The brand essence

THE BEST INSIGHT INTO the thinking of fast food marketers comes from their own words. Confidential documents from a recent McDonald’s advertising campaign give a clear sense of how the restaurant chain views its customers. The McDonald’s Corporation was facing a long list of problems. “Sales are decreasing,” one memo noted. “People are telling us Burger King and Wendy’s are doing a better job of giving… better food at the best price,” another warned. Consumer research indicated that future sales in some key areas were at risk. “More customers are telling us,” an executive wrote, “that McDonald’s is a big company that just wants to sell… sell as much as it can.” An emotional connection to McDonald’s that customers had formed “as toddlers” was now eroding. The new radio and television advertising had to make people feel that McDonald’s still cared about them. It had to link the McDonald’s of today to the one people loved in the past. “The challenge of the campaign,” wrote Ray Bergold, the chain’s top marketing executive, “is to make customers believe that McDonald’s is their ‘Trusted Friend.’”

According to these documents, the marketing alliances with other brands were intended to create positive feelings about McDonald’s, making consumers associate one thing they liked with another. Ads would link the company’s french fries “to the excitement and fanaticism people feel about the NBA.” The feelings of pride inspired by the Olympics would be used in ads to help launch a new hamburger with more meat than the Big Mac. The link with the Walt Disney Company was considered by far the most important, designed to “enhance perceptions of Brand McDonald’s.” A memo sought to explain the underlying psychology behind many visits to McDonald’s: parents took their children to McDonald’s because they “want the kids to love them… it makes them feel like a good parent.” Purchasing something from Disney was the “ultimate ” way to make kids happy, but it was too expensive to do every day. The advertising needed to capitalize on these feelings, letting parents know that “ONLY McDonald’s MAKES IT EASY TO GET A BIT OF DISNEY MAGIC.” The ads aimed at “minivan parents” would carry an unspoken message about taking your children to McDonald’s: “It’s an easy way to feel like a good parent.”

The fundamental goal of the “My McDonald’s” campaign that stemmed from these proposals was to make a customer feel that McDonald’s “cares about me” and “knows about me.” A corporate memo introducing the campaign explained: “The essence McDonald’s is embracing is ‘Trusted Friend’… ‘Trusted Friend’ captures all the goodwill and the unique emotional connection customers have with the McDonald’s experience… [Our goal is to make] customers believe McDonald’s is their ‘Trusted Friend’ Note: this should be done without using the words ‘Trusted Friend’… Every commercial [should be] honest… Every message will be in good taste and feel like it comes from a trusted friend.” The words “trusted friend” were never to be mentioned in the ads because doing so might prematurely “wear out a brand essence” that could prove valuable in the future for use among different national, ethnic, and age groups. Despite McDonald’s faith in its trusted friends, the opening page of this memo said in bold red letters: “ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OR COPYING OF THIS MATERIAL MAY LEAD TO CIVIL OR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.”