McDonald's introduces a Create your Own burger option

Dinner at McDonald's JEM: a small French fries, Heaven & Earth green tea, and an Angus beef burger that I designed myself, with a slice of Colby cheese, tomato, lettuce, garlic sauce and tomato jalapeno sauce.

The McDonald's at JEM has introduced self-service order kiosks which allow diners not only to order what's on the standard menu, but also to create do-it-yourself burgers with premium ingredients. According to the friendly McDonald's staff who was there to help people creating their own burgers, custom burgers may only be ordered through the kiosks, and not at the counter.

The basic burger with an Angus beef patty costs S$8.95 but may be more expensive as a meal (add S$2 for small fries and a soft drink) or if various options are added. While much care has clearly gone into the design of the software, the actual ordering process is somewhat confusing.

Firstly, diners may have to scroll down to view the full set of options. There is no indication that there are more options onscreen, and diners have to be aware that they should swipe up on the screen in order to view the rest of the screen. I, being used to Windows, tried swiping up on the scroll bar to the right. That did not work.

The next question mark had to do with which options are part of the basic burger at S$8.95, and which are not. There is no pricing information on the screens. There are some options clustered on the same screen which are included in the base price, such as red onions, jalapeno peppers, lettuce and tomatoes. You can choose more than one sauce as well. There are other options for which you may only choose one, such as the type of bread, and still others which come with an additional charge. While I'm willing to pay for a customised burger, I would still like to know how much that burger is going to cost as I go along.

I ordered a burger meal and was surprised to see that the bill did not list the French fries, though it noted that I had changed my drink to Heaven & Earth green tea. What I didn't realise was that when the receipt says 'Create Your Own Meal' that it meant that there would be French fries and a drink involved, and if it doesn't say 'meal' that it's just the burger. As a first-timer to reading a custom burger receipt, it worried me that my French fries were not listed, but the McDonald's staff assisting me assured me I would get them, and I did.

My burger meal cost me S$11.45 in the end, $8.95 for the burger, $2 for the meal and $0.50 for switching to green tea (I thought it was $0.30 if you buy a standard meal but it might have gone up while I wasn't looking). Payment is cashless and painless, and the receipt comes with a number that you can use for picking up your order at the counter. Custom burgers come with those buzzing discs that will sound when your order is ready for pickup - you pick one at random from a stack by the side of each kiosk, and tell the software what number it is. Strangely enough, I was told that I don't actually need to wait around for my order - they would actually serve it to me. In this case the disc acted like those numbered signs that tell staff where to find you.

The meal, when it arrived, was very prettily arranged on a wooden Moda breadboard, on dull gold paper. The fries came in a little wire basket that was lined with paper, and my green tea in a clear plastic to-go cup instead of the waxed paper variety. I had a 'hand & face refresher' wet tissue in addition to serviettes which was a nice touch, and a straw in a paper jacket. The only thing which was missing was the tomato or chilli sauce for the fries (if you want them).The assistant, to his credit, had actually asked me to go get the sauces, but it would have meant giving up my seat as a lone diner and sauces in little disposable plastic saucers spoils the mood somewhat.

The taste test? It is definitely much better than the normal McDonald's burger because of the Angus beef - a different texture - and all the other ingredients. The standard burgers don't come with a tomato slice and that always makes such a difference for me. The sauces - I chose a garlic sauce (creamy garlic aioli) and a tomato jalapeno sauce (tomato jalapeno relish) - added a definite sparkle to the taste, and I contemplated asking if I could have extra for the French fries, because it would have tasted SO good with them. 

I left without clearing up because I really wasn't sure what to do with the wire basket - you can't possibly toss that into the bin like you would with the remains of a standard meal. More guidance on how to clear up would be useful.

The verdict? Be warned that the burger isn't huge - you would get more dollar for dollar at Swensen's - but I loved the idea of deciding exactly what I wanted to have in it. I loved the 'plating', which by the way is about the same internationally; I have seen variations with fake newspaper but it's all breadboards and wire baskets. When you consider that some of the standard burger meals at McDonald's are pretty close in price 'Create your Own' is a definite winner, especially if you go with others and can discuss your choices with each other.

I'm told that JEM is the only McDonald's in Singapore with the Create your Own option, though self service kiosks may be introduced to more outlets in future, paving the way for fewer counter staff as diners will do all the ordering and paying by themselves. The next time though I might try the pre-designed options, which look like they would cost more than S$8.95 if you put them together by yourself. 

Create an experiential ecosystem for success

Think out of the box to get more people to take notice of your product or service. If you build an ecosystem around it that appeals to your target audience, the customers will come. This was the message from Big BirdCreative Company (BBCC), an integrated media company based in Taiwan which has built a name for itself in Taiwan and beyond through offering a slew of content-related services for children including education consulting, production & distribution, and brand development.

Cathy Han, President, BBCC provided a number of success stories during the Media Summit at the Asian Festival of Children's Content 2014 in Singapore this June. “As digital technology and globalisation trends continue, even end users become content creators. To excel in this field and deliver content to the end user, it is important to think about how to do it effectively,” said Han.

The company raised the perception of its partner Disney as a cut-rate content producer whose products are sold at night markets into a premium brand whose bilingual books are sold at almost twice the price of similar content from other publishers, said Han. The key to the Disney transformation was developing a professional performance troupe to conduct community outreach as well as investing in transforming Disney content into activities that could be conducted in class.

“We linked what you read and what you can do with the content,” Han explained. “We combined education with entertainment to make it edutainment. Kids love our content as it's a more interactive way to understand the content.”

BBCC also worked with McDonald's to provide live entertainment that would bring customers back to the restaurants again and again. The company trained McDonald's employees to perform content from its partners, including locally produced content as well as acts based on Disney and Marvel. Some 20,000 events were performed over two years in over 300 McDonald's restaurants in the country. “Content is (no longer) something you read but something you experience,” Han said.

BBCC's rights to Old Master Q (老夫子, OMQ), a fixture in Chinese comics in Greater China for over 50 years, was successfully turned into revenue generation by transforming the public's impression that it is too old fashioned. BBCC animated the comics, some as interactive content, and leveraged the 50^th anniversary of OMQ to develop a successful exhibition tour built around explaining Chinese humour.

“It's content that people can experience, and pay to go to. It's a very different approach to just reading the comics,” Han said.

A similar integrated ecosystem was built around a simple traditional nursery rhyme about building planes, Han shared. BBC created a bilingual picture book with a CD, sold e-book rights to different countries, tied up with McDonald's on publicity, and worked with a local TV channel to create animated programmes around the theme.

When entering a new market, a local partner is critical, Han added. “You can read a lot about market analysis about the country but you can't learn about the country unless you work with someone who really grew up there, and understands the day to day changes, the business needs. It's about operating in today's environment and not about something you read two to three years ago,” she advised.

McDonald's kicks off French Fry augmented reality campaign today

McDonald's has just started a new campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2014 involving French fries, augmented reality, a football-related game and mobile apps. 

French fries bought from McDonald's Pioneer Mall, Singapore

The restaurant chain is serving its French fries in special FIFA World Cup edition boxes beginning May 26 that can be recognised by its associated McDonald's Gol! mobile app. The boxes have the gol.mcd.com URL at the back, with specially commissioned designs.

"This is the first time in brand history we're changing the packaging design of one of our customers' most favourite menu items on a global scale, and what better reason than to share in the excitement of one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world," said Steve Easterbrook, Senior Executive Vice President and Global Chief Brand Officer of McDonald's. "This is about bringing fun, innovative programming to our customers and celebrating our shared love of futbol. We're excited to be able to do that through an engaging, interactive mobile experience, and of course with our World-Famous Fries." 

The app at the Play Store.

Twelve artists from around the world were chosen to create the artwork on the McDonald's medium and large fry boxes in the majority of company-owned and franchised restaurants worldwide. These will trigger the downloadable app entitled McDonald's GOL!

Once the app is started, the user can place the French fry box on a flat surface in well-lit surroundings and turn the scene into an augmented reality game involving a ball and an obstacle course of (what else) French fries, at least in the first of several levels. The idea, the company said, is to "kick" the ball with the flick of a finger and divert or use obstacles to get the ball into the goal.

"Our digital vision at McDonald's is to bring an entirely new level of everyday convenience and fun to the world, and our Augmented Reality app is just one example of how we are bringing fun to our customers' lives," said Atif Rafiq, McDonald's Chief Digital Officer. "We are very excited about the numerous opportunities in front of us to bring even more innovative digital experiences to our customers in ways only McDonald's can do." 

Scanning...

McDonald's GOL! is compatible with most Android and Apple mobile devices and is for download in the Google Play store and Apple App Store from May 26. 

Instructions for download are a little cryptic, but basically direct the user to gol.mcd.com which redirects the user to the Play store and the App store. The Android Play store had only registered 500+ downloads at the time of writing.

The artists showcased on the specially-designed fry boxes include:

-- Australia: David Spencer, Artwork Title - 'The Perfect Kick' 

-- Brazil: Eduardo Kobra, Artwork Title - 'O mundo unido pelo futebol' (translation: 'The world united by football') 

-- Canada: Muegluc, Artwork Title - 'Unite Together' 

-- China: Hua Tunan, Artwork Title - 'World of Victory' 

-- England: Ben Mosley, Artwork Title - 'Fans of the World' 

-- France: Skwak, Artwork Title - 'The Maniac Football Party' 

-- Germany: Roman Klonek, Artwork Title - 'Freaky Fan Club' 

-- Japan: Doppel, Artwork Title - 'Kick the One' -- Russia: Egor Koshelev, Artwork Title - 'The Perfect Goal' 

-- South Africa: Adele Bantjes, Artwork Title - 'Heart of the Game' 

-- Spain: Martin Sati, Artwork Title - 'Flamenco Number One' 

-- US: Tes One, Artwork Title - 'Formations'

Screenshot from level 1.

The new fry boxes will be available throughout the duration of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, while supplies last, the company said. 

Visiting gol.mcd.com also leads to a YouTube video of amazing football stunts, here. 

The company has used augmented reality for mobile marketing in Australia in 2013 with the Track my Macca's app. Read about McDonald's other apps here.

*The box depicted in this post is by Hua Tunan, 'World of Victory', and is numbered 9/12.

Mobile marketing the McDonald's way

McDonald’s is thinking of new ways to engage the customer on a long-term basis with mobile marketing. Its Surprise Alarm app not only helps people get out of bed every morning, but also gets people to the restaurants to actually buy something, said Andrew Knott, Vice President, Media & Digital, McDonald’s during the Mobile Marketing Association Forum 2014 in Singapore.

The secret to the hit app, which made it to no. 1 on both the Apple App Store and on the Google Play store, is an offer every morning. It could be a cash prize, or a free treat that is stored in a digital wallet to like, share or redeem. “There is more incentive to head to a McDonald's for redemption,” said Knott. “It remembers what you like so it can tailor what it offers.”

In two months, McDonald’s was able to garner 15% of the smartphone population in Singapore, and 90% of those who downloaded the app actually activated it. The company saw a 15% redemption rate for the offers, which are only valid for a 24-hour period.

Ad on a table at a McDonald's in Singapore

Knott said the potential has moved from a campaign approach to a platform for on-going engagement, suggesting that there might be tieups with music companies for the morning alarm part of the app. 

  

Apps do not have to be dry when they provide information, either. Knott shared that the Track my Macca’s app used augmented reality to recognise the food that had been ordered, consults supply chain information and then transforms dining tables into cartoon villages in order to deliver customised information to the user by his or her location. “It is a good way to tell our nutritional story in a very transparent way and also in a compelling way,” he said.

For McDonald’s, mobile does not standalone but is complemented by other channels. “Mobile is a critical part of our future journey as a brand but TV will play a significant role,” he said. For example, McDonald’s through its mobile commerce partnership with NTT DoCoMo, which began letting DoCoMo subscribers buy food from the restaurant chain by using their mobile phones in 2007, has captured tens of millions of names from their delivery service. 

“We’re leveraging the data on a campaign basis, and populating it across all our platforms,” Knott said.

Hashtag: #MMAF2014