McDonald’s Marketing is Interactive Participatory Success Clue

 

How do you like your McDonald’s meal?  Do you like to customize and or personalize your meal? Customization and personalization are teams’ industry insiders use, food marketers use, and college professors use while talking about customer engagement and customer loyalty.

Last week McDonald's new ad campaign features customer social-media menu hacks, such as PJ Mattingly's "Surf + Turf."  In yet another success clue, McDonald’s edifies its relationship with consumers leveraging interactive and participatory marketing tactics strategically via social-media.

Once again, we turn to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® to see what he thinks of the new ad campaign. Johnson stated, “continuing it traditional of celebrity endorsements’ McDonald’s extends it brand messaging with a specific target market in mind.”

Gen Z and millennials are ‘digital natives’ and are very comfortable with the term ‘hacks’ and the use of social-media. These new ad’s spotlight 4 TikTok fans’ creative combos elevating its brand invitation once again to a consumer base that is driving change in society with is digital skill-set according to Johnson.

McDonald’s is spotlight four fans’ favorite hacks, popularized on social media, as limited-time offers. The four items can be ordered at participating U.S. restaurants through the brand’s smartphone app.

The four initial TikTok-user inspired mashups include:

Hash Brown McMuffin:  This combines a Sausage McMuffin with Egg with the crunch of a hash brown. Available only during breakfast hours.  “I’ve been saying for years that the hash brown goes inside of the Sausage McMuffin with Egg … that extra little crispy bite is the real breakfast cheat code,” said creator Sarah Sandlin (@sarahmargaretsandlin on TikTok).

Crunchy Double: This hack features Chicken McNuggets on a Double Cheeseburger with barbecue sauce. “It’s simple, yet so tasty...Chicken McNuggets topped with a Double Cheeseburger, then drizzled with Tangy Barbeque Sauce. Order it now and thank me later,” said Greg Simms (@grubwithgreg on TikTok).

Land, Air & Sea: This combines a McChicken sandwich with a Big Mac and a Filet-O-Fish. “It’s the flavor I never knew I needed, until I needed it. Go big baby!” - Julian Broadway (@julianbroadway on TikTok).

Surf + Turf: This mashup features a Filet-O-Fish and a Double Cheeseburger. “Sometimes I’m craving the flaky crunch of a Filet-O-Fish, sometimes I want the juiciness of a Double Cheeseburger, and sometimes I want both. So why choose?” asked PJ Mattingly (@heavyhands94 on TikTok). It is available via the app and McDelivery.

The customer-hack promotion will be supported by television commercials, a company spokesperson said.

Jennifer Healan, vice president for U.S. marketing, brand content and engagement at McDonald's USA, stated, “From hip-hop icons to Christmas queens, everyone has a unique go-to McDonald's order, including our everyday customers. This campaign shows that it has never been ‘our menu’ — the menu belongs to our fans,”.

Healan continued,  “We're excited to celebrate them in a bigger way than ever before by putting their delicious hacks – as seen in social media – on our menus. I personally can’t wait for our fans to try my favorite hack, the Hash Brown McMuffin,” … “IYKYK,” which is the TikTok hashtag for “If You Know You Know.”

If you want to see some of ideations that McDonald’s customers to wanted to share of their favorite combinations on social media, look up the tag; @McDonalds with the hashtag #McDonaldsHacks.

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information.