# McDonald's turns store traffic into an advertising asset

McDonald's has launched the McDonald's Media Network, its own retail media network for selling advertising space to third-party brands across its physical and digital touchpoints.

- Section: Future
- Published: October 19, 2026
- Address: https://ceoone.com.br/en/article/mcdonalds-turns-store-traffic-into-an-advertising-asset
- Em português: https://ceoone.com.br/artigo/mcdonald-s-transforma-fluxo-de-lojas-em-ativo-publicitario.md

![McDonald's golden arches on the blue facade of a restaurant, seen from below](https://pub-b80e49b2737940b3ab5d3f20d0578192.r2.dev/artigos/mcdonald-s-transforma-fluxo-de-lojas-em-ativo-publicitario-foto.webp)

Photo: Joe Chen/Pexels

## Key points

- The McDonald's Media Network began as a pilot in 450 company-owned restaurants in the United States, with ads on the drive-thru screens.
- The next phase brings ads to the app, kiosks and digital menu boards, with data from more than 220 million loyalty program members.
- Selling ads backed by first-party data can have net profit margins above 70%, far higher than the food operation's.

The initiative began as a pilot in 450 company-owned restaurants in the United States, showing digital ads on screens in the drive-thru lanes right after customers confirm their orders. The strategy marks the fast-food giant's transition from an operation strictly focused on convenience and food to a high-frequency, data-precise communication channel.

For CEOs, retail directors and consumer-sector executives, the move consolidates the thesis that high-traffic physical ecosystems hold valuable audience assets, turning the daily flow of customers into a new, profitable, high-margin revenue stream.

## The rise of 'commerce media' and monetizing the physical audience

By building its media network, McDonald's follows a path taken by retail giants such as Amazon and Walmart, which turned their platforms into billion-dollar advertising businesses, a market in which Amazon posted revenue of US$ 68.6 billion in 2025. According to Morgan Flatley, the chain's global CMO, commerce media is currently one of the fastest-growing areas of the advertising industry, projected to exceed US$ 100 billion in the US market by 2028. Global eMarketer projections indicate that investment in retail and commerce media should account for more than 20% of all digital ad spending worldwide by the end of this decade.

The next phase of McDonald's expansion includes ad formats in its proprietary app, self-service kiosks and digital menu boards inside its restaurants. The analytical lever behind this scale is the MyMcDonald's Rewards loyalty program, which gathers browsing and purchase data from more than 220 million active members worldwide and accounts for more than US$ 30 billion in annual systemwide sales. The ability to match purchase intent with the exact moment of the order turns the customer base into a monetizable commercial asset, requiring marketing and operations executives to rethink the pricing of their own channels.

## Owned media as a margin lever and technological integration

Turning operational traffic into a media network meets an urgent need for revenue diversification in sectors under inflationary pressure on inputs and labor. While the traditional food and beverage operation works with tighter operating margins, selling advertising space backed by first-party data delivers net profit margins that can exceed 70% to 80%, helping dilute operating costs and fund investments in infrastructure and AI.

The initiative also reinforces the importance of structuring loyalty programs as strategic repositories of consumer intelligence, not just as discount tools. For corporate leaders, the McDonald's case shows that the evolution of business models requires looking at the customer journey beyond the main transaction, capitalizing on the audience's attention across omnichannel touchpoints to create direct, sustainable financial value.

## Sources and editorial notes

- Reference reporting: Publicitários Criativos, Adweek, eMarketer, Nation's Restaurant News and corporate data from McDonald's Corporation (2025/2026).
- Market and leadership analysis: Content and analytical context developed by the CEO ONE portal for decision-makers and C-level executives.

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