McDonalds reveals marketing plans during London 2012 Olympics with 'We All Make The Games’
McDonalds is set to unveil its multimillion pound ‘We All Make The Games’ campaign as an official sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Running across a number of media channels, the campaign aims to document, replay and celebrate those involved in the Games, with Leo Burnett London, having developed the campaign which will run over a 10-week-period.
OMD London was media buyer and secured advertising sites across London through an online auction for outdoor media space, which took place last year.
Outdoor activity from JCDecaux, planned and booked through OMD and Posterscope, will reach consumers at the major 'Gateway' hubs for the Games: Euston, St. Pancras, Stratford Regional, Victoria and Waterloo stations and the Heathrow Express.
Documentary material and user-generated content will also be used across social channels and hoardings in central London, with the TV ad also developed for the closing ceremony. The interior of McDonald’s flagship restaurant at the Olympic Park will also screen personal stories involving the games from across the UK.
The campaign has been divided into three phases, beginning with National outdoor and TV activity with a month to go, aiming to encourage people to get behind the games, and the people involved in running them.
TV activity is scheduled to begin 11 July until mid-September.
The second phase will see guerrilla film crews work around official Fan Parks and city centres to film people as they watch the competition. People will also be invited to upload videos and images through Facebook, with some of that content being chosen to be incorporated into TV and outdoor activity, while Razorfish London will manage a question and answer ‘mood-o-meter’ which will run through outdoor digital sites and the McDonalds UK website.
The final stage of the campaign will lead to the culmination of the Olympics, with the best content gathered during the games being used to celebrate those who ‘made’ the games.
A mosaic design, which will be created by The Marketing Store, will include thousands of photographs from images by McDonalds customers, employees and British farmers who supply the fast food brand. This will be showcased across thirty McDonald’s restaurants close to Olympic Venues and with restaurants across the UK.
Alistair Macrow, vice president of marketing for McDonald’s UK, commented: “London 2012 will be the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to be recorded and broadcast by the general public. Attention will undoubtedly be on the world class athletes competing, but it will be the millions of posts, tweets, images and videos uploaded away from the glare of the stadium lights that will reveal the experiences of a nation – the people who will really make the Games.
“McDonald’s restaurants are an involved part of nearly every British town and city. It’s a trusted position we cherish, and creating a genuine dialogue with our customers – whether in our restaurants or through our digital channels – sits at the heart of everything we do.
“The We All Make the Games campaign will capture people’s emotions, humour and experiences in real-time, and we hope to become a barometer for the mood of the nation during the Games. As well as celebrating our customers, it will enable us to thank some of the 17,500 British and Irish farmers who supply our menu and have provided ingredients for London 2012, our 2,000 employees who have won the chance to work at the Games, and the 70,000 Games Makers.”
