News

McDonald’s names multicultural marketing veep

December 27, 2010

McDonald’s USA has promoted Edgardo A. Navarro to its vice president, multicultural marketing position, effective Jan. 4. In his new role, Navarro will lead strategic and ethnic consumer marketing for 14,000 United States-based McDonald's units.

He will report to Neil Golden, McDonald’s U.S. chief marketing officer.

An 18-year veteran of the company, Navarro most recently as the vice president & general manager of McDonald's Indianapolis Region, which encompasses 598 restaurants in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri.

Among his most notable accomplishments was the development of a comprehensive business and marketing plan for the launch of McDonald's McCafe beverages. Navarro's strategy led the Indianapolis Region to consistently achieve one of the highest rates of growth in the McDonald's business.

Prior to his role in Indianapolis, Navarro served as vice president of the company's Houston Region's operations team. He is also the former president of McDonald's Central America, purchasing director for McDonald's Puerto Rico, international purchasing in home office and senior financial manager for the Asia-Pacific Division.

Navarro is also the former president and founder of Ronald McDonald House Charities Panama. He organized RMHC Chapters for El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica and served as the Houston Region's Hispanic Lead for Inclusion & Diversity Networks. He currently chairs the National Hispanic Employee Business Network (NHEBN).

Navarro received a bachelor of arts in economics and a masters degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. He will be moving to the Chicago area with his wife Kenya and sons Felipe and Nicolas.

"Multicultural marketing at McDonald's is more than segmented ethnic advertising campaigns; it's a business imperative and an integral element in our business strategy and marketing plans," said Golden. "With Edgardo's leadership, we will continue to align and allocate resources in support of the most significant growth areas of our business and ensure that an ethnic consumer perspective is understood and applied at all points throughout the marketing process."