Anthony's Marketing Blog Post

For my marketing in the news blog post, I decided to choose Mcdonald's and how they won over marketers with their “eyebrow-raising ad”. For the first time in Mcdonald's advertisement history, they came up with a commercial that doesn’t showcase their restaurant or their food. Instead, they followed a group of office workers using a knowing, raised eyebrow signal to communicate an invitation to get Mcdonald's food without saying a word about it. Another takeaway from this ad was they don’t show any Mcdonald's branding until the end of the advertisement. But instead, their iconic assets are subtly placed throughout the commercial. In the beginning, we see a red and yellow outfit that advertises itself as a Mcdonald's commercial. We also see a hand-drawn logo on a yellow post-it note that signifies what is being advertised during the commercial. The final thing that is shown during the 60-second ad was some of the workers had their eyebrows raised as a nod to the company’s logo the “Golden Arches”, which also invites viewers to join in by raising their own “arches"

When looking at Mcdonald's value proposition we are mostly looking at how Mcdonald's is differentiated from its competitors. In other words what overall package of benefits and unique offerings do they provide their customers? Some things that Mcdonald's does better than its competitors are that they have convenient locations, comfortable seating, and in-store facilities. They also provide fast and efficient service whenever you’re in the store and their menu items are always consistent which draws in more and more customers daily. Mcdonald's value proposition appeals to several target markets. For example, their wide range of food choices would appeal to a family. While comfortable seating and in-store facilities would appeal to somebody who’s looking to have a bite to eat and relax. Overall, the essence of the value proposition is to give consumers a reason to become a customer of your brand. 

The marketing relevance that was discussed during this article was to go away from their past marketing strategies and to produce a new commercial that is different from the ones in the past. There wasn’t any evidence of a new product but instead, they decided to try a new marketing campaign that would draw more customers in. The article states that “In a challenging time, our Raise Your Arches invitation to Mcdonald's provides the nation with a small but much-needed moment to let go and feel good.” There also is a quote that states “We hope the campaign raises arches and smiles across the country and I can’t wait to see everyone get involved.”

While reading this article I didn’t see or read anything about the challenges Mcdonald's is facing. The only thing I would consider a challenge for them is going away from their traditional advertisement and deciding to produce something that has some meaning to it. This new commercial that McDonalds decided to go with is unique and different from their previous commercials. Throughout the whole commercial, there is never once a menu item that is shown. Instead, they hinted at some things that related to their company such as the sticky note with the Golden Arches drawn onto it. Also, the color scheme of the commercial was mostly colors that related to the company such as red, yellow, and some white. Regarding the “buyer persona,” I wouldn’t say that it appeals to a particular buyer’s persona. Instead, it appealed to a much wider scale of people that may or may not like Mcdonald's.

Personally, I believe that their marketing approach was relatively good. They use good marketing strategies such as getting the viewers’ attention and making it something remarkable that people will remember. With McDonald's advertising, this signal raised eyebrows to communicate an invitation to get Mcdonald's food without saying a word. People will remember this signal and be more likely to visit one of the nearby locations. 

If I was one of the brand/product managers, I really wouldn’t change much. I believe they advertise a completely new thing in a new way. Most of their previous commercials/ads have been mainly focused on the inside of the restaurant and what the menu/food items look like. As a viewer, I tend to not be as engaged as I was when previously watching Mcdonald's advertisements mostly because they all seem repetitive. Overall, while reading this article I have learned new ways that people advertise and new things about how ads work. This has really sparked many new ideas in my head mostly when watching TV and the ads that consistently pop up.

https://www.marketingweek.com/mcdonalds-exceptional-branding-system1/

https://www.McDonalds.com