ng me to every facet of store operations. That was followed by another two weeks of understanding the machinations behind the shop front that keeps stores humming. Understanding what the consumer wants at the coalface is embedded in the McDonald’s ethos. Towards the end of my fourth week, I replaced the hairnet with a necktie and sat down with Sue, a mother and McDonald’s Happy Meal doyen. 

So Tim, she said, have you worked out why people buy Happy Meals? 

Well, you can feed a child for under three quid, I wisely offered. But Sue had seen the likes of me before. 

That helps, but no, that’s not the real reason. When parents choose a Happy Meal they are buying a moment to be a happy family together. End of story. 

You know those occasions when a little bit of vomit comes up into your mouth? I nearly had it right there and then. Sue’s been drinking the Golden Arches Kool-Aid, surely. Come on … 

But I didn’t fancy going back to fitting kids’ shoes, so I zipped my lip and listened. 

Sue explained that for parents of young children, life’s full of stress, angst and tension. Every day is a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s bloody hard, tiring, thankless work. So, the idea that for fifteen minutes you can sit down and just be with your child – content, happy even, without the fighting and the screaming – is rather appealing. 

There it was again. An ethereal need that floated above the obvious functional requirement. By walking in the shoes of the McDonald’s consumer, Sue had painted the picture of what a McDonald’s family really wanted. 

Stop and reward yourself – enjoy the moment. 

This is the brand truth at the heart of the largest, most successful food franchise globally. The experiences McDonald’s creates play out differently for its different audience segments, but the essence is the same. 

Rewarding the young family market is core to the McDonald’s business, which does a fantastic job of bringing this truth to life with lived experiences. McDonald’s suburban stores have bright, colourful play equipment bursting out of them like beacons of joy and respite for young families driving past. Inside, the seating has 50s-style booths bringing children physically closer to their parents, providing comfort and security to children. 

This is all done very consciously, based on the truth of reward and connection. The essence of the McDonald’s brand is used as the filter for every consumer-facing decision they make. How it delivers its products and services become the stories people tell. It’s rare to speak to someone who can’t recall a special childhood memory of a family trip to McDonald’s. 

Humans buy on emotions and rationalise the decision with logic. The emotions are fuelled by the change they believe the purchase will make in their lives. The logic feeds the brain’s need for rational sequence and order. 

• Why do you drive the car you drive? What’s the feeling it delivers for you? How does it impact how people perceive you or how you feel about yourself?
• Why do people get obsessed with job titles? It doesn’t change what they do, but it does change how they are perceived and their perception of self. Job titles are an emotive status tag for what someone does; therefore, they are important. 

When humans buy something, we seek way more than the commodity we purchase. We seek the change in feeling it gives us, or the change in perception of others. So people don’t care about brands, until the brand gives them what they want – the change they seek. 

When you walk in the shoes of your audience and understand the unconscious bias we all have to be better, to change, you can view your potential impact with the gravitas it deserves. Identifying this impact transforms your value – you move from selling a commodity to offering the emotional leverage your audience seeks. 

This is an extract from the new book, Your Amazing Brand Story by brand expert Tim Wood – youramazingbrandstory.com

We will be publishing more insights from the book in the coming weeks.