MEDIA-I: McDonald's beats rivals in mobile push

<p>TAIPEI: McDonald's Taiwan has rolled out a wireless campaign built </p><p>around electronic coupons offering discounts on food purchases. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It marks the first time that a fast-food company is using the mobile </p><p>phone as a key medium. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Touted as Taiwan's biggest wireless marketing initiative to date, the </p><p>campaign uses telecommunications provider Chunghwa Telecom's 5.5 million </p><p>base of mobile phone users. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Leo Burnett's local interactive division created the campaign, which </p><p>allows mobile phone users to download electronic coupons from McDonald's </p><p>newly-launched website at http://www.newtastes.com.tw. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The site features an online menu, ecoupons, online games, screen-savers, </p><p>wallpapers and the brand's television commercials. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Burnett's business manager, Jesse Lin, said: "Young people prefer </p><p>e-coupons over traditional coupons because they can download the </p><p>ecoupons whenever and wherever they like. Users can also forward the </p><p>ecoupons to their friends, making it a viral campaign." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>McDonald's marketing manager, Eleen Hung, said the company is giving </p><p>wireless marketing a greater emphasis in its overall marketing </p><p>initiatives. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Several other wireless campaigns are in the pipeline for the coming </p><p>months with Taiwan's mobile phone subscribers expected to climb to 9.1 </p><p>million by year-end, and about 6.7 million Taiwanese, roughly a third of </p><p>the island's population, using the world wide web. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Hung said: "The aim of the site is to create an informal eating outlet </p><p>on the internet. As the majority of internet users are teenagers, our </p><p>website provides different kinds of interactive activities." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>She said the site would be updated quarterly, with new benefits </p><p>introduced at regular intervals. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>