PMA REGGIE AWARDS

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	2010 REGGIE Awards
	Age-Specific (No budgetary parameters)


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Caption: Avatar Customer Engagement Model

Caption: Take a look at how McDonald's Avatar program came to life in over 25,000 restaurants around the world!

Caption: Enjoy this message and demo of the McDonald's Avatar digital program, by award-winning film Producer, Jon Landau. McDonald's worked closely with Mr. Landau on the development of this digital program.

Caption: Here is another version of the McDonald's Avatar Global TVC, customized for our Singapore market.

Caption: Take a look at how we pulled all the elements together in our restaurants in Latin America. (Note: there is no sound in this video).

Caption: McDonald's Avatar Global TVC in US English


Entry Title:	McDonald's Avatar Program

Company:	McDonald's Corporation

Award Won:	Gold

Product Service Category & Summary:
Quick-service restaurant

Campaign Objective:
In 2009 McDonald’s undertook one of the most ambitious and exciting global sponsorships in the brand’s recent history: James Cameron’s Avatar. With this sponsorship, McDonald’s assumed a significant amount of risk. While the film promised to be one of the most innovative and game-changing films, it was yet a non-established property, released in December - a critical month for the McDonald’s business. To maximize the value of the partnership, McDonald’s developed a tightly integrated, global approach including media, television, in-restaurant, packaging, digital and social media. The driving force was to think BIG, lead with innovation, and leverage the immense thrill of the film to drive our business. Objectives were twofold: • Business: Drive guest counts & transactions during December. • Brand: Increase brand affinity with young adults by leveraging what promised to be the biggest, most innovative film of our time.

Marketing Overview:
McDonald’s core strategic insight was based on parallels between the “extra-sensory” experience of Avatar and McDonald's iconic food. Avatar brings users into a world of special effects and sensations in a way that only James Cameron can; just as there is no substitute for the sight, smell and taste of a Big Mac. This led McDonald’s to the marketing platform “Thrill your senses.” McDonald’s leveraged traditional and new media to drive mass awareness and traffic to the restaurants. In the restaurant, POP/Packaging drove deeper engagement with the brand through access to immersive online experiences. Customers unlocked more rich experiences online by making repeat purchases of iconic products, such as the Big Mac. The program was activated in over 40 countries, reaching more than 45 million customers per day, in more than 25,000 restaurants, in close to twenty languages, worldwide. (See “Customer Engagement Model” graphic).

Results:
At the time of this submission, the program is still running in parts of the world. Early results show significant increases in comp sales and deep engagement online: Objective: Drive guest counts & transactions during December • US: Leveraged program to increase Big Mac sales. Result: Big Mac sales increased +18%. • Brazil: Leveraged program to increase Extra Value Meal sales. Result: best historical December, comp sales +6.4%, comp guest counts +7.8%. • Singapore: Leveraged program to promote new sandwich. Result: +10% increase in day part sales. • Taiwan: Leveraged program to promote 24 hour restaurants. Result: +24% midnight comp guest counts. Objective: Increase brand affinity with young adults • Dramatic viral effect in Europe. Example: McDonald’s Avatar branded app downloaded by 1 in 4 people in Finland! • Total projected digital reach: 3 million customer engagements in 3 weeks. • Overall digital engagement globally exceeded 10 minutes per customer.

Strategy & Tactics:
(See “McDonald’s Global Avatar Promotion” video clip) The innovative nature of the film led us to a strategic guiding principle: leverage “digital” as the cornerstone to drive brand engagement. Digital allowed McDonald’s to match the creative innovation of the film. The result: an immersive digital experience centered around Pandora, the mythical planet of Avatar. McDonald’s worked directly with the filmmakers to ensure the experience was true to the film’s vision; at the same time, to deliver an experience exclusive to McDonald’s customers. (See demo by film's Producer Jon Landau). Digital platform included: • McDVision: McDonald’s first Augmented Reality program • PandoraRovr: Virtual remote-operated vehicle exploring Pandora • Pandora Quest: Hidden Object Game. A food purchase was required to advance to higher levels. • Avatar Morphing Tool: Upload your picture, transform into an Avatar. Traditional/new media, POP and Packaging drove awareness: • Global young adult TVC (see US Big Mac Avatar TVC, Singapore Avatar TVC) • Global POP/packaging system (see “McDonald’s Brazil Avatar Promotion” video clip) • Social media outreach • Global media webcast to announce partnership, featuring McDonald's Global Chief Marketing Officer, film Director James Cameron and Producer Jon Landau live from London before movie's worldwide premiere. More than 215 outlets filed stories immediately following webcast including Reuters, Forbes, MSN Money, The Hollywood Reporter, plus multiple social media postings. If interested, webcast can be seen here: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/media_center/press_kits/Avatar.html

Summary:
The McDonald’s Avatar global program, an integrated marketing campaign which leveraged TV, POP, Packaging and Digital, was the largest McDonald’s movie property sponsorship/activation worldwide, for our young adult customers. It was a considerable risk taken by McDonald’s, given the unknown, un-established film property, in a key month. The risk paid off, with the program successful in driving increased sales and deep brand engagement, especially with our young adult customers.




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