Jenny Creative Writer
When you think of iconic brands, which ones come to mind? How about McDonald’s? A global phenomenon for over 60 years, McDonalds have upped their marketing lately in an effort to really engage with their customers and keep their elevated status as one of the most recognised brands all over the world…
When it comes to McDonald’s marketing, a strong place to start is with those iconic golden arches. Instantly recognisable and instantly associated with the brand, the McDonald’s marketing team capitalised on this with their recent ‘Follow the Arches’ campaign for their Canadian market (with plans for a worldwide roll out).
The idea behind the campaign is simple, yet so effective. By using cropped parts of the arches on giant billboards, drivers are encouraged to ‘follow the arches’ to the nearest McDonald’s and the fact that nothing but small chunks of the logo (against a red background) are needed shows just how strong brand recognition is – and how confident McDonald’s is in their campaign from Cossette.
Andrew Mumford, McDonald’s regional marketing manager explains: “The campaign is a playful example of how the arches are recognisable, even when the consumer only sees a portion of the logo.”
Whilst their ‘Follow the Arches’ campaign is a great example of McDonald’s marketing at its best, their recent attempt to mark International Women’s Day didn’t work quite as well. To celebrate women everywhere on this special day, McDonald’s decided to flip their logo upside down to form a ‘W’ but the act, branded as ‘McFeminism’ was heavily criticised and drew attention to their low minimum wage for both men and women and the need to hire more women in leadership positions.
Although their logo flip may have attracted criticism, McDonald’s marketing team has plenty of other ideas up their sleeve, including muscling in on consumer interest in the premium burger market and achieving success where other posh burger chains such as Byron (who recently agreed to close 20 of their restaurants in an attempt to claw back losses and operate more efficiently with the few restaurants they have left) have failed. They’re doing this with a push on their Signature Collection which was actually first released in just 28 of their restaurants but is now available in 150 restaurants nationwide. And, costing just £4.69 for the thicker, 100% British and Irish beef burger (served in a brioche bun, with Pepper Jack cheese, Beechwood smoked bacon and jalapeño slices) or £6.19 for the whole meal, the Signature Collection tastes great and is still so much cheaper than the £12.50 price of a Byron double bacon cheeseburger (fries are extra!).
Those premium burger chains need to look out…not just Byron, but Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Five Guys and Honest Burger too. McDonald’s is coming after them and with a healthy global sales rises of 5.3% and a 23% soar in operating income, they’re winning the battle for top burger at every end of the scale.
If you’ve been inspired by McDonald’s and their recent marketing push, talk to us today. When it comes to successful food marketing, we know how to position food brands at the top end of their market – and how to stay there.
