McDonalds Twitter Campaign: Hype vs Reality - Case Analysis

This case analysis evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of social media for businesses, using McDonalds' #meetthefarmers Twitter campaign as an example. It also suggests better designs for future McDonalds Twitter campaigns.

MEMORANDUM:
NAME:
ID:
LECTURE:
INSTITUTION:

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 2
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
CC:
DATE: 26TH SEPTEMBER 2018
SUBJECT: MCDONALDS TWITTER CAMPAIGN: HYPE VS. REALITY CASE
ANALYSIS
The information era has seen technology advancements that have resulted in the growth and
development of the social media over two decades. Furthermore, through the internet
globalization has come to be more of a real scenario that was once deemed a challenge with the
establishment of the World trade organization (WTO) in the 2000s whose aim was to create a
global trade market however social media was able to speed thing up through connecting people
from all over the world as long as they had internet connectivity which has been increasingly
been made affordable through continuous technology innovation (Sherwin 2015).
This growth has forced organizations large or small to adapt to the technological changes that are
complementing the social media boom. Moreover, it has presented an enormous opportunity for
organizations to reach a far greater audience and exploit the full potential of the market leading
to the growth and development of the firm. However, there are two sides to the coin pertaining to
this matter this matter, as much as their numerous advantages that accompany the use of social
media in exploiting business opportunities and the use of promotional marketing strategies,
there’s a dark twist that could ruin the brand and reputation of a firm (Stephen 2016, p 18).
Organizations such as McDonald's have tasted the consequences of ineffectively using social
media to maximize their business opportunities. The failure of the #meetthefarmers social media
campaign exposed the largest fast-food franchise inability to effectively manage the twitter

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 3
marketing campaign. The campaign was intended to portray the quality product service delivery
offered to it consumers but it rather depicted a negative side to the firm that tainted its strong
reputation. Therefore, this memorandum will go into detail about the McDonald twitter
campaign with the evaluation and analysis through crucial and strategic questions below;
Advantages and disadvantages of social media
Advantages
Improve brand awareness-Through social media organizations are able to reach different and
large audiences and create awareness on their brand and product service delivery. This increases
the market share contributing to the growth and development of the firm
Cost effective- The use of promotional marketing strategies is far cheaper than the conventional
methods such as print media, tv and radio stations
Consumer engagement -through social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, it is
easier for consumers to engage with an organization and air their views or recommendation
concerning cetin products offered by the company of the quality of their product service delivery
Increase brand loyalty- Through the constant interaction and engagement with consumers
through social media, it improves the quality of relation which fosters brand loyalty in the long
run due to the fact the consumer satisfaction has been achieved
Disadvantages
Availability of spammers and trolls-One thing with social media is that it can attract all kinds
of an audience either good or bad. These bad audiences may include spammers or trolls who
have negative intentions toward the success of a firm ( Gilkerson and Berg 2017, p 141).
Time consumers -Social marketing is very consuming as a number of employees of an
organization have to spend most of their time on websites so as to attract consumers. Moreover,
the constant engagement with consumers online who a thousand in number could be
cumbersome if an organization has limited resources

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 4
Viral tendencies-Social media should be handed crucially and effectively as a mistake by an
organization could reach millions of people with a short period of time which would
consequentially affect the brand and reputation of an organization in the long run like the
scenarios in McDonald meet the farmers' campaign
Types of audiences when using a social media campaign
The numerous different audiences can be summaries into two categories which are internet
audiences and external audiences who should always be considered when initiating social media
campaigns. Internal audience covers the individual based within an organization. They include
employees, supporting staff etc. their key roles in the organization have a strong impact to the
brand and success of a firm, therefore they should be taken into consideration when designing a
social media campaign. External audiences are individuals or a group of individuals whose
activities have a strong impact on the organization. They include consumers both loyal and
perspective, the organization supply chain, the organization’s critics as well as government
organizations who regulate the marketer industry(Ngai 2015).
Better design for future McDonald Twitter campaigns
In order of McDonald to have an effective future social media campaigns, they must diet address
the issue of effective management, therefore they should ensure that the designated team is
skilled and if they are not effective training and seminars should be in order (Sexton 2015, p 240-
241) However, there is a possibility of recruiting third-party organization who mainly focus on
consultancy or social media campaigns and allow them to manage effectively the promotional
marketing strategies. Nevertheless, they should consider the audience before initiating the
campaign especially the critics who are always negative towards the firm so as to ensure that
minimal damage which could be managed easily (Hollebeek at al.2014, p 150-155)
1.TIMING Introduction of a new product by McDonald

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 5
Major holidays or events in different locations
2.AUDIENCE Internal and external audiences
3. SENDER Management and marketing team
Contracted external consultancy firm
4. KEY OBJECTIVES Minimize negative damage affecting the brand
Brand and product service delivery awareness
Communicate the key objectives of the firm
5.DESIRED OUTCOME Minimize negative damage affecting the brand
Brand and product service delivery awareness
Communicate the key objectives of the firm
6.MEDIUM McDonald social media channels official page
Android and iOS applications
Conventions methods such as print media and tv stations
7.MATERIALS Mobile adds.
Conventional advertisement format
Viral startups such as us of the # in twitter and Instagram
8.FREQUENCY Mobile adds-daily
Convention methods- twice in a week
Social media platforms 5 times in a month
Strategy to encourage better media relations

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 6
References
Bal, A.S., Weidner, K., Hanna, R. and Mills, A.J., 2017. Crowdsourcing and brand
control. Business Horizons, 60(2), pp.219-228.
Gilkerson, N. and Berg, K.T., 2017. Social media, hashtag hijacking, and the evolution of an
activist group strategy. Social Media and Crisis Communication, p.141.
Hollebeek, L.D., Glynn, M.S. and Brodie, R.J., 2014. Consumer brand engagement in social
media:, scale development and validation. Journal of interactive marketing, 28(2), pp.149-165.
Ngai, E.W., Tao, S.S. and Moon, K.K., 2015. Social media research: Theories, constructs, and
conceptual frameworks. International Journal of Information Management, 35(1), pp.33-44.
Sexton, D.E., 2015. Managing brands in a prickly digital world. Journal of Advertising
Research, 55(3), pp.237-241.
Sherwin, R.T., 2015. # HaveWeReallyThoughtThisThrough: Why Granting Trademark
Protection to Hashtags Is Unnecessary, Duplicative, and Downright Dangerous. Harv. JL &
Tech., 29(1), p.455.
Stephen, A.T., 2016. The role of digital and social media marketing in consumer
behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10(2), pp.17-21.
VanMeter, R.A., Grisaffe, D.B. and Chonko, L.B., 2015. Of “Likes” and “Pins”: The effects of
consumers' attachment to social media. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 32 (2), pp.70-88.