McDonald’s Moms’ Quality Program – Selecting the Moms

As most of you know, urbanmoms.ca is McDonald’s official Mom Media for their innovative Moms’ Quality Correspondents program in Canada. As a mom and a marketer I LOVE this idea and it is my job to report on the latest news throughout the whole process – from selecting the moms, to the behind the scenes tours, to reporting on the tough questions posed to the McDonald’s team.

I recently attended the first meeting at McDonald’s head office in Toronto to sit in on a meeting with the McDonald’s team where they were sifting through the hundreds of mom applicants from across the country. The purpose of this meeting was to consider the needs of all Canadian moms and make sure the final group represented us.

The selection process considered everything from geography to diversity, truly attempting to represent Canadian moms across the country. The other thing that was made very clear is that they did NOT want only moms who were totally in love with McDonald’s. They wanted women who would ask questions, be concerned and dig deeper. This was going to be critical.

The slightly disturbing but strangely appealing Ronald McDonald Moose outside McD’s head office.

I, of course, was more than curious to see how this would come together. I felt like I was stepping into the back of a reality TV show! When I saw the pile of applicants the task seemed overwhelming. How would they possibly narrow it down?! The good news was that McDonald’s has had some experience with this in other countries such as the U.S. and U.K. so they were incredibly well organized and had a team with a mission.

The Team: Adam Wall, Michelle Mcilmoyle, Ron Christianson, Andrea Dart

So, here I was behind the scenes watching these guys go through each applicant so intently. Man, was this hard work. Obviously I didn’t have a say in who got selected and, to be honest, I was kinda glad because there were a lot of really fabulous and interesting women. It would be so hard to choose!

I did however get to enjoy the perks. Yup, you guessed it…lunch from McDonald’s:

I ordered my standard hamburger Happy Meal but I have to admit I was a bit jealous of Michelle’s snacks wraps…next time.

Anyway, in the end the group had shortlisted and was ready to get in touch with the finalists by phone which will be happening soon. Then, in August, the group will be announced. I am really looking forward to meeting these ladies.

So, I will be reporting back to you in August with the announcement of the finalists. In the meantime, feel free to send me questions about this program by email or in the comments below.