As our client at McDonald’s put it, “Generational research is hard. There is plenty of data, plenty of analysis looking at behavior, preferences and priorities. Values, lifestyles, and challenges. Even deeper dives into profiles and personas. At McDonald’s we wanted to create an intrinsic, holistic, and authentic connection with 18-24-year-olds across our marketing team, to fuel our strategy to drive cultural relevance.”

The question was, how exactly do you set up an ongoing learning process for a massive marketing team that truly changes behavior?

Meet the cast of the Up Close with Gen Z series.

McDonald’s knew that understanding a new generation of consumers isn’t a moment-in-time exercise, but an ongoing process of learning about their shifting needs and perspectives in deeper and more personal ways.

Our goal was not just to inform, but to entertain and engage a diverse group of McDonald’s employees in getting to know their new customers. Together with our client, we co-created a new way of building consumer empathy that was worthy of a world-class brand – something to inspire the McDonald’s team and create viral “buzz” inside the organization.

Ciaran, Francesca, Trenton, Chelsea, Noah and Xcaret became the embodiment of our young customer and an inspiration to our team, helping us to create marketing that’s being recognized for its effectiveness, innovation, representation, and creativity .

Matt Cahill, Senior Director, US Consumer Insights, McDonald’s

Up Close, an 18-episode, virtually-shot and professionally-produced TV series, featuring six cast members who are young artists, advocates and entrepreneurs representing distinct Gen Z archetypes. Each weekly episode explored their unfiltered views on topics like identity, family and “The New American Dream.” In between weekly topics, we shared cast spotlights in the style of Vogue’s “73 questions.”

“Working with C Space, we came up with a novel approach. What if we met these people… as people, not as data, in an engaging and interesting way that captivated the team and taught them at the same time. In a simple and engaging way, we started to connect all the dots and really create a better understanding of this critical target. Ciaran, Francesca, Trenton, Chelsea, Noah and Xcaret became the embodiment of our young customer and an inspiration to our team, helping us to create marketing that is being recognized for its effectiveness, innovation, representation, and creativity.” –Matt Cahill, Senior Director, US Consumer Insights, McDonald’s