As part of McDonald's cross-USA "listening tour" to discuss nutrition, health, sustainability and its menu and marketing (especially to kids), the fast-food brand recently sent Julia Braun, Director of Nutrition, and Jessica Droste-Yagan, Director of Sustainable Supply, to meet with Duke University students and professors to discuss nutrition and sustainable food practices. Listen in above, and check out earlier discussions on the tour that were held in March and August.

One of the beautiful things about social media is that suddenly there is a way for everyday consumers can reach out and actually communicate with a brand without having to sit on hold waiting for a customer-service agent who might have no idea what you’re talking about.

Some companies have a team of people who keep busy all day monitoring and responding to the posts that flood in from Twitter and Facebook. We’re all just looking for human contact, right? And if a brand can give that to a consumer, that can’t hurt the brand loyalty.

Of course, plenty of brands don’t have a team of people doing that, either, so it’s not shocking that a new study has found that the responsiveness of 20 top U.S. retailers on Facebook is, well, “uneven, at best,” according to CNN.

As brands rush to meet Friday's deadline to curate their Facebook Timeline, it's sobering food for thought — but there's good news for brands that have already made the Timeline switch.Continue reading...

Domino’s has gone public — not in the IPO sense, but by crowdsourcing ideas to improve the brand via a Facebook-based customer feedback intiatives it's calling Think Oven.

It's all part of the brand's two-year-old initiative to become more relevant and increase loyalty (and business) by engaging consumers (customers and non-customers) in its reinvention.Continue reading...

McDonald's USA President Jan Fields has kicked off the brand's first ever "listening tour," at the BlogHer conference in San Diego.

The Hillary Clinton-style move to engage parents (particularly moms — ideally, those who blog with vast Twitter and Facebook networks) was promised as part of its new nutrition commitment that was announced on July 25th. That's when the company announced its menu overhaul a "series of town hall style meetings (that) will connect us directly with parents and nutrition experts for important dialogue about how McDonald’s can continue to play a role in children’s well being."

McDonald's executives also talked up its new Family Arches online community, signing up members of the private community at a boot at the conference. Above, listen to Fields field questions — and, well, listen.