Food & Beverage
McDonald's chicken strategy: Not just a sandwich, an entire platform
When McDonald's officially starts selling its Crispy Chicken Sandwich in late February, it's not only responding to the pleas of franchisees over the last year and a half, but it will be emblematic of the QSR's strategy to dominate the chicken sandwich wars with a whole chicken platform rather than just a single sandwich.
January 5, 2021 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group
Born out of America's love for the burger, McDonald's is making it clear right at the start of the new year that it's at least as passionate about chicken these days, with news that the brand's much-muttered-about Crispy Chicken sandwich will hit U.S. stores on Feb. 24. In fact, in advance of the much-ballyhooed bird's landing next month, brand leadership is no longer referring to chicken at the chain as a mere sandwich or nugget offering, but an entire category of center-of-the-plate offerings.
That's the general direction of McDonald's discussions with investors around the popular poultry choice, as well as in its leaders' blogs and information from the brand's communications team, which puts the Crispy Chicken Sandwich in the same hallowed halls as menu mega-stars like the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Egg McMuffin and Filet-O-Fish sandwiches.
"Developing a reputation for great chicken represents one of our highest aspirations."
-McDonald's USA President Joe Erlinger
The lightly battered all-white chicken fillet is served simply, with crinkle-cut pickles on a newly introduced toasted, buttered potato roll. However, customers can also order it in a spicy version that includes pepper sauce, or as a deluxe sandwich that includes shredded lettuce, Roma tomatoes and mayo. All will be available nationally via carryout, drive-thru or delivery on Feb. 24 at the brand's nearly 14,000 U.S. outlets.
"We've heard our customers loud and clear, and we know they're craving more chicken options," Linda VanGosen, McDonald's vice president of menu innovation, said in a news release about the February sandwich debut. "We're confident all chicken fans — from traditionalists to spice enthusiasts — will discover a new menu favorite they'll come back for time and time again."
The Chicago-based mega-QSR is working hard to emphasize that the sandwich alone is far from being the company's only player in the so-called Chicken Sandwich Wars set off by the clash between sandwiches at Chick-fil-A and Popeyes. Rather, the brand's latest chicken offering is just one soldier in an entire chicken regiment that includes Chicken McNuggets, the McChicken Sandwich, as well as those spicy Chicken McNuggets introduced in August, and even the breakfast daypart chicken items launched last January of
Chicken McGriddles and the McChicken Biscuit sandwich.
And all of them are being blessed of late with exceptional attention, judging by all the mentions in McDonald's Investor Update from the company's USA President Joe Erlinger. As he sees it, all those Chicken McNuggets might as well be gold nuggets, given what they've done in the last year for the brand's sales.
"The foundation for our strategy leans into our strengths and one of our beloved global icons: Chicken McNuggets," he told investors in the update. "People at every age and all around the world crave our mouth-watering Chicken McNuggets, which saw double-digit sales growth last year. We continue to see growth opportunity in Chicken McNuggets in the U.S. and across the world."
Erlinger went on to say in that update that in testing, the new Crispy Chicken Sandwich was also showing a lot of customer love by exceeding expectations on key metrics. But he stressed again, that McDonald's leadership believes success in this poultry QSR category is not about a single chicken sandwich or McNugget menu item per se, but an entire chicken platform that the brand intends to dominate.
"Developing a reputation for great chicken represents one of our highest aspirations. ..." he said in the Investors update. "To get started, we listened to consumers, to understand our current barriers and potential. ...
"The idea of leaning into proven successes in one market and applying them in another, is a concept that's at the heart of how we continue to connect with our customers and offer what they want. We are learning from markets about what customers love most ... while tailoring to meet local trends."
Granted, those references to how McDonald's is "learning from markets" and "tailoring to meet local trends," are a bit cryptic and might be interpreted in a variety of ways. That's why QSRweb contacted McDonald's for some examples of exactly what Erlinger meant. Unfortunately, at the time of this publication, the brand had not responded.
Lastly, it bears repeating that the upcoming introduction of the Crispy Chicken sandwich is far from being the brand's first foray into such sandwiches, since just a little more than a year ago it tested a sandwich in several markets in December 2019. That attempt, of course, came after cries from franchisees for a player in the Chicken Sandwich Wars that came to a crescendo at least six months earlier. The difference this time is that the brand makes no mention of this being a test or temporary item on its menu. It's the kind of QSR commitment that signifies leadership confidence in a product. Only time will tell if the public is equally convinced that this chicken sandwich dinner is, in fact, a winner.
About S.A. Whitehead
Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.
