Viewpoint: Alistair Macrow, vice president of marketing, McDonald’s UK

McDonald’s has worked with Leo Burnett on a global level for 25 years on its creative and above-the-line work, The Marketing Store for 20 years on below-the-line, OMD for its media planning and buying since 2002, and Razorfish for digital since 2007.

A good client-agency relationship has to be based on genuine, shared passion for the brand. We work very closely with our agency partners and have built strong relationships based on trust and a clear understanding of our strategic business objectives.

In my experience, an agency has to be brought in to work as part of your brand and not simply ‘in conjunction with’. Through open and honest dialogue, the in-house team and the agency team should be providing each other with constructive challenge to make sure the end result is delivering for the person that matters most – the customer.

Achieving that level of cohesiveness and shared vision enables an effective client-agency partnership to explore new channels and enliven a brand’s relationship with its consumers, without compromising the brand’s core values.

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