Cannes Lions

Channel Us

DRUM, London / MCDONALD'S / 2016

Case Film
Film
Supporting Content
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Overview

Entries

Credits

OVERVIEW

Description

McDonald’s created Channel Us. A new entertainment channel made by young people, for young people and in collaboration with the influencers they admired most. It brought them together, gave them a leg up and helped make their ambitions a reality. ‘You72’ was the debut format for Channel Us – a YouTube series of challenges based on young peoples talents and the things they’re really passionate about. Hosted and produced with the vloggers Oli White & Hazel Hayes, each week someone had just 72 hours to complete a passion-fuelled project, helped by the suggestions, ideas and talent of the Channel Us YouTube community. Whether putting on a collaborative fashion show, shooting a short film, or appearing on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the community had to pull together to make it all happen. The challenges were different each week, but the entertainment, jeopardy and drama continued throughout.

Execution

Channel Us was executed in the same way as the most popular vloggers – by creating regular content in order to build a fan base on YouTube, the platform our audience look to most for entertainment. We created one hero film, every Friday, but then used a variety of shorter forms to build anticipation throughout the week – the background stories of our protagonists, the challenges they had set themselves and interviews with their expert mentors. And every week we invited our audience to comment and to help shape the content of the next episode – whether it was the subject area, the challenges or the people they wanted to see. All of this content was then reformatted specifically for our vlogger hosts to preview, promote and reveal in their own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. A test and learn approach to our paid media then amplified this across social.

Outcome

McDonald’s transformed the lives of those who got involved, but they also inspired a community who watched, commented and helped Channel Us succeed. There were 5.3 million views and 12,000 subscribers. But it wasn’t just the views, it was how engaged they were. Subscribers came back to watch week in, week out viewing for an average of 3 ½ minutes. Not bad for an audience who supposedly have tiny attention spans. It also had a huge impact on the attitudes of young people. Viewers saw McDonald’s as 6% more a 'brand for me', 8% ‘more trusted’ and 27% more ‘changing for the better’. A massive 52% now believe there is 'more to McDonald’s than just food and drink'. Channel Us has changed the game for how McDonald’s talk to young people, now and in the future. A collaborative approach that both entertains and plays a meaningful role in their lives.

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