Case\Note
McDonald’s Trust
Business\Problem
So you’re a huge, American, multinational fast food chain who has been widely and publicly attacked because people are suspicious of your food and, frankly, suspicious of your organisation. You’ve listened to what’s being said, reacted to the onslaught, made big calls, changed a lot of what you do and how you do it. And yet online and tabloid rumours still position you as the posterboy for the UK’s fast food ills. An image that the conventional tactics of a positive PR push and weighty ‘food quality’ advertising prove powerless to counter. So what do you do next?
Conventions\
Most companies would buy some space on TV or in press, to tell people to trust them. But people weren’t about to believe a company they’d already lost trust in. So we had to let them make up their own minds, at the same time making it easy to do so.
Disruption\
We used the same phenomena that were damaging trust in McDonald’s as we started to rebuild it. We embraced the internet, press and restaurants as a means of inviting people in to ask us their questions and make up their own minds. As a recruiting ground to find the most cynical parents to go behind the scenes and investigate McDonald’s from field to fork. We made channels for them to tell their stories, and challenge their peers to look again at McDonald’s.
Idea
makeupyourownmind.co.uk
Campaign
Channels for building trust have to be considered carefully. In magazines, where mums would be in a more open, contemplative mood, we can afford to be relatively thought-provoking in our messages – what exactly goes into the beef, etc. In restaurants, we are sensitive to the fact that people have already made the decision to enjoy a McDonald’s meal. In this environment, while still staying true to our desire for quality stories ‘behind the scenes’, we turn to our suppliers and their stories to create the warmth and appeal needed to reassure while still keeping our customers’ appetites up. Online, advertising on parent-focused sites where your space and time to engage is more limited, we have to be succinct; encouraging people to come to the website for a side of McDonald’s that they wouldn’t typically see.
Effect\
Through makeupyourownmind.co.uk we have engaged with over 600,000 people since launch, and dealt with over 1,000 Scout applications. We have sent Scouts to every part of the burger story, and let them grill McDonald’s people on the tough issues, from our nutritionists to our animal welfare experts. Working with our creative team, Scouts have also designed their own scrapbook advertising, which have helped to take the debate to a wider audience. No spin. No lies. Total transparency. A hugely disruptive approach to the problem. And a huge risk for McDonalds – but the only way to cut through and make a difference. The 13,500 questions asked so far are an indication of the scale of the myths out there – but also the desire for dialogue that we are only starting to tap into. Visitors now spend between four and ten minutes with us exploring the site and its Scout reports – probably even more time than they spend buying a burger.
There is still a long way to go, and many more people to convince. However, since the start of both the ‘Make up your own mind’ campaign and accompanying positive moves from McDonald’s in areas such as employer reputation, environment and new food news, we are seeing encouraging results in terms of rebuilding consumer trust in the brand.
Convention\
Talk yourself out of trouble.
Vision\
The progressive burger company.
Disruption\
Invite people in to make up their own minds.