McDonald’s role at Christmas is a fine line to tread, our daily visitor numbers spike but unlike the likes of the big grocers and retailers, it’s not an obvious customer fit at Christmas time. Our brief was to drive brand affinity at Christmas and increase customer consideration by highlighting McDonald’s functional strengths in an emotional and engaging way.

Tapping into the anticipation and excitement that comes in the preparation for Christmas, our idea centred around getting the nation ready for the arrival of Father Christmas and his reindeer.

To do this, we turned to the the most unexpected item on the menu. By rebranding carrot sticks into ‘Reindeer Treats’, we helped the nation prepare for the big day with a magical cross-platform brand experience that spanned multiple touchpoints from PR to in restaurant activation.

In the UK, Christmas is our equivalent of the superbowl. Every brand rolls out a big fat telly ad and tries to ‘own’ the big day.

However, unlike many major brands who have a clear role on Christmas day itself, McDonald’s comes into its own in the long and busy festive build-up. And it’s often during this build-up that many small pieces of Christmas magic can be found, which is where we can really play a role.

We wanted to talk to the nation (with a particular focus on families and 16-24 year olds) and let them know that McDonald’s was here for the magic along the way at Christmas time.

The campaign activity ran across TV, OOH, press, digital and social between the 15th November 2018 – 2nd January 2019.

Our film trended on YouTube for two weeks after launch and was voted the most festive of the year.

17.6 million Snapchat impressions.

Over 450,000 Reindeer Ready Live entries.

Sales in the festive menu up 50%

And of course. 236,000 bags of carrot sticks were sold. Meaning 0 reindeers went hungry this year.