Founder Ray Kroc once said: “We are not in the burger business, we’re in show-business”. Despite major success in Australia, McDonald’s recognised that over time, the experience of visiting McDonald’s had lost some of its magic. Instead, the focus had shifted towards faster service and slicker environments.Our brief was to create a brand-book to inspire 85,000 employees nationwide to bring back the magic that McDonald’s was once famous for and to remind them that they’re in ‘show-business’.

We needed to communicate a large-scale strategic-shift in the business, through a simple, captivating and relevant voice that would appeal to everyone from the CEO to the 16-year-old restaurant worker.

The concept of ‘Showtime’ was recently launched internally to 4,000 Restaurant Managers, in Singapore, with a themed conference (Cirque de Soleil) and a copy of this brand book for every manager. The brand book represents the culmination of the first phase of ongoing work designed to revitalise the McDonald’s service promise.

Instead of trying to reinvent what McDonald’s stands for, this programme was about rediscovering the magic at the heart of the brand. Our solution was to create a larger than life interactive book to remind McDonalds’s staff that they’re the stars of the show.Centred on the idea of ‘Showtime’, the book is inspired by the colour and vibrancy of the circus. It encourages staff to think of themselves as performers on the McDonald’s stage.

The book itself is large format and interactive - featuring peel off stickers, reflective paper and a fold out poster.