Competitors were outgrowing and outspending McDonald’s of Chicago in the highly competitive quick service restaurant category where no consumer wakes up in the morning and asks, “What am I going to eat at McDonald’s this morning?” So, the objectives of the integrated McWakeUp promotional campaign were to surround the consumer with a variety of media to immediately become the first thing that customers think about when they wake up in the morning and translate those thoughts into immediate activation, measured by increased breakfast sales at McDonald’s of Chicago.

To have consumers think of McDonald’s of Chicago first thing in the morning, we woke them up…literally. So we created a new form of media, the 1-888-GoMcWakeUp phonecast. The 1-888-GoMcWakeUp phone line was promoted simultaneously with breakfast variety and value messages through TV, radio, print, internet, posters, bar coasters and street teams. Every media encouraged consumers to call this free, hotel-style wake up service. As a result, Chicago consumers who scheduled wake up calls from local Chicago celebrities would hear a promotional message, choose a celebrity, and then receive the celebrity wake up call and another promotional message.