| Title | SURPRISE ALARM |
| Brand | McDONALD'S |
| Product / Service | BREAKFAST MENU |
| Category | A08. Other Digital Solutions in a Promotional Campaign |
| Entrant | THE MARKETING STORE Hong Kong, HONG KONG |
| Entrant Company | THE MARKETING STORE Hong Kong, HONG KONG |
| Advertising Agency | THE MARKETING STORE Hong Kong, HONG KONG |
| Media Agency | OMD Singapore, SINGAPORE |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Taylor Host | The Marketing Store | Head Of Mobile Platforms Asia |
| Martin Chan | The Marketing Store | Director Of Customer Engagement |
| Evan Kroft | The Marketing Store | Head Of Digital Strategy Strategy Asia |
| Andrew Kingham | The Marketing Store | Managing Director Asia |
| Brian Weisbart | The Marketing Store | Senior Director/Chief Architect |
| David Bergen | The Marketing Store | Global Senior Director/Digital Delivery |
| Kurt Karlenzig | The Marketing Store | Global Svp Digital Strategy |
| John Jasper | The Marketing Store | Chief Technology Officer |
| Stuart Nyman | DDB Group Singapore | Regional Digital Director |
| Vinod Savio | DDB Group Singapore | Creative Director |
| Lydia Lim | DDB Group Singapore | Associate Creative Director |
| Ng Xue Wen | DDB Group Singapore | Art Director |
| Chen Shanghao | DDB Group Singapore | Copywriter |
| Loo Yong Ping | DDB Group Singapore | Art Director |
| Antonio Valentino | DDB Group Singapore | Project Manager |
| Shervin Seah | DDB Group Singapore | Copywriter |
| Yishu See | DDB Group Singapore | Ux Designer |
| Silas Lewis Meilus | OMD Asia Pacific | Business Director |
| Jodie Collins | OMD Asia Pacific | Digital Strategy Director |
| Mark Halliday | OMD Asia Pacific | Head Of Airwave |
McDonald’s wanted to strengthen its association with mornings, and make it the place for people to go for breakfast. To achieve that, we targeted a key behavior that most people are guilty of – checking their mobile phones when they wake up. As people are busy scrolling through their social media feeds, checking emails and reading the news, the thought of having a McDonald's breakfast is almost never a priority on their minds. Hence, we wanted to get ahead of the clutter and engage both existing and new customers directly, to get breakfast back at the top of their agenda.
Most of us aren't morning people, waking up to our smartphone alarm is a decidedly unpleasant experience. To make people want to head down for breakfast at McDonald's, we first had to make people look forward to waking up. The McDonald’s Surprise Alarm app surprised people by giving them something to look forward to when they woke up. By positioning the brand top of mind when people are deciding what to have for breakfast, our strategy was aimed at turning this brand engagement into a 5% increase in incremental guest count during the promotion period.
Within days of launch, the app climbed to #1 spot on both Google and Apple app stores. After six weeks, In Singapore: The app drove 5x as much daily engagement as all other McDonald's brand assets combined. It surpassed its six-month target in three weeks, with 8.9% of smartphone users having registered the app - and used it 14.4 million times. It also earned US$1.9 million in PR value. In Taiwan: The app drove 9x as much daily engagement as all other McDonald's brand assets combined. 5.4% of smartphone users registered the app, using it 25 million times. It also earned US$3.1 million in PR value.
We created the McDonald’s Surprise Alarm to shake up morning routines. The app wakes people up to pleasant surprises every day, ranging from tasty McDonald’s treats to downloadable music, quirky content, cash prizes and more. Even the alarm tone changes from day-to-day – so you'll never know what you're going to get when you wake. The app serves as both utility and advertising platform for McDonald's to wake, entertain and reward its customers every morning. And through analytics, it lets us learn and give people more of what they like.