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McDonald's beefs up mobile social ads on Facebook with rich media

McDonald?s is launching its first mobile advertising campaign that leverages Facebook and Twitter to serve up a rich media experience as part of a multichannel marketing push to promote a new line of chicken wings.

The fast food giant?s campaign launched earlier this week with ad placements within the Facebook and Twitter mobile applications and the National Football League mobile site. The mobile ads tie into a bigger marketing push that McDonald?s is using to get the word out about its new products, including TV spots and social media.

?This is the first time that McDonald?s has done mobile rich media in Facebook and Twitter,? said Dirk Rients, senior vice president and director of mobile at DDB Chicago, Chicago.

?It?s also an engaging experience with the video and the ability to share content ? it?s a good fit for us as far as our target audience is concerned,? he said.

McDonald?s worked with DDB Chicago to create the campaign.

Mobile is social
McDonald?s campaign features NFL quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick in a television ad that shows the two Super Bowl XLVII rivals competing with each other over the fast food giant?s new chicken wings.

The TV spot ends with a black-out and prompts consumers to uncover who has the Mighty Wings with the hashtag #MightyWings.

Creative for the mobile ad lets consumers either learn more about the Mighty Wings or view all of the suspects.

If users choose to learn more about the products, a store locator pulls in a consumer?s location and plots a restaurant on a map.

The other option within the mobile ad lets consumers learn about the seven suspects, which include a team mascot, a cheerleader, a fan, a reporter and a groundskeeper in addition to the two quarterbacks.

Consumers can then vote for which character they believe is the culprit. The ad then tallies the votes to show the total percentage of votes for each character.

There is also a desktop version of the campaign running within the Facebook, Twitter and NFL Web sites.

The Mighty Wings are a bone-in seasoned chicken wing that is available at McDonald?s through mid-November.

Consumers can find a store

Driving foot traffic
Similar to other McDonald?s mobile ad campaigns, the goal behind the campaign is to increase new product awareness by driving consumers to a store.

In addition to the mobile and social rich media ads, McDonald?s is also using an iAd and location-based ads to promote Mighty Wings.

Besides mobile advertising, McDonald?s also recently partnered with the NFL on a mobile app to give consumers access to exclusive content that is found on codes placed on packaging as part of the marketing push (see story).

?It?s about promoting the new products and getting people excited for the new product and the ability to find the nearest location,? Mr. Rients said. ?It fits into our overall strategy around McDonald?s.?