McCafé Moments on Channel 4

The Big Idea

As part of a very competitive pitch process, Channel 4 identified a key insight that good conversation was a key driver for customers to visit a café or restaurant and our idea was inspired by the knowledge that everyone has something to say about what they watch on telly (especially on Channel 4). As a result, we proposed the creation of a year-long contextual partnership that would showcase the McCafé range through a minimum of 40 different creative executions and a multi-million pound investment.

Working with our creative partner The Outfit and OMD, we invented a new genre of TV advertising - a campaign of warm and engaging ‘docu-reality’ spots that would capture authentic, entertaining and emotive conversations between real, down-to-earth people about Channel 4 shows, as they caught-up over a McCafé coffee. Each creative would tie in contextually to the programme it had been placed next to.

The contextual level did not end there. Another example had an ‘as live’ feel as the people in the ad react to content the viewer has just seen, such as the young mothers discussing what they would have done if they had come face to face with a snake in the jungle, just as the girls in the female series of The Island had just moments before.

Making it Happen

The sheer scale of the job we had to do was terrifying, and we had just less than 10 weeks to bring an idea from the drawing board into reality. Through Channel 4 and The Outfit, we accessed some of the team who worked on casting shows like Gogglebox to find McDonald’s customers who were real friends, real colleagues and real family.
Whilst the casting process was going on, C4 and OMD were analysing the schedule, identify those moments we would all be talking about. Once found, we then had to then go out and have those conversations with the programme makers concerned. We worked with seven production companies to gain access to their editorial in advance. Weekly meetings with our scheduling team allowed us to mould the partnership into the fabric of our programming to a degree not attempted before.

This theme of collaboration ran right through C4, as the campaign has required the involvement of all our other key departments including Commissioning, Marketing, Compliance, Business Affairs and Traffic. There then followed six shoot days to create those 40 pieces of unique tailored copy, giving this contextual campaign a scale unique in the market place.

The Results

After only 10 weeks, the partnership McCafe has seen purchase intent increase by 20% amongst those exposed. There has also been a an 40% shift in positive perceptions of McCafe as a coffee house, as well a 30% increase in those understanding that McCafe provides a drink for all occasions.

We have also seen a direct impact on sales: McCafé sales are up 7% year-to-date and incredibly, this is the same sort of sales uplift we see on headline food events!