For us, media nirvana is discovering a world-first way to use a channel, that not only creatively utilises a deep consumer insight, but also shifts the dial for the client.

McDonald’s Ad-Ons hits that elusive trifecta.

And... you know it resonates when every media professional who’s seen the idea has said the same thing: “Damn I wish we’d done that first!”

Really keen to know what you think.

The economic downturn here in New Zealand has hit the nation hard and as a result, pennies are being pinched and wallets are being watched like never before.

Inflation remains stubbornly high, not dropping below 5% in 2023, with fuel prices and mortgage rates hitting record highs. As the cost of essentials has mounted, Kiwis have been cutting back on discretionary spending – making cost-savings wherever possible.

For McDonald’s NZ franchisees, this is a real issue, which the business is forever looking to solve with fresh, innovative creative solutions.

Stand at the counter of any McDonald’s restaurant in New Zealand and you’ll hear a chorus of customers saying “aaaaaaaaaand aaa…” as they stare up at the menu board and decide which little treat to add to their favourite order.

This is music to the ears of McDonald’s NZ franchisees, as customers adding extra items to their ‘go-to' orders massively bolsters the bottom line. Historically, it’s also proven to be one of their greatest business challenges, and the current economic downturn here in NZ has made that challenge greater than ever.

The objective set by McDonald’s was to get more customers saying those lucrative “aaaaaand aaa…” kind of words, adding extra McNuggets, Apple Pies, McFlurries and more to their favourite orders. And in a media sense, do it when they’re already on the way to McDonald’s – at the time they’re a little more predisposed to adding a tasty extra.

Just like we wanted our customers to do, we added a little something to our OOH.

First a bit of context: Here in New Zealand, our standard digital billboard sites have an extra little screen added to the bottom to display the billboard provider’s logo. Which got us thinking… a little screen… under the big one we’ve already paid for… when we want people to add a little extra treat to their order…?

In a media world-first, we joined forces with digital out-of-home provider, LUMO NZ to hack their network of digital billboards. Using McDonald’s sales data, we added all the little favourites Kiwis love to add on at the counter to their big favourites on the billboards above, and streamed them back to hungry Kiwis on the way to McDonald’s.

We combined this little media-hack with that classic “aaaaaand aaa…” moment at the counter that everyone can relate to.

Our primary target was ‘on the go’ Kiwis. Those near to, or on the way to McDonald’s, predisposed to making those little impulse additions. Naturally, this made OOH the favoured medium.

While some Kiwis happily add extra nuggets and soft serves to their favourite orders, others needed a gentle reminder.

So that’s exactly what we did, bringing to life what McDonald’s call a ‘fan truth’ – those specific, special, and shared insights from McDonald’s customers that relate to a behaviour, a memory or a ritual. It’s the kind of behaviour where thousands of fans see it and say; “omg – I do that too!”

“Aaand a…” is one of those human moments, and combining it with our big/little media hack made that moment all the more impactful.

In a media world-first, we took over the billboard company’s name-plate, which hangs off the bottom of the main large-format digital billboard – and used it to bring to life a relatable customer behaviour.

To ensure maximum reach, we took over LUMO NZ’s all-day sites near McDonald’s restaurant locations with 100% SOV to ensure we were top of mind for all audiences considering their next McDonald’s order.

AdOns is an ongoing campaign that will run through 2024 as part of McDonald's always on OOH strategy. At the time of writing, the campaign has been live for just over two weeks.

The campaign launched recently – within the last three weeks at time of writing, so it is too early to fully and accurately measure its effectiveness, but the early signs are very promising. Average cheque has already grown for two consecutive weeks since launch, with a 2.4% uplift in stores close to AdOn billboards.

That's already a whole lot of extra Apple Pies, Nuggets and McFlurries getting added to orders. And proof that our tiny little idea is already shifting the dial for local franchisees. As the campaign progresses, we'll continue to monitor the results because there’s a whole lot more to come. Hopefully we can share them with you next year!

This is one of those ideas where the channel IS the idea.

The campaign came to life across large format digital billboards, leveraging a previously untapped media channel; the tiny little digital billboard at the bottom of the big one – which usually carried the billboard company’s logo.

While other channels could in theory bring the idea to life, none could do so at such scale, or with such a fresh and relevant creative twist.