The Campaign

"Phone Off Fun On" is McDonald's response to the shifting paradigm of parents indulging on their phones over the time spent on communicating with their children. We asked children of aged 5-8, what would they like to receive on Children's Day, the top answer was "play time with Mummy and Daddy". On Children's Day, October 6, we disrupted the store ambience by installing phone lockers in the middle, cannot-be-missed position, of the biggest McDonald's restaurant in Singapore. This initiative is to work on parents' conscience that it is no bad thing to put your phone down for a while and focus on the quality time with your children on this special day.

Execution

"Phone Off Fun On" phone lockers was installed on September 30, the weekend leading up to Children's Day which was on the following Friday October 6. The lockers were left in the restaurant till the following weekend on October 8. During the total 9 days of the installation, especially on the two weekends, the phone lockers was welcomed and supported by parents and kids who voluntary locking away their phone. Table stickers were placed all over the restaurant to remind customers on the act. Photo sharing devices were also distributed in all restaurants across the nation to help spread the movement. PR releases seeded to various media and consumers interviews were done to help hype the movement.

Many publications applauded McDonald’s act in promoting family bonding. The movement was featured in top-tier local media including Channel News Asia, The Straits Times and Mashable Asia, while international media like CNN and Fox News also featured stories, generating substantial conversations around McDonald’s efforts in promoting family time. Local media coverage: 20 International media coverage: 16 Local country reach: 79m+ International reach: 1.6b+ Local PR value garnered: S$555k+ International PR value garnered: S$201k+ Facebook tracking, as of October 27, there were 844,066 viewership. That's one in every 6-7 Singaporean have viewed the campaign on Facebook.

The Situation

It is beyond food advertising and new product launches, as one would expect from McDonald's restaurants brand. It is a movement that McDonald's Singapore would like to endorse and promote, that is for parents to spend more quality time with their children during weekends and holidays, especially at meal time. That is to part with their mobile phone devices which we often seen getting in between family members.

The Strategy

McDonald's has always been a pioneer in business innovation and new technologies, but it has never forget that real people sit at the heart of their business. This year, McDonald's Singapore is determine to strengthen their family restaurant positioning by targeting families with children below 10-yr-old, further establish McDonald's as the top of mind family restaurant destination on weekends and holidays. "Phone Off Fun On" campaign used real live installation phone lockers as a piece of communication device. Letting consumers' reaction trigger and propel the movement of switching off the phone to switch on family fun.