McDonald's #meetthefarmers Campaign: Social Media Analysis & Strategy

This report analyzes McDonald's infamous #meetthefarmers Twitter campaign, a significant setback for the company, and uses it as a case study to explore the advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing. It identifies the damage to McDonald's brand reputation, the loss of consumer trust, and reduced profits as key consequences of the campaign's failure. The report further discusses the potential benefits of social media, such as greater customer engagement and access to international markets, alongside its risks, including competitor analysis and the potential for bad publicity. It emphasizes the importance of addressing both internal and external audiences in social media campaigns and provides recommendations for designing future Twitter campaigns, including audience analysis, risk prevention, and a comprehensive communication plan to encourage better media relations and accurate reporting. The document concludes by stressing the importance of effective campaign management and adherence to the outlined recommendations to prevent future social media failures. Desklib offers a platform for students to access similar past papers and solved assignments.

MEMORANDUM
TO: MCDONALD MANAGEMENT TEAM
FROM: RICK WION
DATE: 3RD SEPTEMBER 2018
SUBJECT: MCDONALDS TWITTER CAMPAIGN: HYPE VS. REALITY
social media has created many opportunities for organizations to succeed as long as they utilize
their resources carefully and efficiently .The McDonalds famous flop of #meetthefarmers twitter
campaign was a catastrophe in the making which interfered with the firms its goals and
objectives This setback ought to be taken as an account to as a learning curve for McDonald by
guaranteeing effectiveness in, social media related activities to prevent such a scenario from
occurring. Through the McDonald social media campaign, this memo will go into depth on
social media while giving recommendations a suitable communication plan to prevent such an
incident from occurring.
Some of the problems experienced by McDonald during the #meetthefarmers aftermath
Damage of the McDonald brand and reputation- the success of McDonald's has mostly been
contributed by the consistency of quality and unique product service delivery since its
establishment, however, its clean sheet was ruined by the feedback from angry consumers who
had negative encounters
Loss of consumer Trust and confidence- These negative encounters lead to consumers losing
trust in the brand regardless of positive or negative experiences forcing some consumers to settle
for other alternatives brands with similar products (Habibi et al. 2016)

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 2
Reduced profits-Due to the already ruined reputation loss of consumer trust that resulted in
switching to alternative brands. This caused a chain reaction as the number of sales reduced
leading to incurred losses over expenses
What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of an organization when utilizing
social media?
Advantages
Greater customer engagement- social media allows direct interaction between consumers and
organizations via the social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Through this
engagement, organizations are able to gain insight or recommendations from consumers about
their product and service delivery (Labrecque 2014, p 300)
Greater access to international markets- Social media assimilation with internet adoptions
globally, it allows organizations to have wider and emerging markets that would have been
difficult to access efficiently without social media
Effective consumer market analysis- Through the use of social media, associations can
determine the consumer demographics on their products and even conduct further research and
analysis of new products or new target markets easily and efficiently (Ashley and Tuten 2015)
Disadvantages
Competitors could study your business-Accessing a competitor’s social media profile and digital
footprints is easy as the social media platforms are based on transparency, this allows firms to
study the strategies and gains insight on the competitive advantage they have on them.
Bad publicity- There are limited taming or filters related to ‘fake news’ where it could destroy an
originations reputation easily moreover handling angry or dissatisfied consumers requires to be
handled carefully and strategic as it would also lead to the downfall of a firm

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 3
A minor mistake could be lethal- social media is a very lethal and volatile platform for
marketing and promotional strategies regardless of the endless possibilities that accompany the
platform. Poor strategies and management could be futile for and organizations and it will be
difficult to recover from the damaged reputation.
Who are the different audiences McDonald's needs to address when using social media
campaigns?
Internal audience- these are individual who impact McDonalds brand from within, they
represent the firm’s image, they are the management, employees and supporting staff. Each one
of them has a role to play in the organizations based on their job descriptions that tailored to
synchronize with the company’s goal and objectives in the long run (Fisher 2015, p 54).
Therefore, it’s essential that the social media campaign will complement their objectives and role
in the firm transparently
External audience- these are individual whose activities are within an external scope whose
impact is also significantly greater. They include consumers (current and prospective)
McDonalds supply chain (individuals who supply products to the firm such as meat, and
vegetables). Nevertheless, there are critics and activists whose role to identify setbacks and
mistakes in the products service delivery, they can be government or non-government
organizations (Gensler et al. 2015). Angry consumers can also be critics in through their negative
experiences and they strongly impact the brand’s reputation
How can the McDonalds team better design future Twitter campaigns for McDonald’s?
Audience-The designated team should play a crucial role in determining the appropriate
audiences for the intended social media campaign theme. This will be possible through extensive
research and analysis where the company can seek an external opinion through outsourcing or

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 4
hiring a public relation or consolation firm Moreover, the method that will be used to reach the
audiences is also crucial through proper analysis of the frequently used social media platforms
such as Twitter, and Facebook (Scott 2015).
Social media Risk prevention and management- There is various risk involved with social
media, however, it all narrows down to a lack of effective management, planning, and research.
Therefore, the designated team must consider in identifying potential barriers to the success of
the social media campaign (Dessart et al. 2015). In situations that can go out of hand such as the
availability of trolls in the media who spread misleading information either genuinely or
maliciously. The firm can use bloggers to counter the negative rumors doing round in the media
as a damage control strategy
Strategy for McDonalds to encourage better media relations and more accurate reporting.
1.Timing 3-4 months before special events and major holidays start e.g.
Summer
Sport events etc.
2.Audience Internal and External audience
3. Sender McDonald management and marketing team
4. objectives -Communicate the core values of McDonald while creating brand
awareness. moreover, eliminate and minimize any negative reputation
on our brand
5.Desired outcome - initiate quality consumer engagement
-amend the damaged reputation sue to the failure of the

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 5
#meetthefarmers social media campaign
Create extensive brand awareness and quality for McDonalds products
Win over a percentage of the critics and angry consumers
6.Medium snapchat Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
7.Materials -digital posters
-Use of short vlogs (video marketing clips for the firm)
Trendy worthy hashtags on media platforms
8.Frequency 3-4 times a week on random intervals and daily 2-3 weeks to the
events or special holidays
Social media campaigns are essential to the growth and development of McDonald and creating
a strong and reputable online presence. This will be achieved by simply conducting our business
activities and campaign effectively through adherence to the memo’s recommendations to
prevent another media campaign flop. Thank you
Sincerely,
(signature)
Rick Wion

McDonalds twitter campaign: Hype vs Reality 6
References
Ashley, C. and Tuten, T., 2015. Creative strategies in social media marketing: An
exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology &
Marketing, 32(1), pp.15-27.
Dessart, L., Veloutsou, C. and Morgan-Thomas, A., 2015. Consumer engagement in online
brand communities: a social media perspective. Journal of Product & Brand
Management, 24(1), pp.28-42.
Fisher, E., 2015. ‘You Media’: audiencing as marketing in social media. Media, Culture &
Society, 37(1), pp.50-67.
Gensler, S., Völckner, F., Egger, M., Fischbach, K. and Schoder, D., 2015. Listen to your
customers: Insights into brand image using online consumer-generated product
reviews. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 20(1), pp.112-141.
Habibi, M.R., Laroche, M. and Richard, M.O., 2016. Testing an extended model of consumer
behavior in the context of social media-based brand communities. Computers in Human
Behavior, 62, pp.292-302.
Labrecque, L.I., 2014. Fostering consumer–brand relationships in social media environments:
The role of parasocial interaction. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), pp.134-148.
Scott, D.M., 2015. The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, online
video, mobile applications, blogs, news releases, and viral marketing to reach buyers
directly, 24(1), pp.152-171.

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