As 2020 began, McDonald’s and Leo Burnett were in a good place.

We had a happy 36 year relationship, 50 quarters of growth and a deeply ingrained understanding of the strategy that had gotten us there. Things were looking up.

But then, March arrived…

The pandemic changed everything.

For the first time, McDonald’s was forced to shutter its entire UK operation.

All 1,270 restaurants were closed, advertising budgets cancelled, and comms strategies destroyed.

For 2 months not a penny of revenue taken and, every day, 2.3 million customer visits were lost - some directly to competitors, who had chosen to stay open.

For the first time in decades, we didn’t have a plan.

The old ways of doing things – our working practices, processes and plans - were all redundant.

All we knew was that we needed to restore McDonald’s revenue and market share, before any more damage was done.