2006 Marketers That Mattered
MCDONALD’S ONLINE CAMPAIGNS won big at the Media Innovation Awards.”Our media mix over the last two years has changed more than it did in the 10 years prior,” says Laurie Laykish, VP of marketing
When it comes to coffee, McDonald’s restaurants are more than mere has-beans. In a blind taste test of “corporate coffees” in the Sept. 25 issue of Canadian Business, McDonald’s brew trumped that of both Starbucks and Tim Hortons. The company promptly issued a news release crowing “McDonald’s Coffee ‘Roasts’ Competition in Canadian Business Magazine Taste Test.”
Mickey D’s trumps Timmies on coffee-it was just that kind of year for Ronald and the gang. (Actually, premium coffee sales are being given at least partial credit-along with more 24-hour restaurants and increased European momentum-for a systemwide 10.4% jump in third quarter earnings, to US$5.9 billion, for the fast food colossus.)
Rewind to 2003, and McDonald’s was being assailed as out of touch with consumers’ appetite for healthy foods. Today, its menu-which has expanded to include its Salads Plus and Toasted Deli Sandwiches line, as well as fruit parfaits and breakfast bagels-is cited by some as the most progressive of all the fast food chains.
“About four years ago they were well on their way into the toilet, and have done a spectacular job in repositioning, waking up, seeing what the market’s demanding and fulfilling the need,” says Doug Fisher, president of Toronto-based food service and franchise consultancy FHG International. “I think they finally got off the standard program…and started recognizing that their clientele has changed significantly.”
Working with its partner agencies OMD Canada, Cossette, The Marketing Store (promotions) and Watt International (merchandising), McDonald’s also radically revamped its marketing approach the past 24 months.
While it continues to utilize standbys like TV, radio and outdoor- which together accounted for more than $43 million of its ad spend in 2004, according to Nielsen Media Research figures-it is augmenting these approaches with innovative (and effective) forays into such burgeoning marketing areas as digital and mobile. Lori Gibb, VP, group director of strategy for its media agency, OMD, says the company plans to double its 2006 online investment in 2007.
The McDonald’s marketing team “really has embraced the whole idea…of trying to move out of what might have been very traditional QSR-type advertising, focusing everything on TV,” says Gibb. “They’re really open to everything.”
Our “media mix over the last two years has changed more than it did in the 10 years prior,” agrees Laurie Laykish, McDonald’s Toronto-based vice-president of marketing. “TV has always, and will always be, a very dominant medium for us. But…we’ve really expanded-not necessarily the budget, but the allocation of the media and how it works together.”
McDonald’s was actively involved in non-traditional media executions this year, through initiatives such as the McDonald’s Weather Eye (a downloadable desktop icon available from theweathernetwork.ca that featured weather-specific food promotions) and the McDonald’s Wake Up Call service.
For the latter, which promoted McDonald’s revamped breakfast menu to up-and-at-’em averse young adults, the restaurant invited people visiting muchmusic.com to register their cellphone number for a free “I’m Lovin’ It” ringtone, a wake-up call from their favourite MuchMusic VJ, and a text message offer for breakfast.
The program contributed to a 7% year-to-date jump in breakfast sales and won gold in both the Interactive and Young Adults categories at Marketing‘s annual Media Innovation Awards earlier this month-capping a strong performance that saw McDonald’s and OMD Canada nab a total of seven awards (four golds, two silvers and a certificate) for four different executions.
Consumers have also been able to check in with McDonald’s at the popular online community Habbo Hotel, where it maintains a virtual restaurant. And while it pales in comparison with the billions served by its real-world equivalent, the virtual restaurant recently served its one-millionth Habbo customer.
When it comes to innovative marketing, it seems McDonald’s has woken up and smelled the coffee.
