The Big Mac is the world’s most famous hamburger, but the love for it is fading. The challenge: How do you make an old icon feel exciting again?
Summary of the campaign
Our strategy was to give its fans whole new opportunities to be fans – by opening an online store – The Big Mac Shop –that sells a specially designed Big Mac clothing line. As a self-funding initiative half of the profits goes the Ronald McDonald’s House Charity, the remainder is reinvested into new products. To kick-start the conversation, we launched The Big Mac Shop at our very own fashion show – the McWalk – in Stockholm. Partnering with bloggers and cultural influencers such as the Swedish Skiteam the campaign wove across Owned and Earned Media. The story spread like a wildfire. It reached 200 mill. people, welcomed visitors from 150 countries and generated +50 million SEK in Earned Media – all in just one week.
Insights and idea
The initiative builds on the insight that people see the Big Mac as more than a burger. It’s a pop icon with thousands of fans. But despite its iconic status, the Big Mac is old news and leaves fans with little to talk about.
Our objective was to have fans rediscover their love for the Big Mac. To do that, we had to give them a new opportunity to share their affection. In a playful way that would feel credibly McDonald’s and once again have fans say: i’m lovin’ it. Within sports and music fans wear their idols on their sleeves. So, why not let Big Mac fans do the same? Behaving like a modern pop icon, we decided to let Big Mac open its first official online shop with a specially designed Big Mac clothing line. A humorous lifestyle statement perfectly suited for its fans’ social and digital behavior.
Execution
The Big Mac Shop ecommerce platform doubled as the campaign hub in an integrated eco-system mainly driven by Owned and Earned Media.
Phase 1: Influence the influencers:
Launch of the Big Mac lifestyle clothing line at our fashion show in Stockholm – the McWalk – before the press and the public. Exclusive invites for the world premiere were sent to 175 bloggers, 70 journalists 70 international media, who also got access to selected items before they had become available on the Shop. High quality fashion photos were made available for the press on Flickr. We partnered with bloggers and cultural influencers who posed in Big Mac fashion items on their own social media channels.
Phase 2: Fuel the conversation:
Video clips of Swedish skistars in Big Mac thermals were released on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Ongoing dialogue with fans is happening via the Big Mac Shop’s unique Instagram and Pinterest accounts.
Results
In just 1 week, the campaign had a reach of 200 million people, generating a total of +50 million SEK in Earned Media (5.5 mill. Euro)
In just 1 week, The Big Mac Shop had welcomed visitors from 150 countries.
In just 1 week, it had been covered in +250 articles in international media and appeared on Bloomberg TV, ABC News, CBS News and even Conan O’Brien’s talk show.
The Big Mac Shop is driven as a start-up business and is now an ongoing self-funding initiative: Half of the profits goes to the Ronald McDonald’s House Charity, the remainder is reinvested into developing new products.
The Big Mac Shop is now shipping products to 6 continents.
New Big Mac designs are currently in production and the shop is proving sustainable not just as ecommerce platform but for innovation that allows McDonald’s to engage with fans in new and relevant ways.