McDonald’s said on Monday that it will roll out a new corporate blueprint, billed as McDonald’s>NEXT, at a worldwide meeting of franchisees and suppliers in Las Vegas. The company described the initiative as a multi-pronged effort to make restaurants simpler to operate and more attractive for customers.
The program highlights four broad priorities: an increased emphasis on automation in restaurants, higher hospitality standards, a greater reliance on social media channels for marketing, and adjustments intended to make core menu items - specifically sandwiches and fries - taste better. McDonald’s said it will publish financial specifics tied to the strategy at an investor event scheduled for September.
The announcement arrives as the chain confronts a pullback by lower-income customers who have trimmed restaurant visits after several years of elevated prices. To support traffic, the company has relied on value meals, promotions through its loyalty program and rotating limited-time menu items.
Surveys cited by McDonald’s show a decline in perceived value among U.S. patrons: the share of customers saying the chain represents good value fell from 55% in 2020 to roughly 40% in 2024, and has largely remained near that level, according to data shared from UBS Evidence Labs. In a company-wide memo, CEO Chris Kempczinski noted that while value perceptions have recovered in many markets, "it’s a reminder that we need to earn, and re-earn, each and every visit."
Jill McDonald, McDonald’s chief restaurant experience executive, summarized the objective succinctly, saying the new approach is meant to make restaurants "easier to run and more enjoyable to visit."
The new plan follows the company’s prior corporate strategy launched in 2020, called "Accelerating the Arches," which placed greater focus on digital sales and ramped-up marketing efforts. McDonald’s indicated that McDonald’s>NEXT will be accompanied by further operational and financial disclosures this fall.
Context and implications
The program is presented as an attempt to address multiple operational and demand-side challenges simultaneously: improving in-restaurant efficiency, sharpening service quality, harnessing social media for customer engagement and refining product taste. Management has tied the timing of the announcement to its ongoing efforts to stabilize and grow traffic amid tougher value perceptions in the U.S.
The company will provide more granular financial figures and implementation details at an investor event in September, leaving some execution and fiscal questions open until that disclosure.