Through influencer outreach, McDonald’s India brought back McGrill in a QSR market saturated with chicken offerings. The launch helped the brand gain, 2.5K+ new followers, on Instagram & engagement of 24K post likes
With the relaunch of Chicken McGrill, this case study explains how the brand leveraged social media to create a buzz amidst Mcdonald's lovers & acquire new consumers.
Category Introduction
The Quick Service Restaurant market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 18% during 2021- 2025. From this, North India dominated the QSR market in 2019.
With the outbreak of the Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown, the industry has predictably taken a hit. However, the already growing online foodservice market has picked up and there has been a high rate of adoption for cashless payments and outsourcing deliveries for food services.
Brand Introduction
McDonald’s India North & East (CPRL) is one of the prominent brands in the QSR industry. With more than 140 stores in the North and East region, the brand has ensured wide patronage for the last 25 years, by fine-tuning its global offerings to suit local preferences.
On social media, the brand weaves its narrative into culture to create and curate snackable, feel-good moments.
Summary
Conceptualized and executed by DDB Mudra Group, the Chicken McGrill campaign is an ode to the longstanding fans of the McDonald’s brand. The germination of the idea was an online petition fuelled by fans and consumers, questioning the discontinuation of the product. Many took to online platforms to express their longing and disappointment.
The fandom and craze surrounding the product piqued the interest of celebrities and influencers, who later joined the conversation by expressing their love for the product and urging fans to sign the petition, to bring the iconic burger back.
The campaign, then further leveraged the fandom and re-launched one of the burgers, whilst giving recognition and credit to the people who helped to bring it back. The initiative spanned across platforms and included social media content, influencer posts, digital films, and print ads, which led to social chatter and engagement.
Objective
The opportunity for the brand lay in offering a chicken burger that was both delicious and super affordable – a product combination that was not quite available in the segment. The goal was to increase share in chicken consumption in the western fast food (WFF) category by re-launching an iconic burger with a massive fan following.
The campaign sought to champion existing fans of the burger and onboard new users to increase awareness and recall for one of the most loved burgers at McDonald’s. Therefore, reminding consumers that at McDonald’s it is easy to get a Chicken Burger fitting the bill on price and taste.
Brief
The brief outlined an objective to increase the brand's share of chicken consumption in the western fast food category, by creating buzz around the re-launch of an iconic product.
Creative Idea
The #McGrillisBack idea is inspired by championing fans and celebrating the power they have to move mountains. The campaign was driven by influencers, who joined the chatter and channeled consumer sentiments to bring back the McDonald’s burger.
With the Chicken McGrill being out of action for some time, consumers and fans of the product moved on to other alternatives. This void was filled with a plethora of other options. The brand, therefore, needed to re-establish its chicken credentials in an already saturated market.
The campaign went live on Instagram with influencers posting videos tapping into the social chatter (memes, social media posts, Instagram stories, reels) surrounding #BringMcGrillBack. This created intrigue and urged fans all over to come together to sign the existing petition.
The brand then released a press ad and put out social media posts announcing the re-launch of the Chicken McGrill (#McGrillisBack) and thanking the fans for their love and patience.
In what can be called a final ode to the fans, the brand released digital films on Facebook, Instagram & Youtube highlighting the quirky-yet-real comments from consumers professing their love & excitement on the product re-launch; and also to convey that #McGrillisback, finally!
The resultant chatter was leveraged on Instagram by the brand, while they simultaneously interacted with viewers to drive engagement around the product.
Results
The launch creative garnered more than 16K organic likes and reached up to 90K consumers on Instagram. Additionally, the total views on the video were 1,114,230.
The campaign saw a 47% increase in the page engagements, 50% increase reach and 8% increase in page likes on Facebook, and surprisingly these numbers are all organic.
The launch helped the brand gain more than 2.5K new followers on Instagram with a high engagement of 24K post likes and 3001 total comments.
Quotes
"Chicken McGrill has been one of the most loved menu offerings at McDonald’s. The reaction and desire we witnessed on social media is a true testament to people’s love for Chicken McGrill. With this campaign, we are offering our customers another chance to relive their favorite memories by offering them a menu item that they have been asking us for", said, Robert Hunghanfoo, Head, CPRL
“Chicken McGrill is an icon. And the icons are timeless. Its teeming fans had been campaigning for its comeback. Therefore, it was only natural for us to make this unbound love for the Chicken McGrill, the fuel for its comeback. The campaign celebrates this very love for the burger in a heartfelt, McDonald’s way so that the fans never have to stop lovin’ it!”,said,Ashutosh Sawhney, Managing Partner, DDB Mudra Group, North.
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