Solid strategy and wonderful advertising is typically why clients hire agencies. However, more and more we find creative opportunities outside of traditional advertising. In 2003, we began to look at ways that simple motivational concepts, combined with fun incentives, could deliver results for McDonald’s by helping their restaurant managers focus on specific initiatives. Since then, the McDonald’s MVP Program has become a year-round program featuring monthly product or service initiatives where managers compete for Las Vegas Trips, Bahamas Cruises and Extravagant Shopping Sprees, with winners announced by Elvis-impersonators and local celebrities like the mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky.
The specific results of the program are confidential, but our McDonald’s Owner/Operators have continued to grow the program. With over 38,000 customers visiting the average McDonald’s each month these managers are busy folks. It’s amazing what a little recognition and the occasional voice mail from Elvis can do.
For years, the African American Consumer Market (AACM) McDonald’s restaurant group in St. Louis was lagging behind the market average. To address the issue, the agency developed a long-term program that reached far beyond media advertising, and aimed to make the McDonald’s brand more relevant to the young adult target in the African American market.
Once the basics of delivering the appropriate levels of GRPs to the segment were covered, we set out to demonstrate to the target that McDonald’s is a vital part of the community. Agency efforts, lead by Miqua Alvarez, resulted in new and unique programs including the McDonald’s Academic Excellence scholarship program with local boys and girls clubs, a local version of American Idol we call McDonald’s R&B Soul Search, the River Wars All-Star basketball show down, the Annie Malone Blues Fest, and a regular schedule of smaller community events. Most of these efforts are promoted in the restaurants, online and in African American targeted media.
