OOH ads at harbour tunnels part of McDonald's HK's marketing stunt

Following the coffee "retirement" campaign last year, McDonald’s Hong Kong has wowed Hongkongers with giant billboards featuring its latest McCafé coconut latte at the Eastern Harbour Tunnel and Western Harbour Tunnel.

It comes as McDonald’s Hong Kong's market insights show that people in Hong Kong are interested in new coffee tastes and have a strong interest in coconut latte. That's why the brand aims to introduce the new product to coffee lovers across the city. 

Available until mid March, the giant out-of-home displays aim to generate citywide awareness. Created in partnership with creative agency DDB Group Hong Kong and media agency OMD, the OOH campaign is an integral part of its holistic coffee strategy, starting with its all-store McCafé campaign last September, including McCafé coffee across over 250 McDonald's restaurants. 

As an extension of the marketing strategy, the OOH campaign this time kicked off with a bold teaser that there was “something good” coming to McCafé, including a “coconut” pun in the announcement as a clue (宣佈有好椰!). This teaser has dominated the Western and Eastern Harbour Tunnels, as well as print and social media to maximise public awareness.

As part of the campaign, a CGI teaser video that featured a surreal yellow truck pulling multiple carts of coconuts and coconut trees across the tunnel was unveiled, followed by a physical moving truck going around the city to capture eyeballs and drive conversations, inviting all coffee lovers to join McDonald’s coffee journey. The video was uploaded onto local media such as HolidaySmart's Facebook. 

A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw on HolidaySmart's Facebook that the post has received over 5,190 likes, 413 comments and 476 shares. While some netizens found it challenging to differentiate whether the video is generated by AI or not, some said the video is engaging and captivating.

Don't miss: McDonald's HK buys out full page print ad to announce product discontinuation

Apart from teasers on tunnel billboards, radio spots, the cross harbour tunnel billboards and newspaper ads, McDonald’s also amplified this initiative through social media content and, finally, unveiled the news that all McDonald’s restaurants started serving McCafé coffee using the same channels and placements.

“Being an extension of this marketing strategy, this campaign is focused on generating a viral effect and aims at being the talk of the town again,” the spokesperson said.

Tina Chao, chief marketing and digital customer experience officer, said: “It is McCafé’s mission to democratise specialty coffee for everyone in Hong Kong. With coconut Latte, we are even introducing a new trending coffee drink to bring new coffee excitement to the market. This is part of McCafé’s ongoing strategy to offer affordable quality coffee, all while disrupting the market with brave marketing in McDonald’s way. ”

Related articles:

McDonald’s HK extends CNY blessings with first AI-generated campaign
McDonald's HK introduces new app feature to elevate dining experience
McDonald’s HK celebrates sneaky joy with new social campaign