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Brand: McDonald's
Agency: Leo Burnett India
Budget: Rs 40 crore
Brand-movie associations, whether one talks of co-branding, embedded advertising or in-film placements, go back a long way. While it is a tactical move for a vast majority of brands, it is vital for some others, and fast-food chain McDonald's probably tops that list. In yet another movie association, McDonald's has tied up with Minions, the latest animated action-adventure from the house of Universal Studios. What follows is not just a television commercial - which, by the way, features the movie characters salivating over the new Banana Caramel Oreo McFlurry soft-serve ice-cream - but also a whole menu revamp around the movie, as well as in-store merchandising and contests to win movie tickets.
"The slowdown of 2013-14 and the entry of many new players slowed the growth in the quick service restaurant (QSR) category," says Kedar Teny, director, marketing and digital, McDonald's, India, west and south. "The more aggressive players are reacting with either menu introductions or price-offs/discounts." The result? A market crowded with undifferentiated players as only a few spend on large-scale brand building exercises, or consumer connect initiatives. "In 2015, Minions allows us to utilise that opportunity to move from being a place of convenience to a choice hangout," says Teny. The seeds for the campaign were sown with the kuch pal offline television commercial (TVC) earlier in the year. It touched on a relatable subject: in today's digital age, people are constantly present in the virtual world and often miss out on creating fun memories in 'real' time. The campaign emphasised the importance of connecting with people and enjoying offline moments.
Taking that a step forward, the 'Minions' campaign, crafted by Leo Burnett, has two versions - one for the 'kiddie' population and the other for adults. Minions, a prequel to Despicable Me, is popular across age groups and therefore, its integration across McDonald's' menu (Minions-inspired desserts) and in-store decor. "Through our collaboration with Minions, we will try to encourage customers to create fun and memorable moments while dining at McDonald's," says RajDeepak Das, chief creative officer, Leo Burnett India.
The campaign takes a multimedia approach, including platforms like TV, radio, digital and outdoor, apart from menu revamps, merchandising, in-store contests etc. Large cut-outs and standees dot the stores, as do Minions-dressed staff. Engagement activities include doling out Minions-inspired goodies like toys, bookmarks, head-gears etc. "As Minions invade our menu, through the launch of the two Minion inspired desserts and our in-store decor, we will also engage customers through digital activation on Facebook and Twitter," says Teny. "Minions will be taking over our pages on popular social networking sites and will converse with customers through their unique vocabulary and joyful pranks."
Patrons would also get a chance to win Minion goodie bags, movie tickets and McDonald's India vouchers through social media. The fast-food chain has a social media fan base of 1.2 million followers on Facebook and 7,000 followers on Twitter. "Therefore, social media plays an integral role in our communication strategy and enables us to connect to a larger group of customers," says Teny. The ad spends for the overall campaign (running for a month) is estimated at Rs 40 crore by the industry.
McDonald's globally collaborates with Universal Studio, Dream Works and other production houses to integrate popular films into its marketing plan. Over the years, it has associated with movies such as Despicable Me, Smurfs, Shrek, Ice Age, Transformers, Penguins of Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, Spiderman, Star Wars, How to train your Dragon 2, Peabody & Sherman and MegaMind, which go to show how important movies are to McDonald's. "Just as we are doing with Minions, in the past, we have undertaken a similar endeavour for Shrek, where we celebrated the Shrek Festival across all our restaurants and developed a Shrek Dessert," says Teny.
Take other examples like the blue characters from Smurfs, which were re-created at McDonald's in 2013 and a collection of 10 Smurf toys was thrown in with every Happy Meal. In collaboration with the Ice Age series, McDonald's launched a range of Happy Meal toys that could double-up as kitchen accessories for making multi-colored ice lollies and color changing drinking glasses with the Ice Age animals embossed on them. Bringing the Spiderman adventures to life, McDonald's had created interactive toys in 2009 like Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus and Sandman.
Apart from film collaborations, in 2011, Nickelodeon India, along with McDonald's had launched a Happy Meal' package with a SpongeBob SquarePants inspired toy collection.
