CASE STUDY: DDB HK's yellow cabs drive traffic to McDonald's

Background

At the end of September 2010, McDonald's launched its M Selections line of 'World gourmet favourites', a selection of world-inspired gourmet burgers. This was kicked off with the introduction of 'Sakana Supreme', which the fast-food giant promoted as 'an authentic taste of Japan'. The second burger to be introduced to Hong Kong was the Chicken Bacon Deluxe.

Aim

For the Chicken Bacon Deluxe burger, McDonald's wanted to launch its New York-style burger in a unique way that engaged the Hong Kong public. 

Execution

DDB Hong Kong set out to build a fleet of 12 iconic New York-style yellow cabs to hit the streets of Hong Kong's main areas of Causeway Bay and Mong Kok for its campaign. The taxis offered free rides to customers to any McDonald's restaurant.

Customers would simply call a hotline to make a reservation in advance and on the next day, a shiny yellow cab would show up to bring them to a McDonald's restaurant of their choice, free of charge. 

In addition, a redemption coupon was then offered with every cab ride to enjoy the Chicken Bacon Deluxe burger for free.

The service ran on a first-come first-served basis between 15 and 23 October 2010. 

Results

The campaign saw an up-sell of 25 per cent more burgers compared with the previous year's campaign period. The yellow cabs carried thousands of passengers which exceeded targets by 50 per cent.

In addition, the taxi hotline received a phone call a minute, despite only communicating through online media. The yellow cabs featured on websites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and on television. 

Most restaurants in the city sold out of the burgers on launch day and became one of the fastest-selling new burgers at McDonald's. 

Credits: 

Executive creative director  Jeffry Gamble    
Creative director  Paul Chan, Shi Ping Ong 
Art director  Winnie Chan
Business director  Irene Tsui
Account manager  Rainco Lam
Senior account executive  Koman Ko