How McDonald's HK's McGriddles rely on word-of-mouth to cause buzz

Following the exclusive launch to McDonald’s app members, McDonald’s Hong Kong will bring back its McGriddles series to the breakfast menu starting next Monday.

Starting from 5 August, in addition to ordering through the McDonald's app, customers can purchase the limited-time offering at the counter or self-order kiosk in any Hong Kong McDonald's restaurant before 11am.

Similar to its Japanese McGriddles counterpart, the Hong Kong offering features the iconic McDonald’s bun stamped with a stylised M logo, making it Instagrammable for social media.

As McGriddles has been dearly loved by HongKongers, with most seeing it as a Japanese-exclusive breakfast product, the campaign aims to generate excitement for the launch of the McDonald’s McGriddles in Hong Kong, making it the talk of the town, said Tina Chao, chief marketing and digital customer experience officer, McDonald’s Hong Kong, during an interview with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

The campaign hopes to not only reach those who had tried and loved the McGriddles in Japan, but also mass customers who have never tried the product before, she added.

The McGriddles campaign was originally planned to be a trial launch exclusive for McDonald’s app members from 27 July to 31 July, followed by the mass launch to all customers on 1 August.

However, due to the overwhelming demand in the first three days, McDonald’s initial stock was sold out and the brand had to end the trial period earlier than planned.

“Upon the decision made, we swiftly announced its temporary departure via press release and also on social with the message of ‘待續’ with a Japanese touch, inviting our audience to stay tuned for its return on breakfast menu on 5 August,’ Chao added.

Addressing the confusion that consumers and readers might have regarding long queues and the quality of the McGriddles burgers on the first day of launch, Chao said food quality and customer experience are always McDonald’s top priority.

“We always review and listen to what the customers say offline and online. With the overwhelming response of McDonald’s McGriddles, we would try our best to ensure smooth operations, hoping to provide a happy moment for customers,” she added.

Unearthing insights

Explaining the insights behind the campaign, Chao said the brand understood that many customers would be staying up late to watch the Olympics opening ceremony, so it strategically launched McDonald’s McGriddles at 4am on 27 July to create a new early breakfast occasion, allowing customers to try the product right after the ceremony as well as hijacking social discussions during the day.

For this trial phase, a 15-second product video was also launched, highlighting McGriddles’ ingredients and its unique sweet and savoury flavour combination, which is what sets it apart from other McDonald’s burgers, she added.

Done in collaboration with creative agency DDB Hong Kong and media agency OMD Hong Kong, the campaign relies on word-of-mouth with McGriddles being such a well-loved product, according to Chao.

“Through our regular social listening, we had known that McGriddles has always been a hot social topic related to our brand. The product is so loved that there are even numerous ‘replicas’ of McGriddles created by different local restaurants. As such, we were confident that the launch of the ‘authentic’ McGriddles would become an effortless viral sensation,” she added.

During the trial phase, McDonald’s mostly relied on social media and in-store touchpoints to amplify the campaign; and the huge volume of media coverage had made “McGriddles” to be a buzzword in town.

“The key to this campaign’s phenomenal success is listening to the voice of the customer. We’ve known the social buzz surrounding Japan’s McGriddles for some time, and we are delighted to be able to finally surprise customers with a product that they have eagerly anticipated for so long. Customers will look forward to more delightful surprises in the future,” Chao added.

The launch of McGriddles has undoubtedly sparked significant discussions in Hong Kong, particularly on various social media platforms. Over the past week, media intelligence firm CARMA observed over 5,000 mentions related to McGriddles in Hong Kong. Of these, 18% were positive, while 23.8% were negative.

The discussions revolved around customer reviews of McGriddles and comparisons between the Hong Kong version and the Japanese version. Some praised McDonald’s for their iPhone-like strategy of limiting the initial supply of McGriddles. They played on the principle of scarcity, which led to success and widespread discussion in the city over the past week, according to Charles Cheung, CARMA's HK GM. 

"Conversely, we also saw netizens expressing empathy for McDonald’s staff, who became noticeably busier this past week. Some hoped that the staff would receive bonuses for their hard work. Additionally, users on LIHKG questioned the hype, wondering why people in Hong Kong are so willing to queue for an item from a fast food chain. It's also worth noting that some netizens mentioned Jollibee has long offered a similar pancake sandwich in Hong Kong, yet it hasn't garnered the same attention.

Meanwhile, social monitoring firm Meltwater also saw a total of 3.6k mentions among Hongkongers over the past week, with 30% positive, 45.9% neutral and 24.1% negative sentiments.

Keywords associated with McGriddles include "McDonald's Hong Kong", "burger", "McGriddles", "America", "Japan", "trial period".

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