Transforming Insight Podcast

Episode 59: Transforming Insight at McDonald's

Episode Summary

Episode 59 of the IMA's Transforming Insight podcast is now available. In this extended episode, James chats with Fainareti Schortsaniti, Head of Consumer Insights at McDonald’s. Fainareti’s story begins with an unplanned entry into research, but it quickly grows into a passion for shaping business decisions at one of the world's most iconic brands. Fainareti offers a glimpse into her responsibilities, from consumer research to product development testing, all aimed at keeping the customer at the heart of McDonald's strategy. She candidly discusses the challenges of navigating a company where everyone seems to have an opinion, and champions the power of evidence-based insights.

Episode Notes

In this episode, we discuss the ambitious strategies driving McDonald's UK and Ireland's customer engagement, Fainareti underscores the critical blend of consumer and business insights. Her team’s ability to speak both the language of the consumer and the business is key to breaking down barriers and fostering impactful decision-making. The conversation highlights how McDonald's lean head office structure enhances communication and collaboration, making it possible to translate insights into actionable commercial strategies. She shares her insights on the importance of training and hands-on experience in building a solid commercial foundation for insight teams.

In the final segments, Fainareti emphasizes the shift towards storytelling-driven approaches within insights teams, urging leaders to cultivate commercial acumen and engaging communication. Her advice for aspiring Insight leaders focuses on understanding business priorities and presenting insights in compelling narratives, ensuring that insights aren't just heard, but also acted upon. Join us for this enlightening conversation that intertwines curiosity, influence, and the art of storytelling in the ever-evolving world of consumer insights.

Topics Discussed

Evolving Consumer Insight Team at McDonald’s - (06:36)
Breaking Down boundaries - (11:03)
Lean Processes in Head Office Operations - (15:09)
Global Standardization and Local Flexibility - (17:59)
Advice for Insight Leaders to Succeed - (24:57)

Highlights

“I'm very fortunate to have this job and to work for a company like McDonald's. What our job entails is really to be the voice of the customer in the business, making sure that the decisions we're making, the course of actions we take in the business, is really done with the customer at the heart of these decision”(03:46)
“I guess my ambition for my team so we are consumer insight experts, so we spend a lot of our time speaking to customers. My ambition is that my team are as fluent in terms of standing up and presenting the sales and commercial data as our business insights colleagues are.” (10:49)
“There's certainly a push and desire from both the center, the global team and the local teams to standardize the way we look at things, so the way we work, to insight. So there are certain products, or insight products, if you like, that will be globally consistent and quite often the global team will own the methodology of those, but they will.” (17:49)
“I don't think AI will ever replace necessarily the human and the added value that you bring, but I think it will require us to keep proving the added value that we bring and in a way I find it's quite exciting because if it can liberate from the mundane tasks that we don't want to do and really focus our efforts on the things that we do want to do, which is like joining the dots,” (21:30)
“You know we're always looking. We're a big business and you know we're always looking at best practice and new methodologies and you know what it is that we can that perhaps is more traditional, that you know things have moved on, that we can switch off and how we can modernize both, I guess, some of the methodology but also some of the ways that we provide the insight, serve the insight back to the business as well.” (23:59)
“Be curious, so don't stop at the facts. Go deeper to really understand what is going on and you know what other insight we might have that may help us develop hypothesis or corroborate that kind of insight that we've uncovered.” (25:41)

This is episode 59 of the Transforming Insight podcast.

If you have the ambition to transform your Insight team and the role it plays in your organisation, please tune in to future episodes. Not only will we explore the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams as outlined in the Transforming Insight book, we will also talk to senior corporate Insight leaders, delve into books that have inspired us, and discuss new best practice research carried out with the IMA’s corporate members.

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About James Wycherley, the author of Transforming Insight

James Wycherley was Director of Customer Insight and Analytics at Barclays from 2005 to 2015 when he became Chief Executive of the Insight Management Academy (IMA). A popular keynote speaker and acknowledged expert on Insight leadership, strategy, and communication, he is the author of the book Transforming Insight: the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams, and over 35 IMA publications. He has provided thought leadership in the UK, Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, India, and the Middle East, and regularly hosts the IMA’s Insight forums - London, Manchester, UK Online and US Online.

The Insight Management Academy is the world’s leading authority on transforming Insight teams.

Resources:

If you would like more information on any of the ideas discussed in this episode of the Transforming Insight podcast, please visit www.insight-management.org

Copies of James Wycherley’s book Transforming Insight: the 42 secrets of successful corporate Insight teams can be purchased direct from www.transforming-insight.com

Disclaimer

The Transforming Insight podcast is published by the Insight Management Academy and produced by Zorbiant.