Every day, McDonald's makes 40+ million Big Macs worldwide. How does the brand stay coherent in the face of a global pandemic and other enormous challenges?In this episode:We're joined by George Strakhov, Head of strategy EMEA for DDB, and Steve Griffiths, Chief Digital Officer for DDB Europe, both of whom work with McDonald's across 40+ markets.The scale of the McDonald's businessA dynamic and complex businessProduct and experienceDiversity of touchpointsGeographical diversityMenu diversitySegment diversityGuest counts and salesSpeed of the feedback loopDDB and McDonald'sFrom advertising to strategic planning and tactical activationMarket to market activationDigital transformationFocus on convenience - experience, accuracy and efficiencyOptimising process in a process driven companyChanging consumer tastes and experienceArtificial intelligenceCreating interconnected, intelligent touchpointsPreference and transactional dataLoyalty and longitudinal dataData driven marketing, analytics and experience designCreating a coherent brand experienceMaximising the interactionThe balance between delivering the most value for customer and businessShort term (activation) vs long term drivers (brand)Constantly adapting to circumstance - a very responsive businessMcDonald's and the Coronavirus crisisRestaurant closuresCautious reopeningFocus on crewThe perils of getting it wrongA return to the foundational elements of the businessPeople needing the basics more than ever - Quality, Service, CleanlinessThe 'bubble of happy'Producing 40 million Big Macs all the sameSwitch to drive thru, changes to menu, delivery changes, dark kitchensThe benefits of being a 'known quantity'Creating intergenerational connectionsHappy Meals and birthday partiesNo longer a family mealtimeScreen distractionsMatching the brand with the next generationInnovation and brand experienceEntrepreneurship vs innovationBazaars vs cathedralsThe difficulties of tech mediated brand experienceA gap that needs closingGiving franchisees and restaurant managers the capacity