McDonald's: Having your Big Mac and eating it: how focusing on its core brand enabled McDonald's to develop advertising that built brand affinity and drove sales

Ian Hilton and Beate Lettmann

By 2006, after being at the centre of numerous media backlashes concerning issues such as the obesity debate and health scares, McDonald’s faced stagnated sales and loss of consumer trust.

McDonald's: Having your Big Mac and eating it: how focusing on its core brand enabled McDonald's to develop advertising that built brand affinity and drove sales

Ian Hilton – Leo Burnett; Beate Lettmann – Mindshare

INTRODUCTION

This paper tells the simplest of stories – how harnessing the strength of a brand led to sustained business growth.

It’s a story of a big brand that made a big difference to its business by taking some big decisions that enabled its advertising to make a bigger contribution. We will make clear how advertising not only sustained the business during a period...

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