McDonald's 'shakes it' on Facebook

Client McDonald’s

Project Shake Shake Fries, ‘Shake it – in your own style’

Brief Boost awareness of McDonald’s Shake Shake Fries in Hong Kong by tapping into young adults’ need for self-expression and encourage user participation using a popular social networking website 

People DDB Group, Hong Kong: Jeffry Gamble, creative director; Kevin Chiu, digital creative director; Polly Ko, senior copywriter;Tammy Foo, copywriter; Jackson Wong, senior art director; Shiggy File, planner; Jasmine She, account executive. OMD: media planning/buying.

Duration December 2007 to January 2008

Background McDonald’s has for a long time sought out innovative campaigns to promote its products across the globe, and these campaigns have been key factors of its continual success in the face of challenges to its food and reputation. With its ‘Shake it – in your own style’ campaign, McDonald’s targeted Hong Kong’s young adults via digital activity. For McDonald’s this is a key demographic – around the world it is one of its core customer groups. In Hong Kong, as elsewhere, young adults avidly use digital applications and social networking sites. The challenge was finding an innovative way to use these media to generate interest in a product that was not particularly new.

One year earlier, McDonald’s launched a campaign for its Shake Shake Fries that asked audiences to upload videos onto the campaign site. The campaign received positive feedback and executives wanted to take the promotion one step further.

Shake Shake Fries are bagged French fries that require consumers to coat them with seasoning by shaking the bag – this idea was at the heart of the campaign.

Aim McDonald’s sought to generate enthusiasm around Shake Shake Fries by launching a contest both on a traditional website and via a Facebook widget. McDonald’s tried to encourage consumer participation through both these digital channels in the hope of creating memorable experiences. Given that the target consumers have countless fast-food options at their disposal, an experiential strategy such as this can be a good way of encouraging repeat visits.

Execution McDonald’s appointed DDB Group, including digital specialist Tribal DDB, to create the digital campaign, which combined user-generated content, an interactive game and a popular celebrity. McDonald’s and DDB signed local star Joey Yung as spokeswoman, hoping her presence would stir interest on both the Shake Shake Fries website and on Facebook.

The Facebook application allowed members to ‘shake’ their friends digitally. Participants could do this by taking their friends’ Facebook photos, placing the faces on top of cartoon bodies and then using the mouse to make them dance.

On the website, users were asked to upload videos of themselves and friends showcasing their best ‘shake’ for a chance to win a mobile phone. 

According to a campaign release, the web contest allowed young adults to “selfexpress and assert their individuality … by ‘shaking it in your own style’”. The uploader deemed most creative by his peers won the phone.

The digital campaigns were backed by an offline media push, and in particular a television campaign, also featuring Yung. Five-second spots were also televised to encourage audiences to visit the sites.

Results Participants uploaded 281 videos onto the campaign’s website – an improvement from the previous year’s campaign, which hosted 161 videos. On Facebook, 12,805 users downloaded the application. McDonald’s Facebook users also had their ‘shake’ experiences posted onto their news feeds, which guaranteed a wider awareness beyond the 12,805 widget users.