This globetrotter is making sure McDelivery reaches the ends of the Earth

September 19, 2019

Andrew flying plane

Ever sat on your couch, enjoying a Big Mac sandwich courtesy of McDelivery and wondered,

“To whom do I owe this delightful experience?”

Well, there are a lot of people you could thank for that moment. One of them is Andrew Southey

He’s part of the team that got delivery off the ground in Australia, and while the experience was intense, it was one of the coolest moments of his career. “It was an incredible group effort and I’m just proud to be part of that team,” he said. 

Today, as a Director, Global Delivery Marketing, he is responsible for accelerating the growth of McDelivery, globally. These days, Andrew is bringing McDonald’s to exactly where you want it to be, no matter where you are in the world. 

As a kid who grew up on a tiny farm in South Africa, he loves the global aspect of his job.

“Not only was there no food delivery at my family’s house – there wasn’t even a McDonald’s in town,” he said. “Growing up in such a small town definitely made me want to see the world.”

And soon enough he would. 

 

Andrew above family farm

Andrew and his family moved to Australia when he was 14 and he started his career as a McDonald’s crew person while he attended school. “I worked my way up at the restaurant part time during high school and university. I gained so much experience from an operational perspective during those years and I really loved the brand," he said. He began to work his way up through the ranks of regional and then National Marketing offices in Australia, until he became National Delivery Manager for Australia. In that role, he was integral to the rollout and success of delivery in Australia. Since launching nationally in Australia in 2017, McDelivery has become a significant contributor to the business. We're meeting customers on their terms with McDelivery and it's working in Australia.  

And globally, Delivery is positioned to be a $4 billion dollar business for McDonald's and franchised restaurants this year.

Needless to say, there is enormous potential working within this growth driver – so when Andrew was offered a role in Global Delivery at MHQ, he leapt at the chance. 

But first, he had to get his personal life in order. 

“My partner works for a luxury lifestyle brand, so we’re pretty much as opposite ends of the brand spectrum,” he joked. 

But despite being on contrasting ends of the luxury market, Andrew and his partner made the commitment to relocate to the U.S. together. 

 

Andrew and dog

Their two dogs (Ollie & Harvey) have gone global as well. On the day of this interview, Andrew was diligently tracking his pups on their trip from Sydney. 

Now that he’s made himself at home at MHQ, Andrew is laser focused on positioning McDelivery as a key enabler to the broader brand purpose. 

“McDelivery has a unique ability to make feel good moments happen. And McDelivery Night In is the perfect manifestation of that,” Andrew said. 

McDelivery Night In is highlighting the fact that our customers can to do exactly what they feel like doing… and we’ll make sure they can still have their McDonald’s while they're doing it.

Andrew’s hope is that beyond driving buzz and excitement, McDelivery Night In provides an opportunity to galvanize the McDonald's System and reenergize customers and our internal stakeholders about McDelivery. 

 

McDelivery merchandise

“It’s not enough for people to be aware of McDelivery. After awareness, we need to turn first-time users into loyal customers who advocate our brand,” he explained.

Andrew is excited for what’s to come because McDonald’s has the opportunity to continue to disrupt the delivery business. 

We do over 1 million McDelivery orders per day across the globe. Who knows where we will be in 10 years...

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