THE SIGNATURE COLLECTION - CASE STUDY
THE PRODUCT
'The Signature Collection' is a new and premium range —Freshly prepared burgers, made with quality ingredients and served in a classy packaging.
BACKGROUND
Britain’s taste for burgers —especially its love of gourmet versions— continues to grow. Once, the choice was limited to McDonald's and Burger King, but today British burger lovers are presented with a multitude of premium burgers from the likes of Byron, Honest Burger and Shake Shack. Even the local pubs jumped on the posh-burger bandwagon.
THE AUDIENCE
25+ year old, who came to McDonald’s when looking for a cheap meal, a quick fix, or when wanting to indulge themselves with their favourite guilty-pleasures. However, McDonald's was no longer on their radar when craving a 'proper' burger.
THE STRATEGY
If we wanted people to start thinking of McDonald's as the place where they could sink their teeth into a top-quality burger and pamper themselves with something a little bit more special, our first challenge was to demonstrate the step change that 'The Signature Collection' represented. We conclude that 'The Signature Collection' was McDonald’s like people had never seen it, experienced it, or tasted before'. Hence, we decided it was crucial to talk to consumers in a way we had never spoken to them before.
The second challenge, and the most laborious one, was to convince consumers of the premium nature of the product and find an exciting and credible way to combine, for many, two contradictory concepts: Premium and McDonald's.
We discovered that our audience, like most of us, not only love the premium stuff but also relish fantasising about luxurious items and experiences. However, at the same time, their paycheque at the end of the month brings them back to reality. In short, we found out they don't compromise on luxury items, and they're just realistic on what’s attainable. That's why 'affordable luxury' items and brands genuinely resonate with them.
With this in mind, we defined our strategic proposition: 'Bringing a taste of ‘luxury’ to all.
BIG IDEA
Luxury by McDonald's
The pretentious and exclusive world of luxury isn’t a natural fit with the down-to-earth and democratic values of the McDonald’s brand. However, for the launch of 'The Signature Collection', we wanted to borrow the equity from the high-end luxury world to demonstrate the quality and premium nature of our most gourmet burger to date. Moreover, because it was the McDonald’s twist on luxury, we did it with a wry smile.
CAMPAIGN
A roll-out campaign that brought 'The Signature Collection' to life, digitally and physically. Besides McDonald's regular touchpoints —TV, radio, OOH, print and social media— we created an over-the-top and exclusive dining experience.
RESULTS
At launch, we saw a 35% incrementally in sales, and Signature is adding a net +2.5% to +3.5% to restaurant sales.
11K people registered to be part of the Signature dining experience.
According to IPSOS, the TV ad was the most engaging McDonald's ad ever tracked and had a positive impact on key McDonald's metrics.
