For my Public Relations class at Ithaca College, we were tasked with analyzing a case study and presenting it to the class. Along with a group of two other students, I analyzed McDonald's Nocturnivore campaign, which promoted new extended hours during which breakfast was served.

1. Vincent
Dodero
Colleen
O’Meara
Megan
Zart

2. If
there
was
one
thing
you
could
add
to
or
change
about
McDonald’s
menu,
what
would
it
be?

3. Introduc?on
h@ps://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=rgdOhARu_-­‐s

4. History
• McDonald’s
Bar-­‐B-­‐Q
opened
in
1940
in
San
Bernardino,
CA
by
Richard
&
Maurice
McDonald
• Acquired
a
few
years
later
by
Ray
Kroc,
who
began
the
franchise
• Grew
into
world’s
leading
fast
food
corpora?on

5. Timeline
• 1940
–
McDonald’s
Bar-­‐B-­‐Q
opens
• 1948
–
McDonald’s
reopens
as
a
self-­‐service
drive-­‐in
featuring
15
cent
hamburgers
• 1955
–
Ray
Kroc
opens
his
first
McDonald’s
• 1959
–
100th
restaurant
opens
• 1963
–
500th
restaurant
opens;
Fish-­‐Fillet
is
introduced
• 1967
–
the
first
interna?onal
restaurants
open
• 1968
–
1,000th
restaurant
opens,
Big
Mac
is
introduced
• 1975
–
first
drive-­‐thru
opens;
Egg
McMuffin
is
introduced
• 1983
–
Chicken
McNuggets
are
introduced
• 1987
–
salads
are
introduced
• 1998
–
the
McFlurry
is
introduced
• 2006
–
snack
wraps
are
introduced
• 2009
–
McCafe
is
introduced

6. Campaign
Background
• McDonald’s
found
that
they
were
not
focusing
enough
on
the
“fourth
day
part”
• Research
highlighted
18-­‐34
year
olds,
mostly
millennials
• They
are
frequent
late
night
consumers,
but
don’t
have
a
strong
rela?onship
with
McDonald’s

7. What
strategies
would
you
suggest
to
best
grab
the
a@en?on
of
millennials?

8. “‘Nocturnivore’
–
a
person
who
not
only
is
out
ea?ng
in
the
night,
but
who
is
out
ea?ng
up
the
night.
The
hip,
proud,
late-­‐
night
concert-­‐goer,
gamer
or
run-­‐of-­‐the-­‐mill
night
owl.
A
person
who
“savors
the
night”
and
lives
by
the
light
of
the
moon.
Or,
as
is
ojen
the
case,
the
drive
through.”

9. Nocturnivores
• “Breakfast
Ajer
Midnight”
menu
• Certain
breakfast
items
offered
from
12
am
–
5
am
• Columbus,
Dayton,
and
Toledo
(OH)
selected
as
test
markets
• Ran
from
June
–
Sept
2012

10. Objec?ves
• Increase
sales
and
increase
guest
count
between
12
am
–
5
am
• Create
brand
equity
with
McDonald’s
in
Ohio
• Generate
media
coverage
na?onally
with
at
least
5
million
media
impressions
• Increase
franchisee
par?cipa?on
for
24
hour
restaurants
• Get
at
least
a
0.11
click-­‐through
rate
for
digital
ads

11. Strategies
• Focus
on
the
idea
of
“late
night”
as
a
general
culture,
not
in
any
one
area
• Encourage
franchisees
to
keep
their
restaurants
open
for
24
hours
• Generate
media
coverage
on
a
na?onal
level

12. Execu?ons
• Feature
stories
in
several
local
papers
• Partnership
with
PromoWest
Produc?ons
– Handed
out
over
100,000
wristbands
to
concert-­‐
goers
– Photobooth
wrap
– Signage
at
concert
venues
• Signs
on
pedicabs

13. Execu?ons
• Gave
out
coupons
for
free
items
when
people
tweeted
using
#Nocturnivore
• Local
radio
&
TV
ads
• Online
ads
placed
on
specific
millennial-­‐
frequented
sites
(ex.
Spo?fy,
Pandora,
Hulu)

15. How
do
you
think
this
campaign
was
received?
Does
it
appeal
to
you
as
a
millennial?

16. Evalua?on
• Deemed
“very
successful”
• 6%
increase
in
franchisee
par?cipa?on
in
24
hour
program
• 0.282
click
through
rate
for
digital
ads
• Over
99
million
media
impressions
na?onally
within
2
weeks
• 18%
increase
in
compara?ve
sales
• 16%
increase
in
compara?ve
guest
counts

17. Media
Buzz
• Promoted
in
a
diverse
range
of
media
• Generated
buzz
on
a
na?onal
level
• Stories
in
large
publica?ons
such
as
TIME
Magazine
Online,
The
UK
Daily
Mail,
Chicago
Tribune
• Sparked
social
media
conversa?ons
and
features
in
blogs
such
as
The
Huffington
Post

18. Media
Buzz
• Several
compared
it
to
Taco
Bell’s
FourthMeal
campaign
• Sugges?ons
that
it
was
meant
to
subtly
target
stoners
• “…using
the
breakfast
items
is
a
crajy
way
for
the
company
to
en?ce
a
new
demographic
without
affec?ng
the
core
brand
percep?on.”
-­‐-­‐
Denise
Lee
Yohn,
a
brand
strategy
consultant

19. Media
Buzz
• Many
agreed
‘late
night’
was
an
area
with
a
lot
of
poten?al
• "You
have
to
look
for
sales
where
you
can
get
them,
and
we
felt
that
it
was
an
untapped
market.”
-­‐-­‐
franchise
owner
in
Florida
as
quoted
by
Tampa
Bay
Times
• Some
cri?cized
McDonald’s
for
pushing
late
night
ea?ng,
a
par?cularly
unhealthy
habit

20. Conclusion
• Overall,
it
was
pre@y
successful
–
it
received
posi?ve
reac?ons
and
clearly
exceeded
all
of
their
goals
• It
could
definitely
be
used
on
a
regular
basis
and
around
the
country
• Showed
the
importance
of
iden?fying
your
target
market
and
speaking
to
their
interests

21. Do
you
think
it
was
successful?
What
would
you
have
done
differently?