Monday, January 12, 2015

McDonald's - Carry on, carry on.


In November of last year, McDonald's sales were down 4%, the largest decrease in over a decade. On a global scale, same-store sales for the month were down 2.2% with the third quarter same-store sales decrease clocking in at 3.3%. Clearly a brand-refresh was needed.

The question is, will their "Signs" campaign turn sales around? Will an emotional appeal drive more people to their restaurants? Is it designed to attract new customers, or to bring existing customers back?

As for the video itself, it is a good story, and continues the "I'm Lovin' It" narrative by showing that McDonald's "loves" their communities, and is connected to them.

The mere fact that this effort is beyond what one would expect is interesting. Meaning, you would think McDonald's would lead with ads offering discounts, pushing the low-priced products, or offering some new product. Instead, they offer up a feel-good advertisement in an effort to re-establish their position in the market. I expect this is the first ad of an integrated campaign that will have a mix of feel-good and product-based offerings so it will be interesting to see if it proves effective.

The question remains though, are they focused on the core issues in order to turn around sales? Or, are they hoping marketing can save the day?

houston@figment-consulting.com

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