2013 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

The innovative billboard made a lot of heads turn and generated a lot of buzz, with people talking about it on the radio, sharing it on mobile phones and social media. Research that measured recall after two weeks showed an amazing 90% of daily commuters recalled the billboard execution. Out of these, 97% recognized that it was a McDonald’s ad. 32% of these people tried the McDonald’s breakfast as a direct result of seeing the billboard. More than half of them acknowledged having shared this experience with their friends, family or colleagues. Source: McDonald's dipstick (Al Ittihad road branch)

Creative Execution

We strategically identified a landmark site in perfect proximity to the McDonald’s restaurant on the Ittihad highway that connects Sharjah to Dubai. This site caught the attention of drivers in both directions from as far as a mile away. When commuters drove past on the highway (usually at slow speeds, because of peak hour traffic congestion) they saw the billboard advertising McDonald's breakfast. Along with the meal was a giant cup of coffee - and for the first time ever in the region- steam rose from the cup, bringing the otherwise static medium to life and making it a really appetizing and engaging billboard on the road. (We generated the steam using 4 steam machines which emitted smoke between 6 and 11 in the morning which is the breakfast serving time)

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

McDonald's Breakfast was launched in the country recently to meet a distinct need for a breakfast offering that presented true value for money, convenient and quick. The typical consumer was a middle-income Asian expatriate who was in too much of a morning rush to get to work to spare time for breakfast. The highest potential for conversion was among the consumer that typically lived in Sharjah and commuted to Dubai everyday for work. While a massive launch campaign ran across all media, we realized that to change the consumer's morning behavior, we had to interrupt their morning routine in a dramatic way. We decided to make McDonald's Breakfast come to life on the road in a tangible way.