McDonald’s had a brief with a big ambition: acquire 2MM app downloads and transactions in the single month of July, while driving brand affinity with Multicultural Youth.

Digital acquisition can often mean cheap deals or gimmicky tactics to get people into the app. But we wanted to build an experience wrapped in emotion– giving a reason to come into the app, engage with content, make a purchase, and even want to return. Which would mean offering something fun for our fans without it feeling too functional.

As customer experiences move toward digital, it’s important for the brand experience to also be memorable, while using creativity to create new digital behaviors.

This is a case where the app was a channel, and creativity pulled fans in.

Our objectives:

Commercial: 2MM downloads and transactions

Marketing: Drive digital penetration with 18-24 multicultural youth

Communication: Build relevance among youth— the future of the brand

Introducing Camp McDonald’s. A modern day camp with something fun for every fan.

Camp McDonald’s is quite literally what would happen if you put a festival into the McDonald’s app. It’s the first of its kind, month-long, virtual summer experience, with exclusive performances by blackbear, Omar Apollo, BIBI and Kid Cudi, “menu hacks” and food deals that invite fans into the app to “build their own” Apple Pie McFlurry or McFlurry Sandwich, and, weekly merch drops from designers curated for our fans across each of our key markets.

27 daily offers from a digital calendar meant 27 reasons for our fans to do so. download the app, explore and enjoy entertainment, and make a transaction—all within the app and executed with a digital first plan focused on driving toward downloads.

Because when you have the app, you’re at Camp McDonald’s.

To reach 2MM downloads and transactions, we needed fans to see value beyond a transaction.

McDonald’s has always been more than a restaurant. At our best, we’re an event or experience. Our insight: You go to McDonald’s for more than just the food.

So, why should our app be any different?

It wasn’t enough for fans to download the app. We also needed them to transact. Which meant building an experience in the app they wanted to engage in before making a purchase.

We knew that digital exclusives can drive adoption. What if those exclusives were more than a menu item?

McDonald’s is the democratizing brand. As kids headed off to camp in the physical world, we wanted to use the spirit of accessibility to create a digital world where everyone was invited, allowing us to reimagine what camp could look like for youth.

McDonald’s will always remember the summer of ‘22. The inaugural month-long experience with something for every fan, only available in the McDonald’s app.

We took a page out of the festival playbook and fed fans everything they could dream of.

It started with a summertime necessity that drove the internet crazy- the release of our exclusive, one-of-a-kind Grimace pool float that generated a frenzy of fans racing to the app.

Each week kicked off with curated food deals and menu hacks tailored to the season. Thursdays meant new merch, designed by selected partners our fans loved.

We opened up an entire universe for our biggest fans– an entire calendar of offerings for them to pick and choose from as the month went on. And no festival is complete without a headliner performance, so Sundays meant “in the booth” performances by the iconic blackbear, Omar Apollo, Bibi, and Kid Cudi.

Camp McDonald’s drove culture, app downloads and transactions like never before, and made camp for everyone.

Communication:

Camp McDonald’s drove excitement among media, influencers, and fans throughout the month, earning: 553 media placements, 536M reach, 91.4% POS/NEU social sentiment, 26K mentions.

Marketing:

Our audience downloaded and transacted on the app like never before. In July, 18-24-Year-Old YoY penetration outpaced both total McDonald’s as well as QSR 18-24-year olds vs. last year.

Commercial:

The program helped drive ~1.99M new digital customers in July (vs. 2M target), which is a new record and all-time high for new digital customers in a single month. Camp McDonald’s + National French Fry Day led to Record Breaking Digital Guest Counts. Free McFlurry + National French Fry Day offer achieved record-high Digital App Guest Counts and Digital App Guest Count Penetration (17.6%) and drove most new digital customers in a single day (~151K).