Grand Prize Winner: McDonald's Brave New World
Dec 1, 2008
In the spring of 2008, with the Summer Olympic Games in China rapidly approaching, McDonald's was putting the finishing touches on a multipronged marketing effort designed to support the international event while burnishing the fast-food restaurant's brand image around the globe.
But this wasn't just any Olympics. McDonald's was celebrating its 40th year of sponsoring the games. Media heavyweight NBC Universal was promising unprecedented on-air and online coverage. And Americans were passionately following the progress of
Michael Phelps, a fast-moving aquatic mammal with a cleverly designed human costume who was trying to win the most gold medals in history. Expectations were, without a doubt, sky high.
By July, the company had issued a press release teasing that this year's sponsorship would be "the most innovative ever," which, based on past campaigns, was saying a lot. By that time, McDonald's was ready to kick off a number of initiatives that would come to fruition during the games-including a series of country-specific and global TV ads, a healthy living program for kids, and a Big Mac Building promotion to see who could concoct the best two all-beef patties with special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun.
But what turned out to be the biggest buzz-producer had already begun. Looking to engage young adults, who often turn a deaf ear on traditional media campaigns, McDonald's and agency AKQA set into motion the signature event of the Olympic sponsorship: a beautifully designed and rendered, compellingly conceived Web-based alternate-reality game called The Lost Ring.
"This was the year of innovation for McDonald's, and The Lost Ring was the centerpiece of that and an event that allowed us to engage young people like never before," says Mary Dillon, global chief marketing officer for the company.
The first step in The Lost Ring rollout came March 3, when McDonald's and AKQA sent enigmatic packages to 50 bloggers in the gaming arena. Each package contained postcards from the 1920s Olympics, a ball of yarn with a tiny slip of paper containing a Web address inside and cryptic messages such as "March 3, 2008: Find her…" and "August 24, 2008: Save the world."
"We thought it would be a great way to get people interested at the beginning if we could involve some of the most influential bloggers on the topic," says Julie Channing, senior account director at AKQA.
That turned out to be a wise move. Once the bloggers began discovering the game, word spread quickly and, before long, players from around the world were involved.
The game revolved around six characters, five of whom wake up with amnesia and a tattoo written in Esperanto that, when translated, read "find the lost ring." Most of the characters-who are based in South Africa, England, Korea, Japan and Argentina- spoke almost no English. The rapidly growing number of players, therefore, had to communicate with the five characters in their native languages, a design element that forced people from far flung locations to work together to discern the meaning of clues.
The game adds a sixth main character, a historian, who helps the others navigate a path of ever-widening riddles. Eventually, the six characters, along with what turned out to be an incredible 2.9 million people in more than 100 countries in the real world, figured out the final truth and, fortunately for all of us, saved the world. Play ended on Aug. 24, the last day of the Olympics.
"I think we all thought The Lost Ring would be a success," Channing says. "But it turned out to be huge, and one of the biggest surprises for me was the intense depth of interest by some of the participants."
Another big surprise, particularly at the beginning, was that McDonald's was even involved. The company was not mentioned in the initial package to bloggers. And it wasn't until later that various aspects of the brand, such as the famous double arches, began to make an appearance.
"We wanted to be proud, but not loud, with this one," explains Dillon. "We were proud of the fact that we were sponsoring this amazing game. But at the same time, we didn't want to beat people over the head with it. And the fact that McDonald's kept such a low profile at the beginning was something that led to a lot of the buzz because people were guessing who was behind the game."
AKQA's Channing agrees: "The rationale was that we knew we wanted to create a great experience for young adults, and that they, as a group, are sometime averse to marketing from big brands. So we felt it was important not to over-market to them, but to provide them with a unique and challenging experience."
The experience also was a new challenge for AKQA. The company, which specializes in innovative marketing solutions created for and distributed in the digital environment, had worked on an alternate-reality game called Iris for the launch of Microsoft's Halo 3 title. But, according to Channing, the international component to The Lost Ring put it in a class by itself. According to the company's tracking research, game participants logged in from all parts of the globe: 28 percent from North America, 25 percent from Europe, 18 percent from the Asia Pacific region and 13 percent from Latin America. All together, the game generated about 10 million blog impressions and a whopping 400 million total media/public relations impressions.
"The global factor really added to the complexity," she says. "This was a singular experience, which is what we felt like we needed to commemorate McDonald's history of sponsoring the Olympics."
It also was a singular experience for McDonald's. The company had never waded into the ARG pond before The Lost Ring and, to a large extent, single-handedly brought the game form into the mainstream with the effort. To do that, McDonald's had to show a lot of guts to avoid product placements or other overt pitches, says game designer Jane McGonigal of AvantGame.
"They had to believe they were doing something good for the global youth community, and that good would eventually be appreciated and valued by people who played the game and people who heard about the game," McGonigal says. "By taking that risk, they made a decision to invest in the future of an emerging entertainment form and to play an active role in directing the course of innovation in that field."
McGonigal says that the game's storyline was like a magnet for serious gamers who, in turn, got their friends involved.
"McDonald's believed that if we could tell an amazing story about saving the world and give young people around the world the chance to be the heroes of that story, they would passionately embrace it and tell others," she said. "That's where the buzz came from."
With praise like that, it almost sounds as if there should be another chapter written in The Lost Ring adventure. What about it, Mary Dillon?
"Stay tuned," she responds.
For more Buzz Awards Coverage coverage:
2008 Buzz Awards Winners
Millions Are Talking: Do you know who is creating the buzz?
Grand Prize Winner: McDonald's Brave New World
Event Marketing: ABC Domestic TV, Dr. Scholl's for Her
Online: Proximity Canada, Alka-Seltzer
Viral Marketing: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Adobe Creative Suite
Music: The Marketing Arm, AT&T
Outdoor/Out-of-Home: Butler Shine Stern & Partners, MINI Cooper
Print: Fallon Minneapolis, Sci Fi Channel
Radio: OMD, Visa
Reality TV: Mediavest Worldwide, Herbal Essences
Scripted Television: R&R Partners, Valley Metro
Social Media: OMD, McDonald's
Sports: Mediavest, Sprite
Wireless: Moxie Interactive, FOX Studios/Jumper
Integrated Campaign: Campfire, Verizon/a>
Public Relations: Coburn Communications and AARP
User-Generated: Catapult Marketing, Pedigree
Film/Movie: Davie Brown Entertainment, Mountain Dew
Buzz People's Choice Awards