2016 Winners & Shortlists

MCDONALD'S 1955 BURGER #THROWBACK

BrandMCDONALD'S
Product/Service1955 BURGER
EntrantUM MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryUse of Print
Advertising Agency FP7/DXB Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Agency UM MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Entrant Company UM MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Brief Explanation

In 2015, to celebrate its 60th worldwide anniversary, McDonald’s UAE set out to introduce its very first burger – the iconic 1955 Burger – for people in the UAE. They wanted to give their fans a taste of what it was like in the 1950’s. And they needed to make nostalgia around McDonald’s 60th anniversary cool and interesting for people to care, and as a result, share. To give McDonald’s customers a taste of this, we integrated newspapers and social media with a 50s look and feel and ensured it reached them with the same flair and pop of the 50’s

Results and Effectiveness

Impact on the business - Sales increased by 88% in 15 key stores on launch day of the Twitter Throwback Party. - Ultimately, the 1955 Burger was sold out. - Footfall increased by 5% during this term with 8% increase in deliveries resulting in 8% increase in revenue. Brand’s Social currency Impact - 1.2 million impressions via Twitter and 15,000 engagements. - Mentions of McDonald’s Arabia increased by 71% - #Throwback trended in the UAE on May 14th – the day of the first tweet and brands’ interactions and as a result, McDonald’s Arabia owned the famous #Throwback in the UAE.

Creative Execution

We reserved a fabricated cover page with a top English newspaper, to take them down memory lane back to the 50’s. On the morning of May 05, readers were greeted with headlines from 1955 instead of 2015; we also included an advertisement with a look and feel from the 1950’s. To further enhance this execution we tweeted this with the ‘’#throwback’’. Leading brands who have been around since the 50’s Coca – Cola, Ford, Sony and Rainbow also joined in the twitter conversation. Outdoor and 1955 retail experiences at McDonald’ s were executed supported by radio spots

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

McDonald's loyal consumer’s age usually varies from 15 to 35 young adults seeking an exceptional experience and are always looking forward for a new taste that the restaurant offers. Keeping that in mind, McDonald’s took them back in time to try the 1955 Burger. We choose one of the top English newspapers in UAE to carry out the execution in 50s format plus sparked conversations on social media, the strongest social communication channel consumers use, which resulted in millions of impressions and thousands of mentions, using the hashtag ‘’#throwback’’, multinational brands also joined in to celebrate the 1955 launch.

Credits

Name Company Role
Irfan Ibrahim Um Mena Business Director
Rami Eid Um Mena Media Manager
Noor Ali Um Mena Media Executive
Deepa Chettur Um Mena Media Operations Supervisor
Joe Zoghbi FP7/DXB Account Director
Maya Kaabour FP7/DXB Account Executive
Tarek Ali Ahmad FP7/DXB General Manager- Business Unit
Tahaab Rais FP7/DXB Regional Head of Strategic Planning
Mohtab Arabiat FP7/DXB Social Media Director
Sameer Islam FP7/DXB Senior Strategic Planner
Paul Banham FP7/DXB Executive Creative Director
Erol Salcinovic FP7/DXB Design Director