I'M AMAZING!

TitleI'M AMAZING!
BrandMcDONALD'S RESTAURANTS (HK)
Product / ServiceMcDONALD'S
CategoryA10. Best Integrated Content Campaign
EntrantDDB GROUP HONG KONG, HONG KONG
Entrant Company DDB GROUP HONG KONG, HONG KONG
Contributing Company DDB GROUP HONG KONG, HONG KONG
Contributing Company 2 DIGIT DIGIT Hong Kong, HONG KONG
Production Company TOUCHES Hong Kong, HONG KONG

Credits

Name Company Position
Ng Ka Lok Ddb Group Hong Kong Print Production
Christy Leung Ddb Group Hong Kong Print Production
Vincent Wong Ddb Group Hong Kong Producer
Annie Tong Ddb Group Hong Kong Producer
Winnie Chan Ddb Group Hong Kong Art Director
Maurice Moynihan Ddb Group Hong Kong Art Director
Amy Lien Ddb Group Hong Kong Art Director
Miriam Yip Ddb Group Hong Kong Senior Art Director
Arthur Tse Ddb Group Hong Kong Senior Art Director
Francis Chung Ddb Group Hong Kong Writer
Thomas Selby Ddb Group Hong Kong Writer
Daat Lai Ddb Group Hong Kong Writer
Manolis Perrakis Ddb Group Hong Kong Creative Technologist
Vincent Tse Ddb Group Hong Kong Associate Creative Director
Nateepat Jaturonrasmi Ddb Group Hong Kong Creative Director
Clifford Ng Ddb Group Hong Kong Creative Director
Frankie Fung Ddb Group Hong Kong Creative Director
Asawin Phanichwatana Ddb Group Hong Kong Creative Director
Jeffry Gamble Ddb Group Hong Kong Group Executive Creative Director

The Campaign

Hong Kong is a tough market for branded content. The law only allows it during commercial airtime, which defeats its purpose, and it is heavily and often arbitrarily censored by TV stations. In 2012, however, skyrocketing media costs and the falling effectiveness of traditional advertising meant that we had to try something new to get customers’ attention. So instead of creating an ad campaign, or our own branded content, we found a way to get Hong Kong kids to create the content for us. The opportunity came when we were challenged to reconnect with families. Encouraging Hong Kong’s notoriously demanding parents to bring their children to McDonald’s was no small feat, so we decided to reignite their love for the brand by giving the kids a chance to be creative, and prove to their parents that they are amazing - even without the countless after school activities their parents put them through. We gave the kids the biggest canvas we could: our own restaurant. And we ended up building the first McDonald’s restaurant in the world that was designed entirely by kids, for kids.

Results

In 2012, McDonald’s Hong Kong faced a problem. Families weren’t coming as often as they used to. So our challenge was to reconnect with them, and encourage them to love McDonald’s again. As a family brand, McDonald’s has always believed that children are amazing. But in Hong Kong, kids don’t have a chance to enjoy their childhood. They start school 3 years earlier than in Europe. They are put through hours of after-school tuition every day. Relentless homework means they often don’t get to bed before midnight. Kids love McDonald’s, but their demanding parents - “Tiger Mums” - don’t like to bring them. So to get parents to love McDonald’s again, we decided to tap into their parental pride. We wanted to show parents that their children are amazing just the way they are. Our solution was to give Hong Kong kids the largest canvas we could find - our restaurant - and let them go crazy. We asked them, “If you could build the McDonald’s of your dreams, what would it look like?” We put out the question on TV, in print, online, and in our restaurants. Within hours, thousands of entries started flooding in on our website, in our stores, and by post. A couple of weeks later, we took the most popular ideas and built them for real into the first McDonald’s restaurant in the world that was designed entirely by kids, for kids. Selling only Happy Meals, and packed with happy kids and parents. When the campaign drew to a close, we auctioned off all the kid-designed items in the restaurant and raised HK$500,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Our audience was drawn to the content primarily through TV and word of mouth. We put out a simple question: “If you could build the McDonald’s of your dreams, what would it look like?” Kids told their friends. Parents told other parents. Schools spread the word on their own, turning the question into a class assignment. And before long, we had thousands of entries, individual pieces of branded content, flooding in.

As well as thousands of entries from kids all over Hong Kong, the campaign achieved $5.2 million in earned media and raised half a million dollars for charity. What started out as a simple brief to reconnect with a core audience turned into a big idea that generated excitement, wonder and appreciation for what is truly innate in children - creativity. It showed parents in Hong Kong that for kids, success doesn’t have to mean hours and hours of study. And it was ultimately so successful for McDonald’s that “I’m Amazing” has become an integral part of the brand’s annual marketing calendar.