100% Real. 100% Canadian. Case Study by Jeremy Lenz RGD

Context

McDonalds Real Food campaign had been going on for about 3 years. Despite being extremely successful, the initial excitement has started to wane. They were looking for a new way to promote their commitment to using real Canadian beef, eggs and potatoes in their food.

Method

Our research started with looking at how smaller organic brands are able to build trust through their marketing and at shelf in the grocery store. We took notes and found inspiration in the design and implementation. We were, however, very conscious that we should not replicate what they were. We needed to continue to be authentic to McDonalds heritage and what we've been known for, otherwise this will look like a cheap gimmick.

Design Process

We started with web design. The website was 3 years old and hadn't been maintained in a long time. So the experience felt old and stale with no new content and aged UX and UI. We sold the client on doing a total rebuild to make the campaign feel fresh for a new audience.

We also wanted to create a bigger splash with some PR opportunities, so we had the idea to add our meat, eggs and potatoes onto grocery store shelves. The client agreed this was a great place to build a story so we started to look at how that packaging would look and feel.

Solution

For the website we wanted the UX and UI to feel very modern and contemporary while injecting a little "McDonalds" fun with large bright colours and softer rounded shapes. We mixed this with authentic and rustic photography from the real farms that supply the meat and produce. The result is a mix of authenticity and nostalgia in a modern experience.

We took the same approach to the packaging for our grocery store promotion. It made for a surprising and talk-worthy activation.

Results

Our activation was centered around Calgary and turned heads in the aisles. PR pushed the story out and there was definitely a good buzz around the time of the activation.

Web traffic increased 220% at the time of our activation.