The Challenge
At the end of 2017, after losing 11 million visits between 2012-2017, McDonald's Sweden decided to do a complete brand reset and defined a mission to get Swedes “Lovin’ it” again to change the trajectory of the brand and make it work harder for the business. Swedes were not just visiting McDonald's less often - they had stopped going altogether. The share of people who never visited McDonald’s increased from 24% in 2012 to almost 30% of the population in 2017. In response, McDonald’s had increased prices to sustain sales, but spending over 80% of media investments on short-term sales activations. With promotional offers, coupons, and an incoherent visual expression, McDonald’s had lost touch with its brand and did not have an emotional advantage over its competitors anymore. Meanwhile, the sustainability trend grew stronger, and Swedes' demand for high food quality increased, parameters on which McDonald's was perceived to underdeliver on. The brand had lost touch with culture and was not seen as a modern and progressive company. In addition, their size and scale made Swedes see McDonald’s as just an American giant lacking human warmth. At a time where customers saw big as bad, how could McDonald’s leverage the one thing we couldn’t change into being a driver of growth?
The Solution
We developed the brand platform “Big enough to make a difference”, an idea that came to guide the entire organization of 12,000 employees in Sweden.” Over the course of a few years McDonald's launched over 20 initiatives; expanding its electric vehicle charging network, creating biodiversity initiatives, publishing millions of children's books in Happy Meals, reducing its plastic use by hundreds of tons, replacing physical balloons with digital balloons, engaging thousands of employees to collect trash, and making important contributions to Ronald McDonald House Charities so families can stay close during a difficult time, as well as opening the door for 10,000 young people from the ‘hopeless generation’. All under its platform “Big enough to make a difference”.