The Campaign

In Hong Kong, when it comes to branded content, TV is the most regulated channel. Brand exposure, product name exposure, even the mentioning of taglines was not allowed! Although most brands strive to smartly infuse their communication into TV shows, the subtle yet deliberate product placements usually put off young adults! Talking to these keen-eyed viewers who actively pointed out glaring mistakes on TV scenes, we created a series of hardcore, in-your-face product hi-jacks to take them by surprise!

Results

This year, when McDonald’s re-launched their Dip Dip Sharing Box, despite such high volume base, we needed to hit an incremental sales target of +3% and incremental guest count of +2%. Launching in Christmas and New Year, more than enough advertisers communicate how their products bring the joy and pleasure of sharing. To truly excite young adults, we needed buzz-worthy content that would amplify the fun of sharing! Content that would drive all young adults in town to our restaurants, with their friends! Our solution was to revive young adults’ memories of Dim Jack, McDonald’s nugget-sauce stealing character, by taking the city by surprise! The Idea – A Dim Jack “Hi-Jack” We injected high excitement by getting Dim Jack to look for people to share the Sharing Box with, ANYONE from ANYWHERE. Right after the most insanely exciting and hectic chase scene from Hong Kong Television Network’s crime thriller ‘Borderline’, Dim Jack made a surprise appearance, replicating the same scene. When viewers expected the police to pull out his gun, instead, Dim Jack pulled out a box of nuggets, sharing its crave-able contents with the actor! Replicating a series of unprecedented scenes that genuinely entertained young viewers, we truly got people talking! To connect with Young Adults, we needed to choose a media channel they were most likely to embrace a new format of advertising. While Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV) won enormous support and empathy from Hong Kong youth after being rejected a free-to-air broadcasting license, we strategically made the surprise appearance in their blockbluster crime thriller.

Talking to these keen-eyed viewers who actively pointed out glaring mistakes on TV scenes, we created a series of hardcore, in-your-face product hi-jacks to take them by surprise!

Turning the suspenseful scenes into fun, within just 1 week, in a city of 7 million population, videos of Jack’s “Hi-Jacks” successfully generated were seen already more than 1 million views on YouTube and Facebook combined, surpassing our target by 43% already before the end of the campaign! We generated a total of HKD1.5million earned media, 89% above target!

It was already the 4th time McDonald’s wicked character Dim Jack returned with his Dip Dip Sharing Box. To excite young adults, we needed buzz-worthy content that would amplify the fun of sharing! Knowing that our ambitious goal of generating social buzz and earned media would only be achievable through entertainment, we decided to create content not only fun and surprising to watch but also new and groundbreaking in its format itself. One can never share alone! We got Dim Jack to look for people to share his Dip Dip box with, anyone from anywhere, to take the city by surprise! In a Hong Kong media-first, Dim Jack hi-jacked Hong Kong Television Network’s blockbuster crime thriller ‘Borderline’, by replicating the most hectic, most suspenseful, most brutal scenes in an unprecedented way!