McDonald’s ‘Our Food, Your Questions‘ is the perfect example of how businesses today need to look into engagement with millennials.
The idea behind McDonald’s ‘Our Food, Your Questions‘ was to address their concerns, answer their questions and engage them where they are most likely to be. On Social Media.
However communication needs to be backed with a solid product to be really effective. McDonald’s food quality is not exactly in need of just a great communication campaign. The food itself needs a makeover.
The campaign may have helped to alleviate some of the bad feeling around the company but there are real health concerns that need to be addressed as well. For the company to really win hearts, McDonald’s will have to back its marketing efforts with healthy products.
It is no secret that McDonald’s sales have plummeted south as consumers continue to pick better and healthier fast food options across the world.
Taking cue from what McDonald’s understands about its consumer base and how many eyebrows have been raised over what McDonald’s has been putting into its burgers , the company launched a campaign to communicate and engage the social consumer.
Health being the bone of contention between the consumer and the food business, McDonald’s ‘Our Food, Your Questions’ has made an unprecedented attempt to address all the unasked, unanswered consumer queries on social media – yes, McDonald’s has gone social. Literally.
The call to ask questions to have them answered on Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms is not entirely a novel concept but to answer queries about some of the most controversial aspects of McDonald’s food business is definitely surprising.
The campaign was launched in Canada and Australia in the past two years and has now been introduced in the USA as well. With the intent to be honest and open in their communication, McDonald’s has answered some really weird questions and surely uncomfortable ones too. It has also gotten noticed for doing an out-of-the-box campaign on social media. How has it gained from the marketing on social, that remains to be seen.
This is an excerpt from what Naomi Starkman has written about the campaign on Time.
“The truth is, McDonald’s is facing a marketplace where people increasingly want good food served fast, as opposed to fast food. Millennials are now driving the food bus and they’re heading straight to Chipotle and other establishments that are offering healthier options, including foods without genetically engineered or artificial ingredients and meat from animals raised without antibiotics.”
Read the whole article here
While McDonald’s reasoning to come out with a social media campaign is evident, what’s interesting is that they have taken lead in an area where most businesses are scared to get involved. Social media is nothing like traditional media and it definitely needs an innovative approach. This is what supermarketguru has published on its website about this very aspect of McDonald’s communication.
“What’s particularly impressive about McDonald’s latest venture is that a number of food industry giants are still trying to figure out what to make out of social media. It’s a means of conveying information, and while McDonald’s can continue to go ahead and plug promotions, introduce new products and use social media as an advertising tool, it can also harness the real power of social media. — to spread a message to the masses.”
Read the full article here
How successful has McDonald’s been in answering these queries is of course the big question. Lifehacker has published a really interesting compilation of some of the questions that McDonald’s has answered about its food quality, ingredients and food modifications. Read the article here.
Despite real time communication and having their queries answered, millennials are still skeptical about McDonald’s food quality and prefer to eat at other places especially in the USA. The fast company shares perspective on what the company has gained by answering questions and engaging the consumers.
Jay Baer writes, “Already the brand is seeing reputation gains. In consumer research conducted before and after the first phase of the program (before significant advertising expenditure drove awareness of it), the “curious skeptic” segment of McDonald’s prospective customer base gave the company 21% higher marks for “good quality ingredients,” according to Yashinsky. Other areas where consumer agreement spiked included attributes like “being genuine” and “improving nutritional content” and “food I feel good about eating.”
Read the whole article here
As a company that’s known for its advertising and marketing, McDonald’s ‘Our Food, Your Questions’ has once again taken the world by surprise. For this, the credit goes to McDonald’s Marketing and Social Media teams for taking the bull by it’s horns and taking their communication to where the consumers are most likely to engage with them.
For now, take a quick look at the case study in the video below. Tell us what you think of this campaign and don’t forget to share it with your friends and colleagues. Happy Communicating!
Our food. Your questions: Case Study from sanya grujicic on Vimeo.
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