Background

Around the world, women are still underrepresented across all levels in the workforce, especially in C-suite and leadership roles. In fact, women make up only 5% of CEOs. The Philippines, however, has been able to close the gender gap in the labor force by 80%. For the past years, the Philippines has been leading Asia as the country with the most women dominating the workforce. In a world where women are considered minority, McDonald’s Philippines champions and empowers them. Throughout the company, across different positions, and all the way to the top, it’s the women who lead.

Describe the cultural / social / political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

The Philippines has long been a progressive gender-equal country. Prior to the colonization by Spain in the mid-16th century, women were already revered as traders, warriors, and even religious leaders. Today, the Philippines continues to uphold this identity. Filipino women outnumber men when it came to senior and leadership positions. It is in one of the very few cases where the Philippines ranks ahead of first world countries such as the United States and Canada. The agency felt that it was important to recognize this unique position for the country on International Women’s Day – not by discrediting a problem that the Philippines did not have, but by showing how women have the power to lead.

Describe the creative idea

McDonald’s Philippines wanted to show how women can dominate the workforce. To do this, McDonald’s illustrated the different statistics that show how women lead McDonald’s in a poster campaign. The campaign brought to life the idea that behind every McDonald’s food that people enjoy, is a company led by women.

Describe the strategy

Through a simple audit of the workforce, we found many inspiring facts: - Women account for 55% of the workforce. - Women lead male-dominated departments such as I.T., Legal, and Construction. - 3 out of 7 members of the Executive Committee are female. - 11 out of the 15 members of the Management Committee are female. Given these learnings, we knew we had a powerful message that needed to be heard by all our stakeholders: at McDonald’s, women lead. We wanted to inspire employees and internal stakeholders, and make them proud of being part of a progressive company, by showing how McDonald’s is way ahead of the global benchmark for a gender-equal workforce. For the general public, we wanted to present McDonald’s as a brand that they can love and trust, not through quality food and service but through its core values and advocacies like female empowerment and gender equality.

Describe the execution

On International Women’s Day, we launched a series of in-store posters that illustrated iconic McDonald’s food – cheeseburger, fries, and McDip, and art directed them to become clean visual graphs. The food shots revealed facts about women leadership in the McDonald’s workforce. We also rendered the artworks in a fun, striking color palette, that even without a logo, the artworks were unmistakably McDonald’s. A simple legend was also used to show which were men and which were women. The hashtag #WomenLeadMcDo that was present in all three posters, also strengthened our message, and solidified McDonald’s imagery as a brand that puts women front and center in the workplace. These posters were installed in several McDonald’s restaurants around the country.

Describe the results / impact

The project drove a significant increase in brand imagery scores throughout the campaign duration. The brand garnered +7 points on imagery score for “good employer” among consumers across total age groups, and +36 points among teens, who comprise the bulk of McDonald’s workforce. It also gained +5 points on imagery score for “a place people want to work for,” and +24 points on imagery score for “ethical and responsible company.” The hashtag #WomenLeadMcDo also took the conversation online, driving lengthy discussions and positive sentiment from McDonald’s employees and consumers.