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McDonald's: Realtime Olympics
Icy Han and Jamo Woo
Campaign details
Brand owner: McDonald's
Agency: NIM Digital
Brand: McDonald's
Country: China
Channels used: Games and competitions, Internet - microsites, widgets, Mobile and apps, Social media, Sponsorship - event
or property, Television
Media budget: 500k - 1 million
Executive summary
To augment the recognition of McDonald's London 2012 Olympics' sponsorship amongst Chinese consumers and to overcome
the time difference between China and Britain, a smartphone app, 'Real-time Olympics', was created to engage consumers in
the Olympic Games when they visited McDonald's outlets.
The app innovatively adopted GPS and motion-sensor technology to allow people to virtually 'compete' with Olympians
simultaneously via a mobile game as they watched the Games live at any McDonald's outlet in China, which made it the
world's first-ever Olympic Games where the audience were turned into 'athletes'.
The mechanism was quite simple. First, download the app. Second, sign in at McDonald's and warm up with tutorials. Then
race, swing, smash and stroke along with the Olympic national team!
It soon became a hit, with three million downloads, 7.5 million total play frequencies during the London 2012 Olympics, and
over 4.5 million in-app coupons delivered to generate an estimated $8.7m in sales; creating the genuine and complete
Olympics' experience only at McDonald's.
Market background and business objectives
For the London 2012 Olympics, the Chinese had to overcome a distance of 5,000 miles and a time difference covering eight
time zones. As the premier sponsor of the Olympics, the biggest challenge that McDonald's encountered was how to utilise its
sponsorship by igniting the enthusiasm of the Chinese towards the Olympics, just as it successfully had four years earlier
Title: McDonald's: Realtime Olympics
Author(s): Icy Han and Jamo Woo
Source: Warc Prize for Asian Strategy
Issue: Silver, 2013
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3. during the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Besides this factor, fierce competition from other quick-service restaurants (QSR) in China was another challenge faced by
McDonald's. In China, the market leader KFC outnumbers McDonald's by nearly three-to-one and offers a more localised
menu, with seasonal flavours that cater better to Chinese tastes. Furthermore, despite the fact that KFC and McDonald's are
two giant global brands that dominate the market, a bunch of local players were catching up. The number of outlets of the
leading QSR brands in China (according to public release in different resources) was as follows:
So, threatened by both KFC and local competitors, McDonald's had to find a new way to increase its market share.
Therefore the marketing objectives were:
Objective 1: To increase awareness of McDonald's as the top Olympic sponsor and official restaurant by delivering a unique
and accessible Olympics' experience
Objective 2: To increase visits and sales by 10% on a year-on-year basis.
Insight and strategic thinking
Basically, the campaign targeted every Chinese who had the chance to watch the London Olympics and eat out at
McDonald's.
From Beijing to London
Four years ago, every Chinese person was eager to get a ticket to the Beijing Olympics, to experience the atmosphere of the
Olympics and enjoy the pride of being the host.
Four years later, while they were still passionate about the Olympics, 99% of Chinese people would not be able to watch the
London Olympics while at work, hence there was a real battle against the time difference.
Social and mobile Olympics
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4. Four years ago, four portal websites fought over the reporting of the Olympics. Four years later, Weibo (the Chinese
equivalent of Twitter) would be the biggest winner.
Four years ago, reading news on mobile phones was the main channel through which to acquire information while in the office.
Four years later, with the popularisation of 3G networks and smartphones, apps were to become dominant.
A champion's heart
The Beijing Olympics had been the first time that China had led the gold medal tally, and many less well known sports had
been popularised. So four years later, Chinese people no longer viewed the Olympics only in a utilitarian way (ie solely
focusing on gold medals).
The London Olympics for the Chinese now was a visual feast, mixing passion with reason. The Chinese had learned to cheer
for all players, no matter whether they won or lost, because everyone had a champion's heart.
The opportunity for in-store excitement
As the Olympics' partner since 1976, McDonald's sought to create a realistic Olympic atmosphere by supplying London-style
food, the Olympics' ambience through in-store events and activities, and championship-standard service.
However, that was not enough to fully enliven the actual experience. Even if the aroma of the food did float towards customers
as it would on the breeze in London, the outstanding service could help people experience what the athletes did in the Olympic
Village and they could also watch the Games on television in the restaurants, it was still a long way from drawing the
customers right into the Games and making them feel as if they were genuinely inside the stadium.
Therefore, McDonald's decided to create a superb brand experience through digital technology. This would enable customers
to go onto the track, race onto the field and jump into the pool with the athletes, so as to fully embrace the passion of the
Olympics instead of just sitting watching it in front of the television.
Put simply, the strategy was to utilise digital technology so as to place in-store audiences virtually on the field of play, so that
they could simultaneously compete with the Olympic athletes in London. Consequently, this would make McDonald's the only
destination to offer an unparalleled Olympics' experience – one that no other place could offer.
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5. Implementation, including creative and media development
The mobile app was the key success of this media implementation, because thanks to the increasing penetration of
smartphones in China, many customers would be able to compete with the athletes by simultaneously holding their
smartphones and doing the same sports action as they were watching the live games at McDonald's.
l Step 1: Download and install the app
l Step 2: Check in at any McDonald's store in China
l Step 3: Compete with the London Olympics' athletes while watching the Games live
l Step 4: Share on social media by asking friends to play together.
Then we used different media resources to promote the app's download and usage:
In-store activation
Store crews were assigned to encourage customers to install the app via free Wi-Fi in stores.
App store
We partnered up with China's biggest app store, Tencent, to promote the app's download.
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6. Thematic TVC
A thematic TVC was employed to demonstrate the excitement of the campaign.
Opinion leaders on social media
Groups of opinion leaders on social media were chosen to share the fantastic experience of Real-time Olympics, calling for
more fans to participate.
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7. The expected results were consequently achieved – more downloads led to more game plays, this led to more delivered in-
app coupons, which in turn led to more store traffic and business.
Due to the dominant influence of the internet on contemporary consumers and the emerging power of the mobile phone, the
budget was mainly allocated to these two sectors.
Media weighting
l Thematic TVC: 16.4% (UD$105,000)
l Paid online and mobile ads: 75% (UD$480,000)
l App design and production: 8.6% (UD$55,000)
l Total media budget: UD$640,000
Performance against objectives
The two main marketing objectives were successfully achieved, clearly indicated by the quantified research numbers and
authorised performance data.
Objective 1: To increase awareness of McDonald's as the top Olympic sponsor and official restaurant
All the app users received the brand sponsorship message during their unique experience and there were:
l More than three million apps downloaded
l More than 7.5 million games played
l More than 600,000 social mentions on Weibo.
Highlighted consumer quotes on social media included:
l "I feel I'm really in London"
l "I feel unprecedently excited at a McDonald's store."
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8. According to McDonald's in-house research team, more than 80% of consumers could recognise McDonald's as the official
Olympics' sponsor.
Objective 2: To increase visits and sales by 10% on a year-on-year basis
More than 4.5 million in-app coupons were delivered, generating an estimated $8.7m in sales (based on a $1.9 average
purchase per guest).
According to McDonald's China marketing team, the 10% increase in business goal was achieved.
By enlivening the unprecedented Real-time Olympics' experience, McDonald's became the only sponsor amongst all of the
quick-service restaurants to embrace an increased number of customers. More importantly, it was only at McDonald's stores
that the ordinary person could have a complete and all-encompassing Olympics' experience.
Lessons learned
Make technology invisible
It's known that connectivity via technology is a tremendously important force in contemporary culture, and the mobile device is
at the centre of this increased connectivity. Emerging markets like China are especially enthusiastic about their mobile
devices.
Nearly two-thirds of consumers now use their mobiles or smartphones to obtain information about products, brands or
destinations at least three to four days a week. With smartphone ownership reaching new levels, the pressure is clearly on for
companies to provide an easy-to-access platform that engages consumers through mobile technologies. Some 80% of
smartphone owners have location-based services (GPS) on their mobile phones. Chinese consumers lead the way, with
nearly four out of five consumers expressing interest in receiving communication from companies through a smartphone that
offers location-based services.
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