McDonald’s creative risk-taking and pop culture plays are paying off

Lots of brands talk about planting themselves in pop culture. But few have pulled it off like McDonald’s. The fast food giant is clobbering its competition thanks to a series of marketing-fueled hits—from celebrity “Famous Orders” and Cactus Plant Flea Market adult Happy Meals to a virtual “Camp McDonald’s”—all aimed at tapping into undying fan love for the Golden Arches that few brands can match. See all of Ad Age's 2022 Marketers of the Year here. The programs are driving new interest in the chain’s digital loyalty program—the app-based MyMcDonald’s effort has lured some 25 million active users since debuting nationally 17 months ago—while earning McDonald’s tons of social media buzz. Most importantly, the marketing is feeding the bottom line: McDonald’s reported a 6% comparable sales jump in the third quarter in the U.S., marking the ninth consecutive quarter of positive results. “The business is really firing on all cylinders … helped a lot by the marketing strength,” said Andrew Charles, a senior research analyst covering the restaurant sector for Cowen. The marketing muscle is guided by a philosophy begun in late 2019 to dig into what then-new agency Wieden+Kennedy New York pegged as “fan truths,” referring to sourcing ideas from how regular people talk about McDonald’s, including on social media. “We work really hard to not talk brand-to-fan, but fan-to-fan,” said McDonald’s USA Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer Tariq Hassan. The chain has learned to not take itself too seriously and “understand the role we play in people’s lives,” he added. Part of the strategy involves ignoring the haters—a company the size of McDonald’s has plenty of them—while shedding its buttoned-up corporate voice. “I think we were a little afraid of being really proud about what people love about McDonald’s,” said Morgan Flatley, who took the chain’s top U.S. marketing job in 2017 and was promoted to global CMO in 2021. “I often think we’re one of the most democratic brands in the world,” she added, “because of the speed with which we serve our food, so we can offer really consistent, fun, joyful experiences to people everywhere.” Handing the reins to creators The philosophy was at the heart of October’s wildly successful limited-time Cactus Plant Flea Market Box that was positioned like a Happy Meal for adults. The idea was sparked by fan reaction to a simple tweet McDonald’s issued in November 2020, which simply observed that “one day you ordered a Happy Meal for the last time and you didn’t even know it.” It led to a collaboration with buzzy streetwear brand Cactus Plant Flea Market, which created McDonaldland figurines in its distinctive four-eyed style—plus its Cactus Buddy mascot—that were packed inside boxes that included a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, fries and a drink. They began selling out within days. Gen Z loved the streetwear collab, while older McDonald’s fans relived Happy Meal memories. The figurines became collector’s items, re-selling for thousands of dollars in some cases. Read more: Behind McDonald’s Cactus Plant Flea Market Box strategy The adult Happy Meals achieved a critical business goal: McDonald’s was able to grow new interest in existing menu items while fetching a higher price. That same playbook fueled the “Famous Orders” campaign, which began in 2020 and put a celebrity spin on the idea that everyone has a go-to McDonald’s order, leading to collabs with Travis Scott, J Balvin, BTS, Saweetie and others. Bolstered by the business wins, McDonald’s has gotten comfortable pushing the boundaries even further with outside collaborations. Hassan describes it as “sharing the pen,” which in the case of Cactus Plant meant “having the brand courage to turn the brand over to a designer who we knew was culturally relevant to our youth market, and let them go.” The chain has also opened the door to TikTok creators. Its “Menu Hacks” campaign earlier this year spotlighted creative menu item combinations sourced from users of the video app, such as a double cheeseburger/Filet-O-Fish item called the “Surf + Turf” credited to PJ Mattingly, who goes by @heavyhands94 on social media. Marketing has also played a key role in advancing the MyMcDonald’s loyalty program, a major business priority as the chain seeks deeper one-to-one connections to consumers. It got a boost this summer from “Camp McDonald’s,” which involved 27 days of meal deals, limited-edition merch and virtual music performances available only to users of the McDonald’s app. The effort was styled like a virtual summer camp targeting Gen Z, and plugged by Kid Cudi. Brandon Pracht, managing director of W+K’s McDonald’s account, credits the chain for a fearless attitude when it comes to creative ideas. “We rarely hear no,” he said. “We might hear ‘Better for another time,’ or ‘Let’s take that insight or that tactic and put it over here.’ But they have created such a culture [of] just feeling so creatively empowered.” Flatley said McDonald’s has put a “high, high degree of trust in the agency,” and it has also streamlined its marketing team so that there is a “small team that really makes the decisions on the big creative ideas.” She added: “Killer ideas, risk-taking ideas, can get watered down if you’ve got lots of layers in there.” Pracht described the rhythm between McD’s and W+K as “one of the rarest things I’ve ever seen” when it comes to client-agency relations. “Neither side is ever twiddling their thumbs or wondering what we’ll do next,” he said. “It’s really just choosing which really cool thing you want to try.” See all of Ad Age's 2022 Marketers of the Year here.

McDonald’s creative risk-taking and pop culture plays are paying off

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