Category: Best Online Advertising in a Promotional Campaign
Advertiser: McDONALD'S
Product/Service: McDONALD'S
Agency: ARC WORLDWIDE
Executive Vice President/Creative Director: Jim Carlton (Arc Worldwide)
Vice President/Creative Director: Mike Frease (Arc Worldwide)
Creative Director: Louie Calvano (Arc Worldwide)
Creative Director: Jeremy Bacharach (Arc Worldwide)
Associate Creative Director: Eric Ronne (Arc Worldwide)
Art Director: Dylan Krenka (Arc Worldwide)
Art Director: Chris Annen (Arc Worldwide)
SVP/Account Director: Susan Stein (Arc Worldwide)
Vice President/Account Director: Steve Cotten (Arc Worldwide)
Account Director: Stephanie Pines (Arc Worldwide)
Account Planning Director: Emanuel Basnight (Arc Worldwide)
Account Executive: Ashley Sposeep (Arc Worldwide)
Account Director: Amanda Mckinney (Arc Worldwide)
Operations: Tameko Smith (Arc Worldwide)
Media placement: Microsite - Internet/Online - 11 November 2011
Media placement: Facebook Posts - Facebook - 11 November 2011
Media placement: Tweets - Twitter - 11 November 2011
Media placement: Press Release - Websites, Newspapers - 11 November 2011
Media placement: Mobile Site - iPhone/Android - 11 November 2011
Media placement: McDonald's Fry Boxes - McDonald's Restaurants - 28 November 2011
Describe the objective of the promotion.
McDonald’s is hands down America’s favourite place for French Fries, boasting more Fries loyalists than any other QSR. And still, whether saving money or cutting back calories, people had been eating McDonald’s Fries less often.
If we were to address this change in behaviour, we needed to re-frame the consumers’ relationship with McDonald’s Fries.
So our approach was to elevate the Fry brand in the minds and hearts of people by giving them a platform to associate with McDonald’s Fries, not just with burgers and shakes, but all the best moments in life.
Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation.
Our foundation was turning a familiar pop culture question 'Do you want Fries with that?' into a statement. Because at McDonald’s, it’s not a question, it’s a fact. 'You want McDonald’s Fries with that'. From this, we created an engagement inviting consumers to start the conversation: 'Tell us what you want McDonald’s Fries with, and you could win it'.
We got the word out via Fry cartons, Facebook, Twitter and PR, driving consumers to our site to enter.
Conversation spread as consumers shared their entries on Facebook and Twitter, and social chatter buzzed with the trending hashtag #wantfrieswiththat.
After receiving thousands of entries, we invited the public to vote for the winner.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service.
This idea was born out of a consumer expression and warranted a model that allowed consumers to express themselves.
We fostered conversation around McDonald’s Fries where people were naturally talking about them – all over social media. This unaided dialogue made it easy for people to personalise their online or mobile phone entry for a chance to win what they wanted McDonald’s Fries with.
By making it easy for consumers to share their want, we sparked organic participation and discussion within their networks.
By allowing consumers to vote for the contest winner, we empowered the public to determine the ultimate pairing with McDonald’s Fries.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results.
We sparked participation
•280,000+ visitors to our microsite, fries.mcdonalds.com
•200,00 contest entries
We changed behavioor
•120,000+ Searches for McDonald’s Fries
•17,000+ Tweets for McDonald’s Fries with 95% positive/neutral conversation on #wantfrieswiththat hashtag
We advanced the business
•On a $200k budget, we contributed to a 4% lift in Fries movement year-over-year, which equates to more than 44m boxes of McDonald’s Fries.