Inside McDonald’s Bold Marketing Moves w/ Jennifer Healan

0:00Creative Bravery is about saying yes. and you say yes to ideas that put your brain in culture, ideas are going to spark conversation and ideas are going to build fandom.

0:16Hey, JJ, how are you? Welcome to the show. Hello, it's great to be here. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited about our conversation. Absolutely, me too. I know that we have a lot of, you know, things going on today, a lot of examples, you know, really the ins and outs, right? of activation event also very excited before we get started why don't you tell us a bit you know more about yourself i use this thing called the map basically it's divided in three categories the mission what do you aim to achieve with your work achievements anything that you're really proud of notable milestone could be in your career or life or both if you like and the purpose why do you do what you do great i love the idea of a map um it's like this compass for your life so if i think about the mission, like what I aim to achieve, what I have loved professionally is I am always about driving creative transformation to constantly put the brands I work on in culture and not only put them in culture, but also drive the business.

1:14And at McDonald's, that really is my team's remit. And we do this by connecting with our fans, really the speed of culture. And it's powered by this balance of creative effectiveness and creative excellence. And as I think about my career and what I'm proud of and the achievements I've had over time, I truly am honored to have worked on two of America's most iconic brands. One is Coca-Cola. I was there for 15 years, and now I'm at McDonald's and I've been there for almost five years, which is crazy how time has flown. And I've taken this idea of the creative transformation to heart in both of these chapters of my professional life.

1:56And I love the idea of brand firsts and creating brand firsts when you're driving culture. And at Coke, I was fortunate enough to work on the iconic It's Beautiful Coca-Cola Super Bowl spot that ran in 2014, where we had 11 girls sing the iconic song, America the Beautiful in their native language. And it was one of the most polarizing ideas that the brand had really ever done. But it was about sparking this conversation. And it was amazing to see how our fans came out and truly celebrated the role that Coca-Cola had in their lives. And another fun thing that I'm really proud of at Coke was I worked on a animated short where we actually brought the polar bears to speak for the very first time.

2:49And it was one of the first chapters of branded entertainment that the brand had done several years ago. And now at McDonald's, it's been great to actually see how the Famous Orders platform has come to life, and also the Adult Happy Meal platform. And I'll get into that a little bit later. And probably another part of the achievement of why I'm able to do what I do is I worked at advertising agencies for over 10 years. And part of that stint was working on MasterCard and the Priceless campaign in its very early years at McCann Erickson, New York. And this experience of working at an advertising agency, I do believe has helped me do my job because I understand how the sausage is made with our agency partners as I drive creativity with them.

3:38And that also probably gets to my purpose and why I do what I do. I get so much energy and joy in the creative space and working on creative ideas with my team and with our agency partners every single day. Another thing that probably set the foundation for my purpose is not only the what's, and I've talked about a lot of the what's, creative transformation, creative effectiveness. But you've got to balance that with your hows. And a very pivotal point in my career was when I worked at Nemours, which was during one of my stints in between my Coke 15 years. And I worked for this organization, Nemours, which was, it's actually one of the largest pediatric systems in our country.

4:24And we did, we had something there called the Nemours Standards of Behavior. And I always love showing this card that is worn with its laminated covering. but it's all about these standards and things of how you interact. And I not only use this in my professional life, but also my personal life. And there are ideas on there like be in the moment, be authentic, but also being humanistic. And my favorite, which is so important in the creative world, is to be curious and not judgmental. That's fantastic. I love to hear that. And especially I love the idea that you go right around with these, you know, the 10 rules with you.

5:03And, you know, it's something that many, too many times, right, as you said correctly, not only for your professional, but also for like the person, right, that is behind the professional, right? And many times you can use it for both your life, career, right, personal life. It's so important because so much of it is melded in one and the same. Exactly. Especially right after that, you know, smartphones became a thing, were always connected, the type of relationship changed, and it's so intersected all the time, right? And we can look into that, of course, like even later, more in detail. But I really like when it's about, you know, iconic brands, right?

5:36So you work with, you know, and we're still working with iconic brands. And many times when it comes to something that is so iconic, it would be just easy to say no, right, to new things, because that's what people expect. And in case of the tunnel, you know, you embrace this yes, right? the idea culture of how do we contribute to market success? What is next, right? We, you know, this creative bravery, basically, right? That is behind there. Can you tell me a bit more like how does having this yes, right? The culture idea behind the future of marketing is helping you, your team, and a brand like McDonald's for the years to come?

6:09It's a great question. And it's something we talk about a lot, creative bravery. And creative bravery is about saying yes. and you say yes to ideas that put your brand in culture, ideas are going to spark conversation and ideas are going to build fandom. And if we think about it, creative bravery drives great marketing because almost always great marketing is driven by something that is unexpected. It's something that's really special, something that is novel. And in a world like a world of McDonald's where there's so much effort that is focused on reducing risk and making sure we have operationalized something with a proven approach so that the crew and the business continues to hum.

6:56When you think about creative bravery and introducing new ideas, it's about saying, you know what? Okay, we've done as much as we can to make the case for why this should work and how we're going to use learnings from the past to give us the best chance for this idea to succeed. because part of this is going to be new. It's going to be, it's interesting. Parts of it may be unproven, but we're going to give it a shot. And that mindset has worked for us over the last several years, but it all has started with this culture of yes, because you can't have creative bravery without creating this culture of being okay to say yes.

7:36But what's important is that it doesn't mean saying yes and rubber stamping everything that is proposed or put in front of you. It's about being intentional. It's about looking for creative opportunities, looking for things that have an upside rather than focusing only on risk reduction. And this is where the Nemours Standards of Behavior of Curiosity comes into place because you've got to walk into the room with a curious mind. And sometimes the ideas may give you a tummy rumble in a good way. And we like to say, you know what, let's give it a try. And it's something that has proven time and time again, because a big piece of creative bravery, honestly, of the last couple of years has been driven by how we as a brand share the pin with our fans.

8:27And that has almost become a way of working, if you will, because at the end of the day, our fans love the brand and it is their brand after all. So by focusing on our fans and sharing the pin, it actually unlocks this level of authenticity and emotion that we could actually never create on our own. And what's really interesting is to do it, it takes humility and it takes being comfortable and having comfort in the discomfort. And that's kind of this paradox if you think about it. But there's an unpredictability about how we talk about ideas and how they're going to resonate. And that's actually what gets, that's really exciting for us.

9:11And, you know, because of this, right, you're talking about finance and, you know, finance engagement. These days, like, you know, more than ever, communities are crucial, right? Many brands go on Reddit to see subreddits about their brand. There are Discord channels and servers where people talk about a specific brand, right? There are people within the company that spend time with fans, doing focus groups and organizing local events in certain areas. Because it goes to that niche, narrowing down to the exact, maybe a neighbor in a city that is looking for a specific thing. And it's important to talk with people.

9:48Can you give me some example or case studies, specifically when it comes to how do we engage with fans? How do we get the best of this bilateral communication with them? Yeah, so we really are in the business of creating fandom. And that has started with creating this idea of fan truths because our fans are in many different fandoms and many different subcultures. And so I thought it maybe would be good. Let me kind of like back up and I can talk about, we talk about our customers as fans. Our consumers are fans, and it all started with this development of a fan truth strategy. It's truly our compass, and everything we do is centered around these fan truths.

10:34And what they are, they're moments, they're memories, they're rituals, they're different behaviors. They're all these things that our fans love about our brand. And it has actually helped us have this more authentic portrayal of the brand because our fans see themselves in the brand. And it actually has allowed us to be more collaborative. And we're actually a more collaborative brand, after all, because we're creating ideas that our fans resonate with and our fans can co-create with. So let me give you some examples of some fan truths. I think that can kind of help round out what I mean, which is everyone has a fan truth about McDonald's.

11:17and some of them were like, you know, if you don't get the fries, your friend usually ends up taking your fries, so you should just buy them some fries, right? Pickle lovers and pickle haters can still be friends. It's amazing how polarizing pickles are. It's really funny. There's this idea that the golden arches, a fan truth, is that it's like the golden lights, the golden arches are the lights of midnight salvation. So whether you're studying late at night or maybe you are out late at night. Seeing the golden arches is something that is such a welcomed thing. What's also been interesting is we've been able to take these fan truths and create platform ideas from them.

12:00So for example, Famous Orders, which was a Travis Scott meal, the J Balvin meal, the Sweetie meal, the BTS meal, it all started from a fan truth, which is no matter how big or famous you are, everyone has a McDonald's order. I mean, you can think about your order versus Travis Scott's order, and you can actually come to the restaurant to actually buy Travis Scott's order, or maybe it will inspire you to create a new version of your own order. Another thing that's been really interesting about Fan Truths is we've gotten a lot of inspiration actually from social because of what our fans have developed and the conversations that have sparked and things that we have put out in social that then have sparked amazing conversation.

12:42For example, there's this great way of ordering, right? Whenever people come to the board, even though they know what their order is, people say, can I get a... Yeah. I was like, can I get a... And like, you're thinking about it. That actually inspired a Super Bowl campaign. Yes, so that. Another tweet we put out there was, you're never too old to enjoy a happy meal. And we created the Cactus plant flea market box, which was a platform idea of an adult happy meal that truly unlocked childhood joy because never too old to enjoy a happy meal. And to your point about communities and subcultures, we even tapped into anime and the subculture of anime and brought that to the mainstream with our launch this past year of McDonald's.

13:29So the fan truths have truly become this great way for us to connect with our fans because it is so important we're talking fan to fan, not brand to fan. And that has been a big unlock for us over the last couple of years. Is your brand ready to amplify its reach while the influencer marketing factory is here for you? We are a global influencer marketing agency helping brands ignite their growth. From influencer identification to campaign strategy, handling legalities and agreements, to managing shipping and logistics, we got you all covered. We work with hundreds of brands across different verticals from Fortune 500 companies to direct-to-consumer brands.

14:10And we don't just stop there. With detailed ROI analysis, we help brands like yours measure success, transforming impressions into conversions. You can find us at theinfluencermarketingfactory.com or just searching the Influencer Marketing Factory on Google. This is, you know, fascinating because again, it goes to really like all these things that you know you grow up with and you know your order and then maybe sometimes you change it or like maybe it's been the same for 20 years and no matter you know like where you come from your age right at the end of the day right it's uh it's it's still like something in you with your family with your friends it's a moment to stay together right and then really like the idea of again you see like not just brand to fans but also fans to other fans and you mentioned also like for instance the you know also the wiccdonald maybe we can also go in in that, you know, a bit more, you know, in detail.

15:00So for instance, in that case, you know, like it's a bit different, right? Than maybe compared to other type of campaigns, right? I even saw like, you know, even the bags, right? With the anime, like on top of that, like it's a piece of art, right? Just that, right? How, like, what was the inspiration there from that type of world, right? How did it get in? What was the work behind that? Yeah, so McDonald's is one of my favorite things, most favorite things that we've done. And we did that this past first quarter this year. And it was inspired by our fans, as everything is. And this was another example of us sharing the pin with our fans.

15:36Because what's fascinating is we observed that in the anime culture, in the anime world, our fans have brought McDonald's to that world for over 30 years. And we needed to celebrate that. McDonald's is the most like bootlegged fast food restaurant in the anime world. And McDonald's was the most popular version of McDonald's in the anime world. And the anime subculture was such a great way for us to, like, if you think about this bell curve and you've got subcultures on either side, what we have found is we can tap into a subculture and shine a light on that and bring it to the masses at the meaty part of the bell curve.

16:20It's been amazing to see then how that is, whether you love anime or you're being first introduced to anime, there's something in it for everyone because the brand is at the heart of it. And so we created a platform for what our fans had already developed in the anime world. But what we knew was so important is that we had authenticity front and center. And so we partnered with the experts. We actually went to Japan. We partnered with Studio Perot, and we partnered with Aki Bright, and also G-Angle. And so the combination of those experts, those partners, they helped us create the magic that was a new brand universe.

17:00It was a new brand experience. And we truly pulled a page out of the anime playbook to bring the entire campaign to life. We developed a four-part anime series as we talked about the new savory chili sauce that you could have with your wick nuggets. And the sauce was inspired by our Japan market. And true to anime series, we had an action episode. We had a romance episode. We had a mecha episode. We had fantasy, a fantasy episode. and there was such craft that was taken not only in the animation but also in the manga that you mentioned that was on our packaging it was a work of art and what was amazing with this campaign is with each consumer touch point we were able to open up another door or another window for our fans to experience with donald and we talk about that as this idea of no dead ends and no dead ends in your campaign, I believe, is so important because with each consumer touchpoint, like with the manga packaging, each week you could scan the QR code on the packaging that would unlock an additional manga series that was a more in-depth version of the episode that was running in film, in online video, or on TV, or in social.

18:23So with each piece of content, we were able to open up something new and interesting for our fans. And we're super proud of the work, not only because of the authenticity, we actually won an award in Japan. It was the most prestigious award. It's a Grand Prix. I may not pronounce it correctly, but it's the Kyoto's Awards. And this was all about craft of creativity. And then we just found out that we were in the top best of ads for Ad Week and Ad Age for 2024. It's, you know, such an achievement, especially, right? Again, with something that it's quite unique, right? And different. And, you know, go back to the yes, right?

19:03Of the idea that we were saying before. And also a lot when you said about the no that ends. I'm seeing like a lot of brands spending so much time and efforts in doing something that maybe lasts, you know, for one week. And then all the efforts, right? They basically just finishes there, right? So the idea of continuing, especially these days, we are bombarded with a lot of messages and DMs and advertisement and retargeting, right? Having something that doesn't finish in that moment, but actually follow you as a sort of journey across the month or spread out throughout the year, I think it's a right strategy these days.

19:36Yeah, and it's so important because with this no dead end strategy, and especially with McDonald's, we had new content each week. And that actually was going to drive our fans to the restaurant to experience something new. Because at the end of the day, it's all about driving the business. and we have been able to show time and time again how creativity drives the business. And that is one great example with McDonald's campaign. Fantastic. And, you know, another one that I wanted to ask you, it's quite recent, right? Still talking about not only fans, but also, you know, people with an audience, with an influencer that have millions, right, of fans.

20:12And these days what is happening is that it's not just any more asynchronic, right? But it's in sync all the time talking about live stream, right? and people that are 24-7 basically in front of a camera. And you live with them, right? You go with them out. You have a meal with them, right? And you find it out with Kai Senat, right? Twitch superstar to promote the Chicken Big Mac, right? First of all, how did it come to life as an idea? Tell me a bit more about the behind the scenes or, again, how did it start? That's our most recent campaign. It happened in October. And Kai is, without a doubt, the internet's biggest celebrity.

20:51His influence and his reach are truly undeniable. But what got us excited, as we have partnered with all of our celebrity fans over the last almost five years, is they have to be brand fans first. Because if not, then there's no authenticity and it is not true, as I go back to fan truths. And so we found this video that Kai did earlier this year, and he walked up to the drive-thru, ordered a Big Mac, but he ordered it with a big chorus, a choir behind him. And so we knew he was not only a brand fan, but he was a fan of the Big Mac. So what better way to introduce the Chicken Big Mac and the debate we wanted to spark with someone who loves the Big Mac?

21:37Because the campaign idea was centered around, is the Chicken Big Mac not a Big Mac? And so he was phenomenal. He was such a great partner. And it was authentic because he is a brand fan and he's a lover of the Big Mac. And so what was great to see is his influence not only comes from his own reach, but also from his network and his network of friends and his partnerships, because that is another amplification point. And his live streams, they really are cultural moments. And if you think about the millions and millions of fans who tune in, he's cultivated his streaming Twitch community. And it allows him to actually be more than an influencer because he's driving conversations.

22:28He's driving culture. And he truly is his own media channel. And so that was something that also we thought was really interesting because having a partner who is a brand fan to truly be his own media channel was a new way in as we thought about the plan and our go-to-market plan overall. And his friends and partners that we had on the stream, we had four of them. We had Phantom, who he streams with all the time. We had John Cena. We had Serena Williams. And we had iCarly, Miranda Cosgrove, Oslo Carly. But if you think about the collection of those four partners, they were all brand fans also.

23:07But their partnership with Kai just brought in new and different fandoms who kind of co-create together and talk about this debate of the Chicken Big Mac. Is it not a Big Mac? You know, you open up discussion. You have, you know, again, teams, right? Going back to the pickle, no pickle, right? The type of things. Is it a Big Mac? No, it's not because there is chicken, right? How do you define that? and yeah like a cultural conversation right and and i love the idea of having like again you know you have these super fans that have other super fans behind them right and then you intersect different maybe communities that didn't know each other and because of that conversation happening right they start learning about other niches right and from there you can get another conversation going right so sky's the limit right when you put different people together in the same room conversation about things.

23:56And that goes back to how important it is to actually communicate, right? The more you communicate, the more you share your ideas, the more things you can create instead of like, I mean, your little box, you know, I keep it for myself, right? Because I don't want anyone to steal it from me. But then actually it's the worst thing, right? When it comes to creative marketing, because you want to share, right? With others. So I'm pretty sure that during this live streaming, a lot of ideas, right? A lot of things happening. Some of them like are, you know, very, very entertaining, I'd say. Yes, indeed.

24:23Yeah, that's coming actually in 2025. So there's a lot of fun even yet to come. Oh, wow. Very, very, very curious on that. And, you know, JJ, you know, last question for you today. Again, I would like, you know, love to continue like, you know, with, you know, a lot of different case studies that you have. But unfortunately, we're almost, you know, at time today. But I would like to get the last, you know, piece of advice that you would like to give to marketers, right? Looking to elevate the digital and social media marketing stuff. You already shared a lot of value, but is there anything else that you didn't mention that you would like to share?

24:57Yeah, I would say probably the best advice is truly to lean in to the people, the fans who love you. And I would say McDonald's biggest win several years ago was we stopped listening to the haters and we just listened to the people who love us. And that has truly helped us as a brand to be on the offense always. And our fan truth strategy has proven that time and time again. And the other thing I would say is that fandom is curated every single day in social and digital. And in our social channels, we've created such fandom because of our community management. We've been able to allow our fans to be a part of the brand.

25:47And we've been able to shine a light on what they create. Like one of our biggest KPIs that we have is did the idea create fan art? It is amazing to see as we've given these ingredients, put these ingredients out in the world for our fans to play with. They truly have made the brand their own. And seeing what they co-create on our behalf is unbelievable. And so I would say probably that second piece of advice is like, there's so much inspiration you can get from your fans in many, many different places. So I just be open to finding fandom in the most maybe unexpected ways. And then the other thing I would say is we don't necessarily ask ourselves anymore, like, will this work?

26:36Like, what is the role of the brand? And we know the role of the brand is front and center because our fan true strategy guides us there. What we now ask is like, is it true? And making sure that there's something so authentic to what we are doing that is going to spark conversation. It's going to drive creativity. It's going to drive creative excellence and creative effectiveness. But most importantly, it's driving the business. Love it. extremely valuable that you know the perfect way to i'd say like you know give you a last piece of advice for today's episode and jj thank you so much right for joining me today for sharing this match for all like you know your career achievements and everything that you share with us and i really can't wait to see what is you know uh cooking right for 2025 and no pun intended there amazing jj thank you so much again for joining me today this was the influence factor by the Influenstral Marketing Factory and I'll see you next week.