How McDonald’s got its swagger back by tapping into “fan truths”

Brian Carruthers

When McDonald’s, the fast-food chain, found itself becoming a “transactional” brand, it sought out a new way to reconnect with customers.

A couple of years ago, McDonald’s found itself in danger of becoming a transactional brand, according to Jennifer Healan, the fast-food giant’s vp/US marketing.

“We were moving window-to-window through the marketing calendar, chasing limited-time offer after limited-time offer,” she recalled while speaking on the WARC stage during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (June 2022).

“We weren’t part of the cultural conversation,” she added. “We had lost our emotional connection with our customers, with our fans. We knew we needed to find our voice and we needed to build our confidence back again.”

Fan truths

Somewhere along the way...

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