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When it comes to marketing, McDonald’s reigns supreme. From its catchy jingle to its famous golden arches to iconic characters and mascots, the burger chain contains many branded elements that stand the test of time. But what‘s the secret ingredient to McDonald’s continued marketing success? Director of Brand, Content, and Culture Marketing Anna Engel and Brand Marketing Manager Nathaniel Gaynor both say the secret sauce lies in its fan-driven strategy. Here‘s what marketers should take from McDonald’s unique strategy. 4 Reasons McDonald’s Marketing is Iconic 1. It sees the importance of Gen Z. It’s no secret that Gen Z has a lot of buying power. In fact, Zoomers have a buying power of $860 billion and will likely reach $12 trillion by 2030. But Gen Z‘s ability to spend isn’t the only reason McDonald’s has an entire team dedicated to tapping into the iGeneration. “McDonald’s, as a brand, knows the importance of building long-term relationships with our fans,” Engel says. “If we build the foundational relationships with Gen Z early, we can continue to build upon that relationship so they’ll become fans for life.” Engel also says McDonald’s wants to be besties with Gen Z because Zoomers drive the culture. She explains, “Our ambition is to continue to be this cultural icon out there. Since Gen Z is driving that culture, they set the tone for what brands people should consider, so it’s really important that we are part of that consideration set for them.” In other words, McDonald‘s sees that Gen Z’s power isn‘t just in their ability to spend but their ability to influence. Think of Gen Z as the popular kid in high school who can boost a classmate’s status just by sitting with them in the cafeteria. 2. The company uses fan-centered insights to drive campaigns. McDonald‘s prides itself on knowing its audience inside and out, from habits to rituals to subcultures. Sure, that should be standard for any brand, but my jaw dropped when I discovered McDonald’s unique and personal way of getting into the minds of its fans. Have you ever heard of Fan Truth Road Trips? Neither did I before Gaynor gave an explanation. “We go out and uncover new fan truths about our brand to really understand who our fans are and why they connect with our brand,” he says. “We look through the eyes of our fans, and we see them pulling our brand into so many different parts of culture, such as anime, fashion, art, or gaming.” According to Engel and Gaynor, teams will visit college campuses, rural areas, shopping malls, parks, and more to connect with McDonald’s lovers and to understand them beyond their favorite menu items. “It’s important for us to understand the universe they live in and their interests to see and understand our fans better,” Engel says. “We break outside the four walls of McDonald’s to connect with our fans in the wild.” The insights gathered from these Fan Truth Road Trips drive the direction of their strategies and have spawned unique campaigns. For example, McDonald’s anime-themed marketing campaign “WcDonald’s” was inspired by the connection McDonald’s saw fans make between anime and the company. McDonald‘s leveraged these fan connections by creating the fictional “WcDonald’s” restaurant, which included a special sauce, anime packaging, and a series of anime shorts. “We tapped into a true Gen Z insight around anime and found it relevant to both anime fans and McDonald’s fans,” Gaynor says. “We know that anime fans put our brand in anime every single day.” And as a proud anime nerd, I can confirm that McDonald‘s is a staple in many anime series. For example, the main characters in one of my favorite anime, “Devil is a Part-Timer,” work at a place called “MgRonald’s,” a parody of the fast-food chain. A popular anime film called “Weathering with You” also features McDonald’s in one of its most well-known, wholesome scenes, And, like Gaynor said, it‘s pretty common for anime fans to connect McDonald’s to their favorite series. In the examples below, a fan of the series “Spy X Family” drew the main characters eating McDonald’s. Source By the way, if you were to tell me 10 years ago I‘d get to mention anime in a professional blog post about marketing, I’d have called you a liar. 3. McDonald’s balances art and science in its marketing. “WcDonald’s” was a campaign that melded fan- and data-driven insights (science) with creative instinct (art), a formula both Gaynor and Engel say makes for successful campaigns. “We say it’s a balance of art and science, so we use consumer insights to ensure the subcultures we’re going after have a big enough following to drive the business,” Engel says. “At the end of the day, we need people to come in and visit McDonald’s and make a purchase.” Engel says the company has to be intentional and selective about what niche it decides to tap into; however, once the niche is agreed upon, it’s time for art to take over. “We created a full anime playbook for the WcDonald’s campaign,” she explains. “Our agencies leveraged data to understand the right ways and places to connect to keep people coming back.” 4. The burger giant creates shareable “ingredients” for fans to make their own. McDonald‘s lets fans in on the creative fun by dropping unique elements (or “ingredients) that fans can repurpose and make their own. By enabling fans to actively participate and create with the brand, McDonald’s deepens its engagement and amplifies its branding. “We drop ingredients out in the world through our campaigns,” Engel says, “whether that’s through the food offering, a digital extension as part of the campaign, or social content.” Engel says fans convert the ingredients into fashion statements or new anime-inspired characters, posters, and more. “The pace that fans are taking brand ingredients and creating something with them excites us and empowers us,” she says. “And we always ask before a campaign launches, ‘Do we have enough ingredients out

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“This whole entire generation is about to turn all of our business models on its head.” I’m a consumer who falls somewhere between baby millennial and geriatric Gen Zer, and after hearing Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky talk about my generation — she gets it. I’m sure her being a millennial, thus closer to Gen Z than the average CEO, helps her keep in step with younger consumers, but I also think how intentional she is as a marketer sets her apart. She’s even gone as far as to speak with 500 Gen Zers to understand their consumer and social media habits.   “What pushed me to do that is I came across the stat that over 65% of all business decision-makers are going to be Gen Zers or millennials starting next year,” Novoselsky says. “The fun fact is that 2024 was already the first year that there are more Gen Zers in the workplace than boomers.” Here’s what Novoselsky discovered: 1. Gen Z is a generation of contradictions. “They grew up with a phone in their pocket but don’t want it to talk, they don’t want it to be sold to, and they don’t want our push model today,” she explains. And she’s right. My inbox is full, and I don’t like companies playing on my phone, so I’d rather find my next favorite lip liner-gloss-combo on my own terms before giving any brand my money. Novoselsky says the current push model approach to marketing is a little too aggressive for Gen Z consumers. All those emails I get when I abandon a shopping cart or browse a few items? Yeah, I’m not reading all that. And Novoselsky says this is pretty common among Gen Z. She explains, “They complete 60% of their buying journey before ever actually engaging with the sales representative because they want to discover and evaluate their business on their own terms.” Like when I was in the market for a new vinyl record player, I scoured the internet for TikToks, YouTube Shorts, Reddit forums, and blog posts detailing recommendations and features to look for before deciding to invest in the Fluance RT80. 2. Forget about speaking to the manager; Gen Z wants to hear from your CEO. When Gen Z researches a new brand, they‘re not just interested in your latest flashy product. They want to know what your brand stands for, if it’s taking any important stances online, and whether its values align with theirs. Most importantly, they want to know what your leadership is all about. “The majority of them won’t do business with a company where the CEO isn’t posting,” Novoselsky says. Yep, that‘s right. Your CEO can’t just be the person behind the current; they need to pull out their phone, open up TikTok or Reels, and start talking directly to Gen Z consumers. For example, the founder and CEO of Huda Beauty, Huda Kattan, is in almost every Reel, TikTok, photo, or ad for the makeup company. She’s also appeared on podcasts and has collaborated with celebrities like Olivia Culpo and Kehlani. Image source She is as much a content creator as a business owner and CEO. She’s also very vocal about diversity and inclusion in the beauty industry and speaks out about important causes, which is crucial because a recent study shows that 58% of Gen Z consumers lose trust in a brand if it doesn’t publicly address societal issues. Kattan’s approach is working. The company has about $200 million in annual sales and is valued at $1.2 billion. So, if you‘re looking to connect with Gen Z, tell your CEO it’s their time to shine. 3. Gen Z wants to hear from their peers, not your ads. “And that peer review can come from social media platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Or, it comes just from their own network,” Novoselsky says. Don‘t believe her? Well, here’s a statistic for you: A recent analysis found that Reddit shows up 97.5% of the time in Google Search product review queries. Novoselsky says Gen Zers want to know what their friends or community members are using, how they‘re interacting with the product, and whether it’s worth investing in. So, I strongly recommend building community around your brand. Host Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), live-streaming events, or create platforms specifically for your audience to connect, share ideas, and talk about your brand. One of my favorite examples actually comes from a previous employer of mine, a Florida TV station called First Coast News. In order to boost ratings for its weather segment, the station started a Facebook group called First Coast Weather Watchers, where viewers could join and share photos and videos of local weather phenomena. Members would give each other advice on how to prepare for upcoming hurricanes and tropical storms, and they’d have real-time conversations with meteorologists to gather information on weather impacting the region. The community not only boosted ratings for the segment, it also established trust between viewers and the station. So, when a tropical storm was on the rise, I would often see viewers on social media recommend their peers to join the Facebook group and tune in to our channel. 4. Basically, Gen Z will continue to turn marketing on its head. Novoselsky is excited about the future of marketing and the type of creativity Gen Z consumers and marketers will bring. “Anytime that you’re being forced to do something innovative and think outside the box, it just challenges you to think differently,” she says. “This whole entire generation is about to turn all of our business models on its head.” And part of thinking outside the box means finding new ways to show up organically to your target audience. Novoselsky says marketers should ask themselves, “How do you create this environment where you can show up in this authentic, organic way and let this generation really do their own research and diligence instead of having this push model?” “Gen Z really wants to

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