2014 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

The McDonald’s wrapped newspaper execution was a great success. The execution created positive word of mouth and news spread of the return of the McArabia Sujuk. 1. There was a 8% increase in footfall to the stores vs previous month. 2. McDonald’s also witnessed a 10% increase in overall sales as a result of the McArabia introduction. 3. Double digit growth witnessed in website and Facebook traffic. 4. Overall ad awareness scores for McDonald’s increased by 2 points.

Creative Execution

The most relevant and recognizable feature of the McArabia Sujuk was the unique packaging that the sandwich came with. Everyone who loved the McArabia Sujuk at the time completely related to the habitual action of unwrapping the McArabia. This unique experience is what we sought to reproduce for our core target audience. Along with a major multi-media launch, McDonald’s devised a special execution in one of the most popular daily newspaper in UAE The Khaleej Times. We delivered this major morning newspaper inside the McArabia wrap. In order to access the newspaper the consumer has to unwrap the McArabia wrap in the exact same way that they would unwrap the sandwich itself.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

McDonald’s is the most loved and recognized restaurant in the UAE market. One of its iconic products in the region is the McArabia. However, McDonald’s discontinued the McArabia Sujuk sandwich and now wanted to re-introduce it to the market. There is a set of core McArabia Sujuk lovers that exist in the market. This group is large enough to drive word of mouth and footfall behind the re-introduction of the McArabia Sujuk. McDonald’s wanted to tap into this specific consumer who loved the McArabia Sujuk from a long time ago.