Page 47 - MA2022-Souvenir-Programme

Silver Award

“McDonald’s App 1st Anniversary – Celebrating the Super Fans”
McDonald’s Hong Kong

This is a case about how McDonald’s took an empathetic approach to redefine the positioning of McDonald’s app and transform
customer experience in Hong Kong.

When the McDonald’s app was revamped in 2020, it was positioned as an app for best value with big success. To drive its growth
to the next phase, McDonald’s decided to reposition its app in 2021, focusing on three key evolutions that would transform its app
members into true McDonald’s fans.
First, McDonald’s redefined value through a data-driven approach, using data and understanding of over 3 million users to de-
sign fan-exclusive offers with fan-favourite food. Next, McDonald’s redefined convenience through an empathetic approach to
understand the pain-point of customers’ experience. Through multiple focus groups and workshops, queuing at front counter was
identified as the core customer pain point. With this in mind, McDonald’s introduced the ‘Order Ahead’ concept, an experience that
allowed customers to order and pay from the comfort of their home, and then pick-up directly at the restaurants. Finally, to get the
word out, McDonald’s marketing communications is redefined, deploying a full-funnel online-to-offline campaign that utilised its
first-party data. While MIRROR celebrities helped McDonald’s to drive mass awareness for the redefined value and convenience,
McDonald’s also used data to deploy targeted messaging and machine learning predictions that drove conversion.

By redefining all aspects of the app, McDonald’s was able to drive a five-fold increase in app orders, transforming the app as the
new storefront for going into the future.

Comments from the Judges:
It was commended as a visionary and revolutionary campaign. Grasped the perfect opportunity of the one-year anniversary of its
app, McDonald’s has reignited and evolved its proposition of providing seamless experience and highest value to the customers
and successfully took the brand to the next level.

The success of the campaign was majorly based on the in-depth understanding of the pain point in the market and clearly
identified customers’ needs. The use of digital solution to stay ahead of the emerging consumer trends was wise and powerful in
uncovering the customer preference, offering exclusive experience and driving customers’ behavioral changes. The enhancement
of the app functions coupled with the beloved celebrities effectively generated fun and entertainment elements to capture the
hearts of the general public.

The strong support from internal staff demonstrated a truly team effort. The determination of McDonald’s to go the extra mile
and exceed the customers’ expectation deserved applause. McDonald’s app successfully enhanced stickiness of the brand to
people’s daily life and developed a new revenue model across the entire McDonald’s global system. It was an exemplary case study
showing how to deliver a brand promise through innovation in a data-led way.

Parties to be Recognized for Contributing to the Success of the Programme:
1. DDB Hong Kong
2. OMD Hong Kong

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HKMA/VIUTV & NOW TV AWARDS FOR MARKETING EXCELLENCE 2022