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McDonald?s beefs up marketing efforts with bigger advertising push

McDonald?s is continuing to use mobile advertising to not only promote its ongoing promotions, but further cement the fast food giant?s position as one of the top guns to watch out for in mobile.

In its most recent campaign, McDonald?s is promoting its new triple cheeseburger for only $2. The fast food giant has used mobile ads in the past to promote new menu items and build a relationship with new and existing customers.

"The McDonald's campaign is great - very direct and simple and therefore very appropriate for mobile devices and small screens and busy consumers," said Simon Buckingham, CEO of Appitalism.

Mr. Buckingham is not affiliated with McDonald's. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

McDonald?s did not respond to press inquiries.

Fast lane
The McDonald?s mobile campaign ran on the Rolling Stone mobile site.

What was great about the initiative was that it blended in with the publication and did not look like a mobile ad at all.

For example, the McDonald?s mobile ad appears along the top of the screen and overlaps with the Rolling Stone logo ? making the ad look as if it is part of the editorial content.

The mobile ad reads ?Spend Less. Taste More? and features the McDonald?s logo, as well as an image of its triple cheeseburger.

When consumers tap on the mobile ad they are redirected to an optimized landing page where they can find the nearest McDonald?s and try out the new menu item in person.

From there, users are asked if it is OK to use their current location.

If consumers allow it, they are then redirected to their Maps mobile app to find the nearest McDonald?s location.

Additionally, the fast food giant is incorporating social into the marketing mix by adding a Twitter icon on the top of the page that entices consumers to follow McDonald?s and be one of the first to learn about new products and any other relevant news.

A mobile advertising campaign such as this is a very smart move for McDonald?s and fast food companies in general.

Fast food chains are not going to sell their products via mobile. Therefore, incorporating location and social into the mix is crucial.

By using location, McDonald?s is able to drive in-store traffic, and ultimately, increase sales for its new triple cheeseburger product.

In addition, by adding social into the equation, the fast food giant is giving users an opportunity to continue a relationship with the company.

Heating up
McDonald?s has been ramping up its mobile efforts this past year.

Earlier this year, the fast food giant used a mobile ad campaign to entice users to try the company?s dollar menu items by playing a word scramble game.

In addition to learning about the dollar menu items, users could also find the nearest McDonald?s location via the ads (see story).

Most recently, McDonald?s Fast ran a mobile ad campaign that promoted its breakfast items.

The company sponsored Us Magazine?s Hot Pics section within the publisher?s mobile site. The mobile ads promoted the new McDonald?s Blueberry Banana Nut Oatmeal (see story).

"The McDonald's campaign is product-specific," Mr. Buckingham said. "It includes essential information such as price of the item, name of the item and ability to locate the nearest restaurant.

"This McDonald's campaign is a great example of a mobile campaign - I'm loving it," he said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York