Don Thompson joined McDonald’s in 1990 and rose to president based on his success at reorganizing the U.S. business, which is now in its fourth consecutive year of sales growth.

He is responsible for strategic direction and overall business results of 13,700 restaurants in the U.S. He took time following a McDonald’s press event in Beijing to speak with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Tripp Mickle.

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When you have the Games over here in China, how do you make it translate into results in the U.S.?
Thompson: One thing — and I think you saw it today — the McDonald’s system, which we always call the McFamily, is inextricably linked. So the energy that’s created here, our groups all over the world feel that energy. Many of the [McDonald’s Champions] Crew [of top restaurant employees] that actually came here, those that came from the U.S., we did many things to select those individuals to come to Beijing. There was a lot of energy relative to who’s going to actually get a chance to go to Beijing. That’s one thing that starts the excitement.

So it’s a lot about motivating your employees?
Thompson: The Games themselves, whether it’s our restaurant managers or our crew or the staff or the suppliers, when they see the Games and they see McDonald’s involved and they see the commercials and they see all of the things we’re doing, it just gets the whole system energized. The Championship Kids, that energizes the system. And the interacting with the athletes is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.

How are you measuring ROI at home and what are your objectives?
Thompson: We don’t specifically assign business targets in the U.S. relative specifically to the Games. Now, we want to make sure that we’re satisfying customers and we want to have additional sales and income. But we do the Games because we feel like we should be a corporate sponsor and give back relative to all the great things we have at McDonald’s and the customers we work for. So we don’t have a specific sales target. What we do have is the energy and excitement, and to be able to leverage in our restaurants this month where we’re talking about Southern-style chicken in the U.S.

You mention that chicken sandwich. Why did you decide to tie that in to your Olympics promotions? Was it just the timing of the Games?
Thompson: No. Actually, we originally launched that sandwich back in May. It just so happens that August is a great month to do what we call a “re-hit” and get awareness and frequency from trials up. We had the Olympic Games, so we thought it was a good time to reintroduce the sandwich. We would have talked about something in this time frame. It’s just great that it worked out with this chicken sandwich.

How much will that be a focus of commercials in the U.S.?
Thompson: In the U.S., we have a series of different commercials. You’re going to see some around chicken. You’re going to see some around food quality. On all of our packaging, though, we have nine Olympians featured, including those from the Paralympics that take place right after these Olympic Games.

What are your expectations for ratings from NBC?
Thompson: I honestly believe we’re going to see really great ratings, and the reason’s because right now in the economy we have in the U.S. a lot of people are doing more things collectively, more things at home, and they’re driving a little bit less. So I think we’re going to see more folks watching the Olympics this year. We certainly hope so.