its this focus on an app for pre-orders and curbside delivery to alleviate in-line congestion that's big news.

Perhaps not coincidentally, there's a connection here with my casual-dining post from yesterday: brands must deliver on their category tablestakes (in this case convenience & speed with consistent quality) or else they will fall into reliance on interchangeable value propositions to drive traffic (overemphasizing value is “just a race to the bottom”).

With McDonald’s app, we know its benefits for the brand: more cars during peak hours will equate to more revenue. The question is how will McDonald’s convince consumers that they need to download the app to their most personal of spaces: their phone. More than just a commitment of memory, the downloading of an app is an invitation into the flow of a consumer's life. The relationship must go beyond saving 20 seconds to more broadly address their social needs.

How will McDonald’s earn its place into the consumer's most personal of spaces?