MCDONALD'S AUSTRALIA DAY

Bronze Spike

Case Film

Presentation Board

TitleMCDONALD'S AUSTRALIA DAY
BrandMCDONALD'S AUSTRALIA
Product / ServiceAUSTRALIA DAY MENU
CategoryB03. Consumer Services
EntrantDDB Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company DDB Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency DDB Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Nick Simkins Jungleboys Producer
Scott Pickett Jungleboys Director
Amy Hansen Ddb Sydney Tv Producer
Domenic Bartolo Ddb Sydney Designer
Chelsea Lamond Mango Sydney Account Executive
Melinda Parris Ddb Sydney Senior Business Manager
Sophie Collins Ddb Sydney Business Manager
Sara Tomonari Ddb Sydney Senior Business Director
Richard Morewood Ddb Sydney Managing Partner
Tina Alldis Mango Sydney Head Of Media Relations Strategy
Guy Lemberg Ddb Sydney Copywriter
Adam Ledbury Ddb Sydney Art Director
Richard Morgan Ddb Sydney Creative Director
Cameron Hoelter Ddb Sydney Creative Director
Dylan Harrison Ddb Sydney Executive Creative Director
Zipporah Allen Mcdonald's Australia National Marketing Manager
Skye Oxenham Mcdonald's Australia Media Relations Manager
Paul Pontello Mcdonald's Australia Senior Brand Manager
Madeline Fitzpatrick Mcdonald's Australia Vp Director Of Marketing
Mark Lollback Mcdonald's Australia Cmo Anz

Results and Effectiveness

By the end of January, McDonald’s was one of the most-talked about brands and biggest news items of the month, with coverage that created more than 11 billion PR impressions worldwide. McDonald’s also saw a year-on-year growth in sales of 6.7%, which equated to selling more than 300,000 additional Big Macs in only 30 days.

Creative Execution

To create a context for McDonald’s to change their name, in November 2012 we started the debate in social media before conducting an outreach program, which highlighted the popularity of the name. We then announced McDonald’s application to have ‘Macca’s’ added to the Macquarie Dictionary. It wasn’t just Australia that embraced the campaign - the world started talking about those cheeky Aussies deeming their nickname important enough to be in the dictionary. Then on January 8 2013, Australia – and the world – woke to the famous golden arches, now with an Aussie twist – Macca’s appeared on pylons and in signage across flagship stores throughout the country. Aussies loved the signage so much that the Central Coast community petitioned McDonald’s to have a Macca’s sign installed in their area, adding another phase to the campaign.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

McDonald’s is one of the world’s largest restaurant chains with stores right around the globe. It’s also one of America’s most famous brands. Australia Day is a 3-day celebration when one of the most patriotic nations on earth becomes even more patriotic. This meant McDonald’s had a problem. They were the last place Australians would visit on the most Aussie occasion of the year. In Australia, there’s no greater sign of acceptance than being given a nickname, so what better way for McDonald’s to prove to Australians how ‘Aussie’ they were than by embracing their Australia-only nickname officially after more than 40 years in the community. In a world’s first for McDonald’s, they would change their branding, with Macca’s appearing in place of McDonald’s in the land down. The change was spread across every channel, including PR, social media, advertising, in-store and the iconic pylons.