Needham Harper Steers was the advertising agency associated with Ronald McDonald's early national promotion.
The agency helped develop the early Ronald McDonald advertising concept in the 1960s. Ronald was presented as a friendly clown who could connect McDonald's with children and family visits, expanding the brand's character-based advertising beyond the earlier Speedee mascot.
The character's origin is often simplified because television personality Willard Scott played the first Ronald McDonald in an early advertisement. Scott's performance and the agency's advertising work are related facts, but they are not the same answer: one concerns the performer, while the other concerns the agency.
Later McDonald's advertising involved other agencies, including Leo Burnett and DDB Worldwide. Needham Harper Steers is specifically relevant to the early development and promotion of Ronald McDonald as a national advertising character.