In our Headliners series of conversations, we get under the skin of PR and communications leaders around the world who have made PRovoke Media headlines recently, uncovering the risks they have taken in their career, the people, brands and work they admire, their advice for industry newbies, and their guilty pleasures.

In this week's Q&A, we speak to Eugene Lee, the international CMO at McDonald's who recently stepped down from his role after 15 years.

What’s the biggest career risk you’ve ever taken? How did it work out?

I’ve made many big decisions across my 15-year career with McDonald’s, but the biggest risk was definitely to bet on the growth of Ayam Goreng McD (McDonald’s Fried Chicken) during my time in McDonald’s Malaysia. 

McDonald’s was a challenger brand in the fried chicken space, but there was huge potential especially in the Malaysia market where fried chicken is a staple of the Malaysian diet. You would see it everywhere, in hawkers, in mamaks, in QSR and even in upscale cafes.

So it was a brave and bold decision to set our sights on growing market share in this space, especially at a time when the guidance was to focus on our core – burgers.

The great news is that it worked out well. The bold strategy and brave execution helped us grow our fried chicken market share from 8% to 32% in just 12 months, and McDonald’s in Malaysia is now just as famous for it’s Ayam Goreng McD as it is for the Big Mac.


What’s the biggest creative risk you’ve ever taken?

Tied back to the Ayam Goreng McD, the biggest creative risk I’ve ever taken was on our go-to-market advertising for the campaign.

As a challenger brand in the space, we needed to stand out versus competition. If we had taken the stereotypical route of shooting a “food romance” ad, it could have easily been ignored or mistaken for a competitors ad.

So at every step of the way, I pushed the team to think differently and we eventually created the groundbreaking “krup krup” Ayam Goreng McD ad.

Instead of hiring professional actors, we went out to the street and filmed regular Malaysians eating our fried chicken. And the most iconic part about eating fried chicken has to be the sound of biting into its crispy battered skin, so we partnered with Dolby Digital to record the sounds. This all resulted in an authentic ad that had zero voiceovers, and all consumers heard was the genuine sound of real people biting into Ayam Goreng McD.

It drove a frenzy for the product, and in just six weeks, McDonald’s single handedly wiped out all the chicken stocks across Malaysia. It was definitely my biggest creative risk, but absolutely my proudest moment.


What do you think are the most important character traits for a great PR person?

I think the most important character trait is brave authenticity.

In marketing or PR, customers are looking for brands that are authentic that align to their values, beliefs and interests. So as marketers or public relations officers, we need to first bring our authentic selves to work in order to produce work that is authentic to the brand.

Which company or organisation do you most admire in terms of PR, branding or reputation management?

My personal favorite brand has to be Red Bull.

If you comb through their marketing or PR activities, you won’t find any hard selling posts where they shove their product in your face. Instead, all they focus on is building the Red Bull brand through brand affinity and resonating with customers through their interests.

Red Bull is a fantastic example of being authentic to their core brand values and beliefs, and for a company that started off selling just sugared water, they’re now one of the largest most recognizable brands in the world.

Which individual, in any field, do you think exemplifies outstanding leadership or communication skills?

My personal hero has to be Kenneth Chan who is a McDonald’s alumni.

I had the pleasure of working closely with him from 2017 – 2019 during my time in McDonald’s Malaysia where he was the group operating partner. But prior to that, he was one of the very few Asians that had a seat at the global leadership table in McDonald’s Corporation. Back then, this was extremely rare and hearing stories of his legendary achievements within the company was an inspiration.

His leadership was larger than life, and he was the most prolific leader I’ve ever met.

Chan would remember and address everyone by name no matter how junior or how senior you were. He would take the time to get to know you personally and take an interest in your career. And most importantly he brought humility to the leadership table.

My fondest memory of him wasn’t in the boardroom but actually at a dinner event. I walked over to greet him and he noticed I didn’t have a drink in my hand. He immediately asked me what I wanted and personally walked over to the bar to get it for me.

Bear in mind, this was when I was just a senior marketing manager in the company, and this simple action showcased his servant leadership style, and on the spot, he created a fan for life. I want to grow up to be just like him. 


What’s the best campaign you’ve seen recently?

It’s not very recent, but I have to call out IKEA’s “Proudly Second Best” campaign.

It takes a genuine understanding of the customer and tremendous creative bravery to deploy an ad campaign that proudly celebrates being second best.

IKEA sells baby chairs, but your child will always prefer your lap during mealtimes. IKEA sells baby cots, but your child will always prefer to fall asleep on your chest.

The insight, the emotion, and the guts to celebrate being second best makes this campaign a truly human and wonderful one.


Is there an industry trend or discussion you think is over-rated or exaggerated or just plain stupid?

Personally, I think the over emphasis on performance marketing and that every single dollar needs to generate immediate ROI is dangerous.

With digital, we can track every single dollar we spend today. And although great, it also overemphasizes tactical marketing to drive immediate sales.

I believe that “people will forget what you tell them, but they will never forget how you made them feel” and that great brands are built by driving a true connection with customers instead of just shoving a product in their face. We need to balance brand affinity and brand trust with the need to sell our product.

The most successful campaigns I’ve seen build both brand and business. They make customers smile, cry, laugh, and at the same time encourage them to buy the product.

Overemphasizing performance marketing and that every dollar needs to work harder and harder to drive sales – that to me is the industry trend that I’m personally nervous about.


What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone entering the PR industry today?

“Fail fast and keep moving forward”

You’re never going to get everything perfect, and with how quickly the world evolves today, speed is important. So playing it too safe, especially in the world of marketing and PR might not always produce the best results. Instead, be brave enough to fail fast, learn from mistakes, and improve along the way.


What’s your guilty pleasure when you need to unwind from the high pressure of PR?

For the body, an hour at the gym everyday really helps. I know it sounds cliché, but sweating it out helps change your physiology and helps wash the stress of work away.

For the mind, I’m grew up a gamer, so my guilty pleasure at night are a few rounds of Mobile Legends to unwind. It allows me to reconnect with friends through voice chat, talk about things outside of work, while still remaining competitive to win at the game.