Most Creative Marketers: Michelle Graham-Clare

Think of McDonald’s and it’s just a quick drive-thru the golden arches to negative perceptions around obesity, food waste and poor nutrition. The brand has always attracted a super-sized portion of bad press.

And to a certain extent, says Michelle Graham-Clare, criticism comes with the territory of being one of the most recognisable brands in the world. But, she believes, it also presents an interesting marketing challenge and an opportunity to leverage creativity to improve public perception.

“There is so much we do as a business that would surprise people, and we have leveraged that to create some of my favourite campaigns,” she says.

The brand’s recent "Change a Little, Change a Lot" campaign (below), devised to support its new sustainability framework Plan For Change, was designed to bring to life some of its historic sustainability work, such as turning used cooking oil into biodiesel to help fuel delivery trucks.

And its Farming Trust ad, part of the same campaign, shone a light on the 23,000 British and Irish farmers it sources from, and the ways McDonald’s supports them to be more sustainable. Again as part of the sustainability framework, McDonald's has promised to help one million people gain new skills and open the door to jobs by 2030. This includes introducing a youth worker into every restaurant by 2024 and supporting 3000 apprentices by 2025.

“Change some minds”

“For me, it’s about finding creative ways to bring to life lots of the amazing work we are already doing, and hopefully that will make some people think a bit differently about us, and maybe change some minds,” Graham-Clare says.

McDonald’s, which operates 1,400 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, employing 130,000 staff, has a presence in pretty much every community, “and with that comes a huge responsibility to use this scale for good,” says Graham-Clare.

Charity partnership and community work is at the core of McDonald’s business and “incredibly important to the brand”. At a local and national level, McDonald’s is committed to projects such as its Fun Football scheme, its work with Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, and BBC Children in Need.

And, through its partnership with FareShare, McDonald’s restaurants donated surplus food throughout the pandemic. “It was driven by franchisees and restaurant teams who are passionate about giving back and having a positive impact,” explains Graham-Clare.

“It was a really special moment for the entire brand when we announced our official partnership with FareShare – and shows how we’ve increasingly been able to bring these partnerships to life through marketing. We combined the announcement with our 2020 Christmas campaign, working with Becky Hill to sing the backing track of our highly anticipated Christmas ad, and her donating a portion of every download of the single to FareShare,” says Graham-Clare.

It had such a positive effect that Graham-Clare followed the same approach for its 2021 Christmas campaign, this time with singer Mabel.

“Incredible freshness” of a 66-year-old brand

Having joined the fast-food chain in 2015, Graham-Clare has led McDonald’s UK marketing efforts since June 2020, overseeing campaigns for the McCafé range, Spicy McNuggets and the Grand Big Mac.

Graham-Clare credits McDonald’s talented marketing team and agency partners with keeping a 66-year-old restaurant brand creative and relevant. McDonald’s is a brand people get excited about working for, she says, and as a result, it has a talented team that wants to deliver truly creative campaigns.

“I’ve seen hundreds of ‘textbook’ creative presentations in previous roles, which haven’t been able to demonstrate connection or passion for a brand. All the creatives at Leo Burnett are brand fans and eat our food. They ‘get it’ and that shows in the output,” Graham-Clare says.

The Leo Burnett team has brought “incredible freshness” to the work by being grounded, talented and understanding the McDonald’s brand and its role in British culture. Graham-Clare credits them with brilliant work and believes they still have a considerable amount to give, alongside “the best CCO I have ever worked with – Chaka Sobhani.”

McDonald’s marketing team has “a restless culture,” says Graham-Clare, welcoming ideas and challenges from every person in the room – from the newest to longest-serving. “This is what keeps our ideas fresh and allows us to maintain that hunger to deliver genuinely exceptional work,” she says. “For me, it’s about setting the direction, and then getting out of the way and giving them the room to do it.”

Taking on café culture

Creating connections with audiences is what Graham-Clare loves most about being a marketer. “It is powerful, and the impact can be huge if you get it right,” she says. A philosophy that paid off in the work around the McCafé brand. Graham-Clare considers launching the McCafé TV ad for the one of her boldest moves.

“The world of coffee had become elitist, expensive and people were really starting to question if it was all worth it,” says Graham-Clare. Previously head of marketing at coffee-shop chain Harris & Hoole, she especially warmed to the idea of taking on ‘café culture’, and creating work UK audiences could relate to.

“People could see themselves walking into a coffee shop and feeling intimidated, walking out having paid upwards of £4 for a coffee,” says Graham-Clare. “It was a great moment for us, making light of this shared experience, and we continue to take on more of the coffee market share as customers continue to choose us over other brands.”

And the customer should always be top of the pile, says Graham-Clare, who believes the best creative marketers are customers of the brand they’re working on, “because they understand why people want to keep coming back, and why they invite the brand to be part of their lives.”

Perhaps prophetic then, that before starting her marketing career, which has spanned roles at Weetabix, Grazia magazine and Harris & Hoole, Graham-Clare served those very customers as a crew member in a McDonald’s restaurant.

How I see it: the world according to Michelle Graham-Clare

Which projects or campaigns that you’ve led at McDonald’s have you been most proud of?

“Our #ReindeerReady Christmas campaign is always a highlight for me – it’s a great example of how well an integrated campaign can work both internally and externally, and it gets better each year. It’s not just about the feel-good Christmas adverts we create, but the jumpers and antlers we provide for our crew to wear in restaurants, the ‘Reindeer Treats’ that we give out on Christmas Eve, to the use of augmented reality that show reindeer coming into your very living room, which has become a bit of a tradition for many of our customers. We work hard to bring the whole campaign to life across different platforms and I love that we can make this time of year even more special for our customers.”

What do you enjoy most about being a marketer?

“Having the opportunity to create connections with audiences around the world. Marketing is a really powerful tool, and it can have an incredible impact if you get it right, so there really is no better job in my mind. And of course, making connections with your team is fantastic – I feel very fortunate to lead such a talented team and see the amazing work that they deliver.”

What makes a good creative marketer?

“First and foremost, I think you have to be a brand-fan of the business you’re working with. That passion will put you in good stead to continue to unlock creative ideas. Secondly, seeking out opportunities to challenge and put across your own is invaluable, and this is something that I’m always looking out for. It’s also important to recognise the effects of the pandemic, which have certainly influenced the qualities needed by good creative marketers. There’s now even more focus on the drivers of business performance and recognising how important brand building and sales activation are in parallel. Above all, the past few years have highlighted the power of resilience. So, demonstrating that and adaptability will be key for everyone.”

What makes a good creative agency partnership?

“Without a doubt, they have to be customers of your brand and understand the reason why people keep coming back to you. Trust and the ability to challenge are also paramount to ensuring ideas are kept fresh and relevant, and this is something that I really value when working with our long-term partner Leo Burnett. Creating campaigns isn’t always straight forward but having confidence in your agency and the strong relationship between creative and client that has been built up over time, always means you’ll get there in the end. That, and a strong sense of humour.”