You Know What It Is -- 'Red'&Yellow, 'Red'&Yellow, 'Red'&Yellow.

It is only in the Philippines that Mcdonald's is not the market leader in the fastfood chain industry. Can you just imagine how frustrating for the brand that may be? As I've mentioned over and over again here in my blog, the marketing efforts of a brand really speaks so much of who they are. Although my post would not tackle the Jollibee and Mcdonald's battle, I would be sharing with you some of the amazing marketing efforts that Mcdonald's has done over the past few years that makes them the undisputed market leader in the fastfood business.  I'm not insinuating that Mcdonald's marketing efforts here in our country are falling flat. They actually do a ridiculously cool job! But, we've seen those already. And there's nothing to argue with that. So let's shift from local to global.

I'm telling you, if you haven't seen the brand's global ads, you will be floored as soon as you lay eyes on them. Aside from their powerful branding and their tightly-wired business strategies that we consumers do not see -- it is the brand's marketing efforts that actually make the brand.
As like what my Tumblr reblog likes to put it: "Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does." -Steuart Henderson Britt

This is because it is the side of Mcdonald's, or any brand for that matter, that we, consumers are able to witness. We do not really know what happens behind those desks -- so it is with these marketing efforts that we are able to go: "Hey, they're actually doing a great job! Now lemme try their product." Yes, we are able to taste their delish burgers and fabulous fries, but it is the advertising that excites us, just like what I mentioned in my previous post. These following ads were done continuously back in 2008. After 3 years, it has done nothing but leave indellible marks in our heads -- a mark of a great ad. So now, let us take a tour of Mcdonald's advertising... worldwide.

Who in the world would not want to solve a puzzle? Especially if you're really good at it, and you want the public to know of your talent. You know that woozy feeling in the morning wherein you have to push and force yourself to start working for the day -- but you still couldn't because you haven't had your cup of joe? Mcdonald's was able to take hold of that issue. A creation of DDB, Stockholm in Sweden -- these outdoor posters "were turned into large interactive push puzzles that consumers could solve in order to sort your head out." This effort was to market their Large Coffee for only 1 Euro. Pretty fancy, huh?

In Denmark, another creation of DDB -- this ad proved Mcdonald's to be not just a restaurant that would satisfy hunger but also a place wherein they can click their lappies away! Very very creative way of saying they've got wi-fi, I must say.

This time, we go to New Zealand. The same agency came up with bus-stop posters printed using 'lenticular technology' (Ack! Too scientific for my life.) to create an animation of a yawning guy that puts a Big Mac into his mouth. This so-called technology comes off with this effect -- as you walk closer to the poster, it changes slowly, communicating to the consumer that Mcdonald's is open 24 hours, so you can go and eat there at any time of the day. Hmm, makes me want to get a Big Mac.

In the homeland of Ronald Mcdonald, Leo Burnett Chicago makes use of this outdoor ad that tells the consumers when they serve fresh eggs for breakfast. As the images display, when it's night time, you'd just think it's an ordinary sedentary egg that's just plastered to some post, right? But as the sun rises the following day, it slowly 'hatches.' By breakfast time, the billboard is fully hatched, displaying "Fresh Eggs Daily" on the egg's yolk. The egg stays open between 6am and 10:30am, indicating the time they serve breakfast.

How creative can that be?

Lastly, we visit Vancouver, Canada. You'll never guess what this is...

It's a lamp post! A very strange lamp post... telling consumers that there's unlimited coffee in the Mcdonald's nearby.

The brand IS big, larger than life even. Fact is, we would still know that even if the world will go topsy turvy. However, Mcdonald's has not just paid close attention to its products and its marketing activities, the reason being 'big.' What serves as the cherry on top is that they have been very observant of their customers. That is why we find their ads pretty interesting because it is something that more or less we could relate to. At the end of the day, it is not just about a pretty ad or about how great the idea is... marketing is all about making sure that the desired message of the brand should be understood and welcomed by the target market. Thus, making the specific target market engage in the brand even more.

It's more than just making great ads -- it's about making ads that would excite and connect with the real and right people.