McDonald's in Australia create entr茅es through social media
In Australia鈥攐ne of four 鈥減riority markets鈥� where its sales have been down over the past year鈥擬cDonald鈥檚 this month will introduce two new entr茅es created by popular demand via social media.
New third-pound聽McMate Angus Beef聽and聽McMate Crispy Chicken聽sandwich鈥攚hich McDonald鈥檚 will introduce in Australia on聽August 20鈥攁re built with ingredients consumers voted their favorites during a 鈥淏uild Our Next Burger鈥� poll on Facebook. A separate 鈥淣ame Our Next Burger鈥� vote on Facebook provided the McMate moniker.
The sandwiches鈥� marketing slogan, 鈥淎 burger by the people,鈥� plays on the crowdsourcing behind them. But unlike the more-creative聽聽promotion McDonald鈥檚 has run in several European countries鈥攚here consumers suggest new burgers and the winner gets on the menu as an LTO鈥攈as an air of exasperation rather than inventiveness. In the wake of continuing soft sales in Australia, it鈥檚 as though McDonald鈥檚 is saying, 鈥淲e give up. Just聽tell us聽what you鈥檇 buy.鈥�
So, what ingredients did consumers request? The McMate Angus burger is a third-pound beef patty with grilled onions, one bacon strip, one slice of standard cheese, one tomato slice, diced lettuce, garlic mayo and Southern BBQ sauce. The McMate Crispy Chicken construction is the same save for swapping in a crispy chicken patty (or, on request, grilled chicken). The promotion is set to end about September 9.
Given the McMate Angus鈥� third-pound patty, I鈥檇 guess it will be priced at the higher end of the menu spectrum, around the AUS $5.95 price for the聽聽McDonald鈥檚 introduced last summer. That would mean two successive high-end burger marketing campaigns since the current feature is the聽聽burger, introduced at AUS $5.85.
That seems contrary to McDonald鈥檚 Corp. CEO Don Thompson鈥檚 remarks during the July 22 Q2 earnings call. Said Thompson, 鈥淚n Australia, affordability remains key to driving traffic with consumer confidence at the lowest levels since 2008.鈥� McDonald鈥檚 is relaunching its Loose Change value menu in Australia, he said. But clearly the marketing focus at the end of August will be on the high-end McMate sandwiches. Perhaps they will be just what consumers want.
