McDonald's upsizes Eugene Lee's role to Asia CMO

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McDonald's has promoted Eugene Lee, regional director of marketing for the Asia business unit, to Asia CMO. In his new role, Lee (pictured) will oversee the strategic marketing plans for 12 markets across Asia and work closely with the local MDs and CMOs to develop their long-term strategies. On a day-to-day basis, Lee will work very closely with the CMOs to review their monthly execution plans and offer input from his experience to enhance outputs. He will report to head of Asia business unit Thomas Ko.

"Apart from that, I am also the voice of Asia on global forums, representing the region on the global stage and ensuring Asia’s voice is heard, and working closely with international teams to develop new directions or guidelines for McDonald’s on areas such as media, creativity, and menu," he told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. For instance, Lee played a key role in spearheading the launch of the BTS meal in Asia. The meal was initially supposed to be a US-only activation, similar to meal executions done with other music industry players such as rapper Travis Scott. However, Lee told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously that he knew it would be "a huge opportunity missed" if Asia was left out of the activation given the boy band's global popularity.

Lee landed the Asia-wide remit last year and was previously senior director of marketing, strategy and insights at McDonald's Malaysia and first started with the company as a marketing officer in 2009. Before McDonald's, he was with SOUL Society for two years. In total, he has been with McDonald's for 12.5 years, 11 of those with the local market in Malaysia and 1.5 of those with the regional team. Joining the Asia business unit last year gave him a new vantage point which has been an eye-opening experience for him, Lee explained.

"Having been born and raised in Malaysia, I know the market like the back of my hand. However, since joining the regional team, I’m exposed to the many different markets across Asia in a much more intimate way and it’s been a rich growing experience for me," he added.

Despite the promotion from marketing director to Asia CMO, Lee said there is not much change in his responsibilities. While there are definitely additional roles, his baseline responsibility of consulting on marketing strategy and working with the markets remain the same. With the new role, Lee's biggest ambition is to evangelise and elevate the level of creative effectiveness in Asia. "That's my single biggest goal that I already started in 2020 and continue to do until this day," he said.

Lee explained that McDonald's produces plenty of work, sometimes on upwards of 20 campaigns per market per year. Due to the sheer volume of work, quality is sometimes sacrificed for quantity and Lee plans to push hard on this front to ensure the marketing leads in each market prioritise creative excellence and effectiveness. On the global front, Lee reiterated that he wants to be the ambassador and voice for Asia to ensure the region gets its fair share of spotlight on the international stage. "I am part of the McDonald's Global Creative Council and take it as my personal responsibility to ensure that McDonald's marketers from across the globe get to experience the fantastic work coming out of Asia," he explained.

The year 2021 was still a challenging time for Asia as many countries grappled with lockdowns, unemployment and social distancing restrictions, which have also affected consumer spend. Therefore, Lee said affordability and value will be the most critical areas he will focus on next year as markets start to recover.

"McDonald’s is the most democratic brand in the world, and we do so by remaining accessible to everyone from every walk of life. This isn’t just through our convenient locations, fast service, Drive-Thru or delivery. Affordability is also part of accessibility and will be crucial to help us grow our market share and retain leadership in the QSR space," he explained.

Delivery has witnessed tremendous growth within the food industry over the past five years and was only accelerated by COVID-19, Lee said. Moving forward, he foresees delivery to continue growing as customers become accustomed to it. "Much like online shopping or online banking, you never want to go back after experiencing a new level of convenience. Despite customers returning to dining halls when lockdowns are lifted, we foresee that delivery will continue to remain sticky, and despite a mild consolidation, will continue to grow over the next five years," he added.

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