AlturaSolutions | B2B PR/Communications Agency

  • Home
  • About
    • Robert Kravitz
    • Contact
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Results
    • Results: Introducing the Kaivac No-Touch Cleaning System
    • Results: Introducing Waterless Urinals
    • Results: Promoting U.S. Products and Portable Carpet Extractors
    • Results: Introducing Enviro Solutions Cleaning Solutions
    • Results: Promoting Green Cleaning and a Green Cleaning Advocate
  • Praise
  • Interviews
    • Understanding Organized Crime in the Retail Sector
    • Waterless FORESIGHTS: The Status of Water in the U.S. Today
    • Retail Theft: Interview with Mike Keenan
    • Political Extremism: Conversations with TAL Global
    • Steve Ashkin INSIGHTS | The Difference Between Green Cleaning and Sustainability
    • VIDEO: Water Efficiency vs. Water Conservation | What’s the Diff?
  • Videos
    • Making It in the Cleaning Business
    • We Help B2B Experts Become Thought Leaders
    • Why Hire AlturaSolutions?
    • Video: What is PR
    • Say, What Do You Know About B2B Marketing Videos
    • What We Do
    • How to Hire a B2B Inbound Marketing Company
    • Do You Know the Power of Content When it Comes to Generating Sales?
    • COVID and Marketing. What to do Now?
    • Steve Jobs
    • Windows 95
    • PRINT IS DEAD, RIGHT?
    • Marketing Content Creation
    • Blogging Power
    • Thinking About Cutting Your Marketing Budget? Maybe Think Again
    • Inbound Marketing/Outbound Marketing What’s the Diff?
    • The Power of PR
  • Thought Leadership Marketing
  • Digital Marketing
  • Content Marketing
  • Newsletter Marketing
  • Article Publishing
  • Interview Marketing
You are here: Home / Blog! / How Public Relations (PR) Made McDonald’s

March 16, 2023 By Robert Kravitz

How Public Relations (PR) Made McDonald’s

Although it has had its share of rocky times, no one can deny McDonald’s has been an unbelievable success. When it was started in 1955 by Chicago milkshake salesman, Ray Kroc, the company was struggling. Kroc had a small office in a less-than-appealing Chicago office building and decided not to pay himself a salary. A clever idea, since there was not enough money coming in to do so.

At that time. Kroc had a vision of franchising McDonald’s throughout the Chicago area. Al Golin, a young public relations professional, contacted Kroc, and together they set out to make it happen. Kroc was so impressed with Golin and his small firm that he hired him for $500 a month, the equivalent of about $4500 today.  Golin told Kroc he had to create a “trust bank” for McDonald’s, what we would call today, a “brand.”McDonalds

You create brands by telling a “story.” That’s what McDonald’s did and with more than 35,000 franchises and after billions of hamburgers sold, it’s clear this story has certainly paid off.

Long before “cause marketing” and social responsibility were considerations, especially when it came to branding a company Golin encouraged the McDonald’s Corporation to do things that would make it stand out as a firm that gives back to the community.

Among his public relations initiatives for McDonald’s were the following:

1.The creation of Ronald McDonald Houses. An entirely new concept was established so that the parents of seriously ill children that required treatment in distant hospitals would have a place to stay at minimal or no cost while the child was under treatment.

2. Start the McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Games, which bring all-star boys and girls basketball teams from the U.S., and now Canada, to compete. Some say these games are what got women’s basketball off the ground.

3. Encourage McDonald’s to play an active role in the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day Telethon.

4. The creation of Hamburger University. Golin wanted McDonald’s customers to know that the young people working at their restaurants had been professionally taught to make hamburgers that were safe, healthy, inexpensive, and good to eat. Among the key principles taught at Hamburger University was to anticipate crises. “Fix it before it breaks,” was their favorite aphorism.

Creating a Brand with PR

The steps Golin took went far beyond the usual press release used to promote a company or get editors to write about McDonald’s. What he did was to turn McDonald’s into a brand that told Americans:

  • This is a worthy company
  • It gives back to the community
  • McDonald’s helps young people become professionals

These steps were effective and, by the 1970s, just about everyone in the U.S. had heard of McDonald’s and people throughout the country wanted to be a part of this success story and were buying franchises.

In his memoirs, Kroc wrote, “we would never have made it without [Golin’s] help. We were immature amateurs with virtually no friends.” He went on to say that Golin and his colleagues “deserve a lot of the credit for making McDonald’s a household word.”

There are several takeaways from this story. For instance, if Kroc couldn’t even pay himself a salary, how was he going to pay for advertising, which was even more expensive at that time than it is today. Remember, the 1950s was the “golden age of advertising.” Everyone wanted to advertise at about any cost. So, with no money, the only option Kroc had was to turn to much more economical PR to get the word out about his firm.

Another thing to remember is, it’s usually less expensive, more powerful, and longer lasting to create a vision about a company using PR than advertising. A company vision is typically something that is inspiring. It helps make customers, as well as their employees, feel good about a company.

You create visions by telling a “story” about a company. That’s what Golin did for McDonald’s. And today with more than 35,000 franchises and after billions of hamburgers sold, it’s clear this vision certainly paid off.

AlturaSolutions Turns Words into Sales | 312 880 8176.

McDonald's

Filed Under: Blog!

Our Services

  • Thought Leadership Marketing
  • Digital Marketing
  • Content Marketing
  • Newsletter Marketing
  • Article Publishing
  • Interview Marketing

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by @alturasolutions

Services

  • Thought Leadership Marketing
  • Digital Marketing
  • Content Marketing
  • Newsletter Marketing
  • Article Publishing
  • Interview Marketing

Recent Posts

  • 10 Tips for Effective Interview Marketing
  • The Power of Content Marketing
  • Confirmed: Video Marketing is an Effective Marketing Tool
  • A Q&A About Interview Marketing
  • How Public Relations (PR) Made McDonald’s

Contact Us

Email: robert@alturasolutions.com
Phone: 312-880-8176

Office Location: 605 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

facebook AlturaSolutions linkedin AlturaSolutions

Copyright © 2023 · Log in