BIG MAC AWARD

TitleBIG MAC AWARD
BrandMCDONALD'S JAPAN
Product / ServiceBIG MAC
CategoryB01. Foods
EntrantDDB JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN
Entrant Company DDB JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN
Advertising Agency DDB JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN
Advertising Agency 2 DESIGN ASSOCIATION Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Tetsuya Kurita Paragraph Shooting Assistant Director
Mie Koshihara Paragraph Shooting Director
Atsushi Kumon Slp Director
Jun Deguchi Agile Media Networks Social Media Planner
Hideaki Sato Ddb Japan Copywriter
Shiho Osumi Ddb Japan Designer
Satoko Iida Ddb Japan Art Director
Ryoto Mori Ddb Japan Social Community Manager
Shunsuke Sunagawa Ddb Japan Planner/Content Manager
Satoshi Hashimoto Ddb Japan Planner
Cairo Marsh Ddb Japan Supervisor
Toshiaki Kawamata Design Association Npo Producer
Shigeki Ochi Design Association Npo Executive Producer
Hideaki Shirakawa Mcdonald's Japan Client Supervisor

Brief Explanation

Today’s youths are more dynamic and are more demanding. In most cases a single USP is not enough to create engagement. Like themselves, the brands they buy had to be multi-faceted. So enjoying the Big Mac had to come not just from eating the burger but also from the entire experience. The packaging needed to change to reflect this. It had to be instantly recognizable and relevant to youths. McDonald’s wanted their customers to enjoy Big Mac thoroughly.

The Brief

The Big Mac is one of the most iconic burgers in the world. It arrived in Japan in 1971 and was a huge hit. However, it has struggled to keep up with the times and as a result has an “old people burger” image. It no longer resonated with today’s younger generation. McDonald’s needed to contemporize Big Mac’s offering and let youths be part of the experience that makes this burger a global icon.

How the final design was conceived

What better way to create something relevant to the customer than to ask the customer to do design something that they would like to see in the restaurants? We held an art contest where aspiring and upcoming artists would create art based on the Big Mac. They would define and recreate the Big Mac experience in their own personal ways. The winner would have his or her art adorn every single Big Mac box nationwide.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

A total 1,369 works poured in from all over Japan. 88,554 votes were registered and created the largest digital activation campaign ever for McDonald’s Japan. Social was effectively leveraged to increase McDonald’s Facebook fans and Twitter followers grew 33% and 26%, respectively. During the same period, McDonald’s sold 300% more Big Macs than the previous year, exposing the artwork to millions of customers.