2016 Winners & Shortlists

MCDONALD'S SALAD NATION

BrandMCDONALD'S GCC
Product/ServiceQSR
EntrantOMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryUse of Promotional Stunts/ Live Advertising / Live Shows / Concerts & Festivals
Media Agency OMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Entrant Company OMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Agency 2 OMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Brief

McDonald’s as part of their plans of keeping up with the rising consumer trend of having balanced meals, decided to revamp their existing salads by introducing 3 new premium salads. However, we knew that if we told our key target audiences, Mothers & health savvy people, that McDonald’s were offering premium Salads, they wouldn’t believe us nor trust the quality and the taste. Our challenge hence became to make people believe that these Salads are actually offered by McDonald’s and are made of premium quality ingredients. Our strategy hence became to make our TA taste the McDonald’s Salads without their misconception about the brand affecting their judgement.

Creative Execution

We created an on-ground activation where we installed a fake salad outlet in the Dubai Financial District offering the new salads range for employees during their lunch breaks. The outlet was not linked to McDonald’s. We called it “Salads Nation” and branded it with a fresh identity. People who came in for a salad and upon finishing it they were surprised to see the McDonald’s logo hiding at under the last few ingredients at the bottom of the salad bowl. The Consumer journey was as follows: 1- The guest selects one of the three new salads 2- The salad bowl is handed to the guest 3- After the customer has finished eating his salads, he / or she discovers a McDonald’s logo on the bottom of the salad bowl. The overall experience was captured, put together and edited into a engaging piece of content which was seeded on Social media and on YouTube.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Activation results •460 people passed by the salad nation between 11:30am –3pm •67% change in perception towards McDonald’s balanced meal offerings •People were genuinely surprised that the salads were from McDonald’s as most visitors thought this was a new premium salad bar. •More than 180 visitors agreed to take part in filming their genuine reactions during the activation •Most visitors who ordered salads to go came back to share their positive feedback on the surprise •Almost 40% of visitors asked to repeat this activation Business Results •Salads’ sales increased in UAE, Qatar and Bahrain by 45%, 53% & 21% respectively Media results - We reached around 3 Million users on FB with a CPE 70% less than the average McDonald’s CPE - The YouTube Masthead enabled us to serve around 45M impressions and generate 1 Million video views in one day.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

- It was a one day POP out outlet - The objective was to make people try the new salads from McDonald's - People didn't know the Salads outlet was by McDonald's - There was a surprise element in it - It was filmed

Credits

Name Company Role
Carl Atallah Omd Mena Business Director
Mohammad Mannaa Omd Mena Director
Raya Tannous Omd Mena Senior Executive - Planning
Rim Darazi Omd Mena Planning Manager
Rami Salame Omd Mena Director of Creative Strategy
Jacquelyn Moulds Omd Mena Content Manager
Faisal Contractor Omd Mena Digital Director