After more than a decade without a meatless entrée, McDonald’s Canada is finally throwing veggie lovers a bone… er, wrap.
The fast food restaurant chain recently added two Signature McWrap options to the menu: Mediterranean Veggie and Santa Fe Veggie. McDonald’s developed the new products to meet Canadians’ growing appetite for more veggie-based menu choices.
In an Environics survey commissioned by McDonald’s, 76% of consumers said they look for veggie-only choices at least sometimes, even if they don’t consider themselves to be vegetarian. More than half (51%) said they are not satisfied with the current meatless options available at restaurants.
The new flavours are an extension of the Signature McWrap line-up launched in May 2013. “We saw a great opportunity to combine the success of the Signature McWraps with a very tasty and contemporary offering in the veggie Signature McWraps,” said Joel Yashinsky, chief marketing officer and SVP of marketing and consumer business insights at McDonald’s Canada.
In addition to the Environics survey, McDonald’s gleaned insights from its “Our Food. Your Questions” campaign, in which consumers could submit any question to McDonald’s. Some asked for more veggie options. The campaign “really helped solidify [the meatless options] area as an opportunity for us, so that was certainly one of the questions that popped up,” said Yashinsky.
McDonald’s Canada first introduced a vegetarian option in 2002 with the launch of the veggie burger. The burger was discontinued in 2004. The launch of the new veggie wraps “is good news for our current customers and perhaps some of our lapsed customers,” said Yashinksy.
The new menu items are being supported by a national advertising campaign that includes TV spots, out-of-home, radio, digital, direct marketing and in-store merchandising.
The creative “is really focused around the different ingredients that make up these delicious products,” said Yashinsky. “We have a big focus on the veggies and the freshness of the product, as well as the made-for-you component.”
Cossette developed the radio, TV and out-of-home ads, while Tribal DDB handled the digital work. Media planning and buying was handled by OMD.
