Title | EMLINGS |
Brand | McDONALD'S |
Product / Service | McDONALD'S |
Category | A03. Mobile Applications |
Entrant | LEO BURNETT SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA |
Entrant Company | LEO BURNETT SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA |
Advertising Agency | LEO BURNETT SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA |
Media Agency | OMD SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Andy Dilallo | Leo Burnett Sydney | Chief Creative Officer |
Kieran Ots | Leo Burnett Sydney | Creative Director |
Zaid Al Asady | Leo Burnett Sydney | Creative Director |
Zaid Al Asady | Leo Burnett Sydney | Creative |
Kieran Ots | Leo Burnett Sydney | Creative |
Bruno Nakano/Alex Schieder | Leo Burnett Sydney | Designers |
Janifer Wong/Eddy Milford | Leo Burnett Sydney | Designers |
Amir Mireskandari | Leo Burnett Sydney | Head Of Operations |
Gemma Heyes | Leo Burnett Sydney | Digital Producer |
Olivery Mistry | Leo Burnett Sydney | Digital Strategiest |
North Kingdom | North Kingdom | Production Company |
Monterosa | Monterosa | Production Company |
Peter Bosilkovski | Leo Burnett Sydney | Client Service Director |
Paul Everson/Amanda Quested | Leo Burnett Sydney | Group Business Director |
Anna Viney | Leo Burnett Sydney | Business Director |
Neil Duncan | Leo Burnett Sydney | Senior Business Manager |
Mark Wheeler | Mcdonald's | National Marketing Manager |
Jo Feeney | Mcdonald's | National Marketing Manager |
Tim Kenward | Mcdonald's | Marketing Manager |
Emlings was created in consultation with child development experts and parents to ensure that it offers kids aged 4-8 true developmental value without losing any of the magic. Launched in every McDonald's restaurant in Australia and New Zealand, Emlings is a platform that kids can engage with again and again. Each month, a new, unique tribe of Emlings can be found hiding in the Happy Meal box using the app, bringing with them new colours, sounds and textures. And unlike the traditional plastic toy, these characters are randomly generated, which means there's more than 144,000,000 different Emlings waiting to be discovered.
Emlings first week of activity saw more than 22,000 downloads without any external media support, proving that the platform is genuinely engaging kids in restaurant. More than 220,000 games were played, 120,000+ Emlings were rescued, 3,800+ Tribe Emlings were found in Happy Meals, and the app was collectively played for 530 days worth of gameplay all within one week. Within the first month, Emlings passed 110,000 downloads, averaging approximately one new player every 30 seconds. Average playtime was more than 15 minutes, well above the benchmark of 9.6 minutes, and around 60% of players were returning players, showing that Emlings has lasting appeal among kids. After a successful launch, Emlings will now roll out internationally, beginning in New Zealand, with plans to extend to other markets including Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea and China.
In recent years, McDonald's restaurants have become more sophisticated, and while they're now more appealing to adults, they've lost that sense of magic and playfulness for kids. Our task was to change the way kids saw their McDonald's, and bring some magic back to their experience without changing the restaurants. So we overlaid these modern restaurants with a secret world of imagination that only kids can see, through a dedicated smartphone and tablet app. And we filled this world with millions of Emlings curious little creatures who have lost their creative powers and need kids to help them rediscover their imagination. Emlings was launched in the very place that we wanted kids to see in a new light McDonald's restaurants. Kids discovered the story of the Emlings through in-store posters, content videos, and through the Happy Meal - the cornerstone of kid's experiences at McDonald's.