WARNIE CHICKEN BITES

TitleWARNIE CHICKEN BITES
BrandMCDONALD'S
Product / ServiceSUMMER CHICKEN RANGE
CategoryA05. Best Launch or Re-Launch
EntrantDDB GROUP NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Entrant Company:DDB GROUP NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
PR/Advertising Agency:DDB GROUP NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Toby Talbot DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Group Executive Creative Director
Aaron Goldring DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Digital Creative Director
Jonathan McMahon DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Copy Writer
Lisa Fedyszyn DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Art Director
Paul Kim DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Copy Writer
Steve Hansen DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Art Director
Ben Barnes DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Digital Art Director/ Copy Writer
Judy Thompson DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Head of Television
Pip Mayne DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Agency Producer
Madeleine Fitzpatrick McDonald's VP Director of Marketing
Nicki Lambert McDonald's National Marketing Manager
Zoe Alden DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Group Business Director
Susie Darling DDB Group New Zealand/RAPP Tribal Business Director
Mark Lever Sweetshop Director
Lynette Gordon Sweetshop Producer
Danny Pope Sweetshop DOP
Michael Lonsdale Sweetshop Editor
Peter Van Der Fluit Liquid Studios Sound Design/Composer
Viv Scanu Carnival Films Director/DOP Food Shoot
Michael Corridore Photographer

The Campaign

For the 2010/2011 Summer, McDonald’s launched a new ‘limited time only’ chicken range, that was so delicious it was branded, ‘Chicken so tasty it sells itself’. Then to promote it, they signed on the world’s most infamous cricketer, Australian spin bowler, Shane Warne. But was a spokesman, and one as popular as Shane Warne, really necessary to sell a product that ‘sells itself’? The answer… No. So, we did our best to get rid of him. Chicken became the hero of this campaign, while Shane Warne was forced to become, well… an irrelevant extra. We tried to keep the unwanted Shane out of the ads altogether. We covered him with the food and prices, stuck him in the background, cropped him from shot and even gave him menial tasks like rotating the burger’s plinth. As a result, total chicken sales increased by 80%. Chicken burger sales increased by 92%. McBites sales were 60% above their forecast. And 2 weeks after launch, McDonald’s New Zealand recorded their highest sales week EVER in the history of being open in this country. And not long after the campaign launched, Shane Warne started dating English model/actress, Liz Hurley. Coincidence? I think not.

The Brief

McDonald’s believed in their chicken product. They also believed that if the public just tried their chicken they would prefer it over KFC and other players in the chicken market. Research showed that their target market, males between 16-30, liked chicken in summer. And we all know how much both New Zealand and Australia love their cricket. So the best way to guarantee that the public was informed about their two new chicken products was to involve a man who himself has dominated summers for the majority of the past two decades. And of course, some good ole self-deprecating humour.

Results

The public soon knew that McDonald’s was a major player in the chicken market, as it managed to capture the market it was after. As a result, total chicken sales at McDonald’s increased by 80%. Chicken burger sales increased by 92%. McBites sales were 60% above their forecast. And 2 weeks after launch, McDonald’s New Zealand recorded their highest sales week EVER in the history of being open in this country. And to top it all off, not long after the campaign launched, Shane Warne was seen canoodling with English model/actress, Liz Hurley. Coincidence? Who can tell?

Execution

The briefing made us aware that McDonald’s believed that this was the best chicken going around, and that the main thing the punter should take out of this is that McDonald’s had new chicken products. And secondary, that Shane Warne was there to sell it. That’s how we decided to make the chicken the main focus and the Shane Warne a background. Across all media we thought of ways for the food to be the hero and Shane to be present, but not a dominant feature. We covered Shane with the food and prices, stuck him in the background, cropped him from shot and even gave him menial tasks like rotating the burger’s plinth. The campaign ran for 3 months over summer, running across a TV campaign, online, press, poster, instore, outdoor and in stadiums right where the punters were.

The Situation

McDonald’s was trying to break into an already crowded chicken market, in the middle of summer. Which was always going to be hard as KFC had a strangle hold on this season with their ongoing sponsorship of the Australian cricket team. But instead of finding another way in, McDonald’s decided to take them head on. For the first time ever they gained access to stadium advertising for the Ashes. And as Shane was a commentator throughout the series this also brought about plenty of talk on air during games, in the papers and on radio stations.

The Strategy

Research showed that males between 16-30 love eating chicken over summer. It also revealed that one of the favourite things for these guys to do over summer is to watch cricket. As the Australian cricket team is sponsored by KFC, McDonald’s decided to sign up recently retired, but still the most infamous Australian cricketer, Shane Warne as their spokesman. With this they would force their way into this KFC-dominated arena and get this target market to consider McDonald’s as a place to purchase quality chicken. As they believed that their chicken was tastier and more pure than that offered by the competition.