Winning the Summer: McDonald’s Achieves 47s Avg. Playtime with Snap Trending AR
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Brand Association¹
Winning the Summer: McDonald’s Achieves 47s Avg. Playtime with Snap Trending AR
McDonald’s has always excelled at fostering a sense of familiarity; it’s a core element of its global success. The brand sought to elevate its creative execution to keep audiences engaged. McDonald’s recognized AR to be a huge opportunity to further boost brand loyalty amongst its audience and saw a chance to push the boundaries of creative innovation further.
Turning to Snapchat for guidance, the goal was to shift from a single complex AR Lens to a more dynamic approach featuring multiple, scalable AR concepts. This wasn’t about overcoming past challenges but about testing an exciting new strategy for driving impact and engagement.
By partnering with Snapchat and analyzing its organic trend reports, McDonald’s identified three trending AR concepts. Using the same budget as a single complex Lens, the brand developed three simple, gamified Lenses designed to inspire interaction and extend campaign longevity.
The campaign invited Snapchatters to make playful choices between menu items and share these moments with loved ones. This user-friendly and interactive format reignited interest, enhanced engagement, and offered a scalable solution for future campaigns.
The shift to a simple, scalable AR strategy proved to be a game-changer. McDonald's achieved the Netherlands’ longest average Lens playtime, with the best-performing Lens reaching an impressive 47 seconds. The campaign also achieved a share rate 174% higher than industry benchmarks.
The results speak for themselves: getting users to actively engage with your brand for 47 seconds is incredible – exactly the attention brands crave today. The simplicity of the Lenses made this easy to achieve, and we’ll definitely use this strategy in future campaigns.