When McDonald’s wanted to innovate quickly on a new concept to engage Gen Z, we helped a dedicated internal team design and build an “out of this world” omnichannel experience in less than a year.
![A young woman poses with a CosMc's drink for a selfie in front of the sign on a sunny day.](/adobe/dynamicmedia/deliver/dm-aid--05ec3e6f-f64f-4c74-aa38-10d720cc3d1a/story-cosmcs-selfie-drink-1300x900.jpg?quality=85&preferwebp=true)
Impact
CosMc’s launched to a tremendous outpouring of consumer and media enthusiasm—and continues to embrace rapid iteration and customer-led learning.
Industry
Restaurants & dining
Key Services
Key Technologies/Platforms
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Google Cloud
- Google Analytics
- React Native
- Apple iOS & Google Android
- Restaurant technology platforms & integrations
The Vision
With over 40,000 restaurants across more than 100 countries, McDonald’s is an iconic brand that pioneered quick service and continues to lead the QSR market. From such a position of strength, many companies would just stay focused on their core business. Instead, McDonald’s leaders saw an opportunity to explore a new approach for the changing customer preferences.
What would later be called CosMc’s started out as a loosely defined vision for a unique service experience to engage the next generation of fans with a beverage-led menu. Leaders wanted to develop the concept with a focus on speed and learning.
The full-time journey to bring CosMc’s to life began in February 2023. Slalom was engaged soon after to help craft the omnichannel vision and build the digital foundation.
The Solution
As the CosMc’s experience came into focus, the team moved quickly, building together through thousands of hypotheses, tests, and decisions.
![A person customizes their order in the CosMc's app.](/adobe/dynamicmedia/deliver/dm-aid--acab1969-1de7-47ae-b8de-d42637d3dd87/story-cosmcs-app-solution-1300x900.jpg?quality=85&preferwebp=true)
Customer Impact
The CosMc’s concept was fully unveiled on December 6, 2023, in the McDonald’s Investor Update. The next day, the first pilot store opened to a deluge of consumer and media enthusiasm.
The anecdotes speak volumes.
One McDonald’s fan flew from London to try CosMc’s. Another drove from Canada. Three TikTok influencers took a 16-hour road trip from Nebraska to order and taste the entire menu. Thousands of people, including many cars full of Zoomers (Gen Z), waited in line for six hours or more on opening weekend. The launch was featured on major news outlets, on shows like Saturday Night Live and Good Morning America, and across social media.
CosMc’s exemplifies what’s possible when you break down silos to collaborate with customers at the center. It demonstrates innovation at a pace that was previously unknown in the McDonald’s system, and this pilot is far from over.
Iteration on the menu, experience, and operations continue, with a goal of approximately 10 pilot restaurants by the end of 2024.
Our Slalom team
We started with a small team and an eight-week accelerated discovery, which led to a longer commitment to help build out the digital customer experience. Meet some of our team members.