McDonald’s names Morgan Flatley as global CMO

McDonald’s has promoted Morgan Flatley to global chief marketing officer, effective November 1. 

She will assume the role after having served as chief marketing and digital customer experience officer for McDonald’s USA and is replacing Alistair Macrow, who is advancing to CEO of the UK and Ireland and will report to Ian Borden, McDonald’s international president. 

As global CMO, Flatley will oversee the global brand, menu strategy, family marketing, media partnerships and customer and business insights and will report to Manu Steijaert, global chief customer officer at McDonald’s. 

The announcement comes after McDonald’s created a customer experience team in July led by Steijaert, which integrates the company’s data analytics, digital customer engagement, global marketing, global restaurant development and restaurant solutions teams. 

“Known for her strategic vision and acumen for building iconic brands, [Flatley] has played an integral role in advancing McDonald’s customer growth strategies since she joined the company in 2017,” wrote Borden and Steijaert in an internal memo obtained by PRWeek. “Her relationship-oriented approach has been critical in building high-performing teams and strengthening partnerships internally and externally with franchisees, suppliers and agencies.” 

In addition to Flatley’s promotion, McDonald’s has hired Tariq Hassan to succeed Flatley as chief marketing and digital customer experience officer at McDonald’s USA, effective September 27.

He joins McDonald’s from Petco, where he currently serves as chief marketing officer, and will report to Joe Erlinger, president at McDonald’s USA. He will oversee marketing and customer experience efforts in the US. Petco has announced David Hallisey as ita new CMO.

“Throughout the interview process, I found [Hassan’s] energy and enthusiasm for the McDonald’s brand infectious,” said Erlinger in an internal memo obtained by PRWeek. “His perspective and insights around how marketing will evolve left me always looking forward to our next conversation.”

In addition to the latest marketing appointments, Paul Pomroy, who currently serves as CEO of the U.K. and Ireland, will advance to corporate SVP of international operated markets, filling the role vacated by Manu after his promotion to chief customer officer. He will oversee the 12 markets in McDonald’s international operated markets business unit and will report to Borden, effective November 1. 

The executive leadership appointments mark a year of growth for McDonald’s, which saw global comparable sales increase 40.5% in Q2 and 6.9% on a two-year basis. Year-over-year sales from digital channels across its top 6 markets reached nearly $8 billion, a 70% increase.

McDonald’s has had several people moves over the last year. Earlier this month, McDonald’s alum Dave Tovar left the restaurant chain to assume the role of SVP of communications and government relations at Grubhub. He had previously served as U.S. corporate relations at McDonald’s. Prior to that, the company restructured its global impact team, making several promotions within comms roles.

Petco did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.