McDonald's - how advertising helped deliver the marketing success story of 2003 and 2004

In 2002, McDonald's was in crisis following a decade of declining sales trends. Myths concerning the poor quality of the food abounded and the corporation was held up as the caricature of an obesity-ridden fast food Americanised culture.

McDonald's – how advertising helped deliver the marketing success story of 2003 and 2004

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

McDonald's is recognised as a truly global superbrand, with one of the most established images in the world. But when that strength of brand image becomes indelibly associated with an outmoded, undesirable, unhealthy product, turning the situation around is no mean feat.

In 2002, McDonald's was a business in crisis following a decade of declining sales trends. Myths concerning the poor quality of the food abounded and the corporation was held up as the caricature of an obesity-ridden fast food Americanised culture.

Over 2003–2004,...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands