THE ESPORT MENU

Short List
TitleTHE ESPORT MENU
BrandMCDONALD'S
Product/ServiceMCDONALD'S
Category B05. Use of Print / Outdoor
Entrant NORD DDB Copenhagen, DENMARK
Idea Creation NORD DDB Copenhagen, DENMARK
Media Placement OMD DENMARK Copenhagen, DENMARK
Production NORD DDB Copenhagen, DENMARK
Credits
Name Company Position
Jeppe Ritz NORD DDB Art Director
Louis Pilmark NORD DDB Copywriter
Theis Kildetoft Freelance Freelance
Pernille Ryder NORD DDB (formerly) Account Director
Christian Budtz NORD DDB Strategic Director
Martin Meyer NORD DDB Strategic Planner
Emilie Linsaa NORD DDB Graphic Designer
Thomas Fabricius NORD DDB Creative Director

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

The objective of the campaign was to connect with a hard-to-reach target audience: gamers. In this campaign we found a way to target a very specific audience/community with the use of a gaming insight: a special linguistic approach, which meant that nobody else understood the ads. The whole campaign was directly aimed at the gaming community and by encouraging them to share and participate in the language they already knew, we built a stronger relationship with the fans.

Background

The best Counter-Strike team in the world right now is Danish and the Danish TV stations are beginning to broadcast some of the big esport events. Therefore, McDonald’s had a great window of opportunity to give a public high five to the gaming community by speaking to them in the community’s own language and making some fun at the same time. The objectives of the campaign were to connect McDonalds’s with a hard-to-reach target audience, gamers, and get them to talk about the initiative.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

McDonald’s in Denmark wanted to strengthen their relationship with gamers. Therefore, we created simple targeted ads (billboards, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and inside games) where we named McDonald’s products with the equivalent in gaming lingo. A cheeseburger was called “eco round” which means economic round, where players save money. A Happy Meal was called “noob” which means “beginner” etc. Words and expressions that only gamers understood, which made the idea talk of town in the community.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The objectives of the campaign were to connect with a hard-to-reach target audience: gamers and get them to talk about our initiative. We found that, in most parts of the world, it is frowned upon to play video games – it is stigmatized and “nerdy”. Therefore, McDonald’s had a great window of opportunity to give an insightful public high five to the gaming community by speaking to them in the community’s own language, targeting them directly, and making some fun at the same time. Nobody else understood the ads and that was probably also why the ads got so much attention in the gaming community and why they shared them.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

The campaign ran for one week: from 29 October to 4 November 2018. Media: printed and digital billboards/posters, social media (Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat) and in-game ads in Counter-Strike. The total media spend was less than €10.000 (Outdoor costs <€7000, SoMe costs <€2000 and in-game ads costs <€500) Social Media posts were targeted gamers and gaming influencers – also people close to 'Royal Arena' where the country’s biggest esport event took place that same week (Blast Pro Series). All posters/billboards were placed on metro stations; selected stations close to the 'Royal Arena' venue.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign went viral and was picked up by media in 18 countries with more than 110,000,000 potential impressions. The media wrote about it, the biggest CS-analysts, influencers and hosts tweeted about it, and it was the most upvoted post on Reddit in the past year (Counter-Strike subreddit 1 Feb 2019). Fans photoshopped translations on photos for the Russian fanbase and other brands made 'spoofs' with the same words on their products. When a big brand like McDonald's gives credit to a community that is misunderstood, it creates talk of town. Both inside the gaming community as well as outside – and has a positive impact for both them and McDonald's.