How Snapchat Helped McDonald’s Boost Its Outreach in Three Countries

Established in 1940 in California, McDonald’s has become the largest restaurant chain in the world with 37,855 locations, serving more than 69 million customers daily in more than 100 countries. While its mouth-watering and pocket-friendly food, along with its impressive customer service, has obviously helped it in its growth, marketing has been of its most potent tools. And lately, Snapchat has played a key role in helping McDonald’s attain its business goals through marketing.

So, without any further ado, let’s see and try to understand how Snapchat helped McDonald’s in its growth over the years.

1. McDonald’s UK

After initially trialing its McPlant Burger in selected restaurants, McDonald’s turned to Snapchat when it launched the burger offering across all its UK restaurants.

Their Objective

McDonald’s was looking for ways to innovate and meet its customers’ needs with the launch of its McPlant Burger, a vegan burger made with a juicy plant-based patty.

Solution & Approach

McDonald’s adopted a multi-product campaign with a full-funnel approach on Snapchat to mark the launch of its McPlant Burger.

Its campaign included a gamified AR Lens which allowed Snapchatters to have a go at building their own McPlant Burger in 30 seconds, getting the ingredients in the correct order. The campaign also included a First Commercial on the day of launch to drive high impact and awareness, as well as Commercials, Snap Ads, and Story Ads to reach consumers at every stage of the marketing funnel.

The Result

The Snapchat campaign by McDonald’s performed exceptionally well. The gamified AR Lens, as part of a multi-product strategy, was a great success, delivering a 13pt increase in Ad Awareness and a 5pt increase in Action Intent. Also, the AR Lens share rate stood at 2.75% while the average playtime for the same was 21 seconds. Also, Commercials delivered a 15pt increase in Product Awareness and a 6pt increase in Action Intent.

2. McDonald’s Saudi Arabia

McDonald’s was on a recruitment drive in Saudi Arabia and it decided to allocate a paid media budget to generate 10k applications partnering with its agency Ethos Interactive and Snapchat.

Their Objective

McDonald’s wanted to fill 850+ positions across multiple roles including manager trainees, guest experience leaders, baristas, accountants, administration coordinators, HR specialists, delivery drivers, and service crew in Saudi Arabia.

Solution & Approach

McDonald’s ran a fun Augmented Reality Lens for 24 hours. Snapchatters were prompted to tap through, after the Lens experience, and apply for a job.

To boost visibility and ensure engagement, McDonald’s worked with 5 influencers to play with the Lens and post the video. On top of this, they developed Snap ads to ensure the campaign was fully integrated and caught the attention of Snapchatters through both the camera and content.

The Result

The Snapchat campaign by McDonald’s performed much better than the brand’s expectations. In 24 hours, the application target was smashed by 4x - generating 42,972 applications, compared to the brand’s target of 10,000 applications.

3. McDonald’s Norway

McDonald’s cooperated with Snapchat to become the first brand in Norway to run a chain filter for all its restaurants.

Their Objective

Knowing more pictures are taken through Snapchat’s camera than on iPhone's default camera, McDonald’s wanted to take part in the Snapchat conversation, create brand ambassadors and take ownership of the countless fun moments captured and shared on Snapchat.

Solution & Approach

From a simple ‘Currently at Maccern’ to a colorful anniversary-themed filter celebrating the Big Mac turning 50 years old, the McDonald’s chain filter surprises restaurant visitors with new creative designs every time they walk through the door. This creative rotation ensures the chain filter stays fresh, fun, and relevant to the holiday or campaign of the moment – just like a McD’s visit, really.

The Result

The McDonald’s chain filter was live all through 2018 in over 70 locations. It reached 1.3 million unique Snapchatters, with over 8.9 million total impressions. Furthermore, McDonald's achieved a share rate of 16%, proving Snapchatters are spending time with the brand, and leveraging the chain filters to enhance their Snaps & Stories.

Bottom Line

Snapchat has quickly cemented its place as a highly reliable marketing platform for brands looking to drive maximum engagement. Through its plethora of features such as Snap and Story Ads, video editing, social sharing, filters & effects, etc., Snapchat helps brands reach a diverse audience.

A solid marketing plan, excellent content, and an awesome marketing platform like Snapchat- that’s all McDonald’s needed to cement its place as a highly sought-after fast-food joint. Sounds like something that you can emulate with your brand? Well, give it a try!