Male Opps: McDonald's shifts strategy (Score 42)

Sales Lead: Per CMO Tariq Hassan, McDonald's has started relying on its loyalty program to connect with consumers.

  • With new promotions such as the adult Happy Meal, McDonald's is working to provide quality customer experiences that build company value.
  • To do so, it recently launched a new marketing campaign centered around Gen-Z- and millennial-oriented nostalgia.
  • The campaign features McDonald's purple mascot, Grimace.
    • Like a cat running across a keyboard, the company tweeted “fhioea;odijcfaewklcldW,” followed by a selfie captioned “it grimace i’m taking over.”
    • Since then, Grimace has taken over Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.
    • McDonald's also launched a new product, Grimace's Birthday Meal, which it's heavily promoting on the three aforementioned paid social channels.
    • Additionally, McDonald's debuted a video game that stars a skateboarding Grimace.
      • The game reportedly tugs at Game Boy Color heartstrings, adding yet another nostalgic layer.
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​McDonald's also recently launched a limited-edition adult Happy Meal, which also appealed to Gen-Z and millennial adults who grew up on the fast food chain's food.
  • The company will likely:
    • ​​​​​​​Continue experimenting with nostalgia marketing
    • Keep ramping up digital spend
    • Conduct additional agency reviews following a recent roster shift (more below)
  • Target demographic: 
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Gen-Z and millennials with a skew toward men
    • Especially parents

Additional spending insights:

  • Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
    • YTD spend: So far this year, McDonald's has allocated roughly $76.7m toward national TV commercials, down 9% from the roughly $84.5m allocated within the same 2022 timeframe.
    • Last year: The company allocated around $162m toward this channel last year after having allocated much more, around $240.5m, in 2021.
    • 2023 ad programming: McDonald's 2023 commercials have targeted male sports enthusiasts watching shows such as NBA Basketball, NFL Football, Super Bowl LVII Immediate Pregame, Good Morning America, and the SportsCenter.
  • Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
    • YTD spend: The company has spent approximately $76.1m on digital ads YTD, a 10% increase from the approximately $69.4m spent by this point last year.
    • YTD data: Since the start of 2023, McDonald's has earned ~9.5b digital impressions via Instagram (30%), Facebook (29%), YouTube (20%), Instagram (7%), desktop video (6%), desktop display (6%), and mobile display (2%) ads.
    • Last year: The company's estimated full-year 2022 spend reached $143.2m, 14% more than that of $125.5m in 2021.
  • Additional channel insights  
    • The company utilizes Google Ads along with print, OOH, digital, local broadcast, radio, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and online video (via Youtube Android, Youtube.com, and Youtube IOS) ads.
    • McDonald's sponsors podcasts such as Stuff You Should Know, Dateline NBC, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Global News Podcast, and The Bobby Bones Show.

Additional agency insights:

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix; podcast insights by Podchaser.


Request Demo
Spending Shifts Midwest Restaurants digital National Vulnerable Account Index Campaign Launch TV Radio Outdoor Print Men Agency & MarTech Opps Millennials Parents Gen-Z Product Launch

Links

Companies

Agencies

Decision Makers

WinmoEdge

Top Companies by Industry

Top Companies by Location