CREATIVE BRIEF TEMPLATE

Lizzury Rodriguez
October 28th, 2008
RCS-362-01
Blog # 7
883875655

CREATIVE BRIEF

“I’m lovin’ it “ - Mc Donald’s

Date: beginning September 29, 2003 in the USA.

Project: McDonald’s global campaign.

Background: Over the years, McDonald's has developed TV advertising campaigns that have become, like McDonald's, a part of people lives and culture. McDonald's commercials have focused not only on product, but also on the McDonald's experience, reflecting feelings and a real insight of every day life. This image or reputation advertising has become a mark of the company and created many memorable television moments and themes, including its “I'm lovin’ it” campaign, which was launched in 2003.

The Audience: Young consumers that go from the age of 18 to 35 years-old. The ones that love their life and enjoy being active, funny and full of energy, no matter the occupation they have.

Objectives: This campaign was conducted on all markets under the common slogan “I’m lovin’ it." For the first time, one set of advertisements and one slogan was being used all around the world simultaneously. The campaign was part of a new global strategy of McDonald’s. The launch of the “I’m lovin’ it" campaign was a key point for McDonald’s in its process of refreshing its brand in the consumer’s minds throughout the world, without forgetting its main objective, increasing its sales.

The Message: The most important thing to the McDonald’s campaign, were high-energy television commercials that wanted to communicate and reflect the lifestyles and attitudes of today's customers and culture. In order to do it, they just used a simple sentence as “I’m lovin’ it,” which needs no explanation, because it has meaning for itself. When people hear it, they just can think about how important this brand is in their lives.

The Medium: The best way to reach this audience was creating a link between them and McDonald’s as an entire lifestyle, and with which they could identify themselves. The campaign showed how McDonald’s fits perfectly in everyone’s life, and it also used hip music and celebrities that signify something in a particular country and culture. It used top musical talents such as Justin Timberlake, who is a famous singer. He appeared in the commercial, singing and saying the key phrase in this campaign: “I’m lovin’ it…” Justin Timberlake was a means to develop new and innovative ways to connect McDonald’s with today's culture and young consumers. Also, in the spots were showed vocals by popular rap artists.

Anything Else: The campaign wanted to show McDonald´s as an energy icon for people. It was a multi-dimensional approach to customers around the world that go from television sets and computers to McDonald’s restaurants, and everything in between. As Mike Roberts, McDonald’s USA President said, “We are focused on bringing the “I’m lovin’ it” theme to life not only in our advertising but also for every customer who visits our restaurants” (1). This world marketing strategy was an element of their overall plan to continue revitalizing McDonald's for their customers through inducing food choices, giving great service and improving restaurant operations. They tried to motivate value and excitement to McDonald’s.

The Deadline: Although McDonald’s is considered as one of the most successful restaurants throughout the world for its sales, the company is always reinventing and innovating itself, and this campaign wasn’t the exception. The objective of it was to refresh its brand name, at the same time that they tried to increase their sales and reach a large number of consumers. So, the success of the campaign must be measured in a short-range horizon (since the beginning of the campaign, up to 1 year). This time horizon will allow the company to determine whether the campaign was or was not successful, in comparison with an increase in sales.

The message must get to the audience for maximum effect as soon as they saw the commercials, or through unique activities. Activities such as “I’m lovin’ it” swat teams across the country at sports and high-profile events (2). Additionally, to communicate the excitement and innovation of this campaign, it developed restaurant merchandising that captures the McDonald's experience with the “I’m lovin’ it” attitude. The campaign attitude was featured on window posters, outdoor pole signs, ceiling danglers, and a custom “I’m lovin’ it” kiosk, as well as other in-restaurant elements.

Budget: When the “I’m lovin’ it” campaign was launched in 2003, McDonald's Corp.'s global ad budget was $1.21 billion, which represents measured media only, according to Ad Age, which ranked the company 19th among the world's "Top 25 Global Marketers."(2)

Responsible parties: The most important parties involved in this project are: Senior Vice President and Chief marketing Officer, McDonald’s President in the USA, McDonald's Executive Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer, etc. But the final execution of the project must be signed by McDonald’s CEO.



Bibliography:

(1) Rozenich, A. (September 2, 2003). McDonald’s unveils “i’m lovin’ it” worldwide brand campaign. Retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://www.mcdepk.com/imlovinit/downloads/ili_lead_release.pdf.

(2) Nation’s Restaurants News. (April 11, 2005). Thoroughly modern marketing: McDonald's updates advertising to remain “forever young.” Retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:EFMIc2gdFToJ:www.sfallian ce.org/media/nrn.html+i%27m+lovin%27+it+campaign+budget&hl=es&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us


- YouTube. (2003). I’m lovin’ it. Retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI-xHMM8wXE

- Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility. (2007). How we make life better. Retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:ZRbG84wzD_UJ:www.fcsr.pl/fcsr_eng_nasipartnerzy_mcdonald.html+i%27m+lovin%27+it+campaign+objective&hl=es&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

Lizzury Rodriguez
October 3th, 2008
RCS-362-01
Blog # 5
883875655

GANDHI’S ADVERTISING

When I was thinking about a billboard that seemed interesting to me, my first thought was of a library by name of Gandhi. Gandhi has really changed the concept of the common boring library where you only go to buy books. Gandhi is more than a library. It has been innovative and it also gives you the opportunity to go there and find music, videos and any kind of book you are searching for, all while you enjoy a delicious coffee. It is totally different from what we are use to think about a library.

The reason why I thought about this library is because it has very effective advertising. Where I come from, they have a huge billboard outside the nicest mall in the city, which is typically yellow with some sentences in black ink, that make you want to read. At the very bottom of the billboard the library’s logo is located. It is clear that they want to sell their image by making you think of them when you need to buy a book. Every time I needed a book the first thing that came to my mind was definitely their funny billboards, and thus the library. Therefore, I went to buy all my books there. Also, they are educating people by creating a reading habit for them.
Some of the billboards that Gandhi has posted in León this year are the following:

It says: If you don’t read nothing happens.
If you read it happens.

It says: You have 365 chances to read.

It says: Reading…

This is one that I especially liked. It was posted this year, and they are using a thermometer because I think they are trying to measure the effectiveness they have been reaching in the market. As I said before, they have been educating people through their billboards. People always need to keep learning and knowledge can be acquired through reading.

In 2007 other billboards were:

It says: Reading is not difficult.
Look:
Reading is not difficult.

It was one of the most amazing billboards that were posted in 2007 because it is telling you that although you may think that you don’t like to read, you are already reading this billboard. They were trying to get people used to reading while making them remember Gandhi is a good library.

It says: I do read.

The word “Leeón” which means “read,” has double letter e because it has an implicit meaning. Our soccer team is called “León,” obviously because this is the name of the city. When the billboard was posted, it was the ascending soccer season. Then, this billboard wanted to show some support for the team, which everyone loves. That was a good way to identify the library with the daily lifestyle of people.

After having seen some examples of the advertising made by Gandhi, I could say that these are truly interesting for me because they really caught my attention. As we saw in class, the yellow color has a cheerful effect and it is used to get the people’s attention. This objective is totally reached by Gandhi because it is impossible not to see it. Wherever you go, even if you are in your car driving to work or if you are at the bus stop, you look at Gandhi’s billboards automatically. I really love their billboards!