1 burger, 7 ingredients, 2,000+ beneficiaries: Here's how this campaign made waves across Spain!
unconventional, engaging, impactful, and easy-to-execute marketing strategy. According to Jay Conrad Levinson, campaigns of this type spark an emotional reaction that enables consumers to effectively remember a brand. Today, allow us to share with you a clever and heartwarming guerrilla marketing strategy. Keep reading to know how this global fast food chain backed the agriculture sector in Spain during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 through an innovative, high-quality marketing tactic.
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1 burger, 7 ingredients, 2,000+ beneficiaries: Here's how this campaign made waves across Spain! What is your definition of “good?” Is it… Being morally upright? Being kind, honest, or helpful? Being satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree? We all have different definitions of “good.” Some associate this term with a person, while others associate it with a thing, event, cause, or campaign. Did you know that in 2020, one fast food brand conducted a GOOD guerrilla marketing campaign in Spain? That brand is none other than… McDonald’s!
McDonald’s is a multinational fast food chain founded in 1940. It is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and has over 38,000 branches in 100+ countries. As one of the Big 3 burger chains in the U.S., McDonald’s is not only known for its primary offerings such as hamburgers, fries, chicken, etc. It is also known for conducting engaging, purposeful, and feel-good marketing campaigns. One of these campaigns? The “Big Good!”!
The Big Good was a limited edition burger from McDonald’s from December 2020 to March 2021. It was co-created by the fast food brand and the marketing agency TBWA/Spain, and not only fed Spanish citizens but also helped the agricultural sector face the crisis provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s a brief background on why McDonald’s created this campaign… Since March 2020, thousands of farmers all over Spain have been affected by the health crisis and the closure of the catering sector. Demand for livestock, poultry, and other farm produce fell by around 50% to 100%. So, at the peak of the pandemic—and despite all its branches closed in Spain—McDonald’s decided to launch a new product: A burger created to help those in the Spanish countryside badly hit by the health and economic crisis. To do this, McDonald’s did the opposite of its usual practice. Normally, a recipe is first designed before food suppliers are sought. Here, the fast food brand first sought the hardest hit suppliers’ ingredients then created a recipe. From there, the Big Good burger was brought to life! The product included 7 locally-sourced ingredients from Spanish farmers:
With this menu, McDonald’s helped reignite and contribute to the recovery of the Spanish agricultural sector. What else did the fast food brand and TBWA/Spain do to increase the visibility of the Big Good burger?
Was McDonald’s “Big Good” campaign effective? With the launch of the Big Good burger, McDonald’s was able to contribute to the visibility of the Spanish primary sector. What’s more? The campaign also gave voice to the stories of each farm producer who supplied an ingredient to the Big Good burger! Take a look at the results of the campaign:
Based on these numbers and recognitions, we can see that McDonald’s “Big Good” campaign was effective in bringing something new to Spanish citizens’ tables and supporting those badly hit by the pandemic. Kudos, McDonald’s and TBWA/Spain! — According to Juan García Escudero, CCO of TBWA/Spain: “Big Good is the result of many months working hand in hand with McDonald’s. It is an innovation, a launch, a quality campaign, a CSR campaign, and a documentary film, but above all, it is a tangible contribution of a great brand to the agricultural sector during this complicated situation in which we are all living. I think it is just what we need. I hope more brands step up and offer real contributions to society through product and action.” Meanwhile, Natalia Echeverría, CMO of McDonald’s Spain, said: “Currently, it’s more important than ever that brands are close to society and act on their purpose. With Big Good, we have highlighted McDonald’s commitment to the local economy and our support for the primary sector. It is something that we have been doing for many years, but which we now want to reinforce, by helping more than 2,000 producers reactivate their economy and deal with the crisis caused by COVID-19.” What do these statements tell you as a business owner, leader, or marketer? Fun and engaging marketing campaigns are powerful, but they become even more powerful and impactful when there’s a purpose behind them. Besides, lots of consumers nowadays are more drawn towards businesses that are active not only in the marketing space but also in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) space. This gives them the assurance that aside from generating profits, these brands also care about the communities where they operate in. Keep in mind that a robust financial state is society’s reward to businesses that fulfill their constituents’ unmet needs. So, when you plan your own guerrilla marketing strategies, take note of the factors that will appeal to your target audience, compel them to act on your call-to-action, and address their needs and wants. Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing! Do you want to know how this beverage brand captured people’s attention on a bus stop in London? See it in next week’s article! |
