Advertising Management

CIA III

Case Study on McDonald's Advertising Strategy -

The 'Lost Ring' Campaign

By –
Nishant Sanghvi
08D1152
Marketing I

McDonald's Advertising Strategy - The 'Lost Ring' Campaign

The case focuses on the alternate reality game (ARG) named 'The Lost Ring' sponsored by
the US-based fast food company McDonald's. McDonald's, as a part of its multi-pronged
marketing campaign to commemorate four decades of association with the Olympic Games,
decided to be a part of the ARG, The Lost Ring. 

The ARG that began in March 2008 attracted gamers from all over the world. The game
started with a series of clues that led to hidden artifacts across the world, and finally to
solving the mystery that involved finding the sixth Olympic ring. The story was woven
around amnesiac athletes from parallel worlds, lost Olympic sport, Greek mythology,
labyrinths, Esperanto language etc.

To solve the mysteries, the participants had to search for clues both online and offline. Over
three million people from 100 countries across the world participated actively in solving the
mysteries. The associated websites received millions of blog and media impressions. Though
McDonald's was involved in the game right from the beginning, the fact that it was
sponsoring the ARG was revealed much later. All through the ARG, no reference was made
either to McDonald's or its products, which left analysts wondering how McDonald's could
have benefited from its involvement in the whole event. Some of analysts termed it as 'Dark
Marketing,' as the presence of McDonald's was barely felt through the entire event.

The Olympics in Beijing are a very big event for us, and we have a lot of different types of
activation, with The Lost Ring being the most creative. Our goal is really about strengthening
our bond with the global youth culture."

"This Alternate Reality Game (ARG) extends McDonald's historic sponsorship of the
Olympic Games in a brand-new direction. Its goal is to create global collaboration and bring
the spirit of the Games to people around the world. It will invite players from across the globe
to join forces online and in the real world, as they investigate forgotten mysteries and urban
legends of the ancient games." 

In January 2009, the AdweekMedia BUZZ  awards were presented. The grand prize winner
was AKQA for 'The Lost Ring' campaign. The awards were presented in 17 categories and in
each of the categories the winners were selected by a panel of judges that consisted of 16
industry experts. From the 17 winners, the editors of Adweek, Brandweek, and Mediaweek

McDonald's Advertising Strategy - The 'Lost Ring' Campaign

chose the grand prize winner, for creating the most buzz-worthy campaign. 'The Lost Ring'
campaign was chosen for the winner due to its "Most seamless incorporation of a brand logo,
character, jingle, or product into the world of a game." The campaign also won the BUZZ
award in the gaming category.

The Lost Ring, an alternate reality game (ARG) (Refer to Exhibit I for more about alternate
reality games), was created for the US-based fast-food company, McDonald's Corporation
(McDonald's) by renowned ARG designer Jane McGonigal (McGonigal) and AKQA. The
International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also actively involved in the project. To
commemorate 40 years of sponsoring Olympic Games, McDonald's launched a multi-
pronged marketing effort, whose main aim was to enhance the brand image of McDonald's
while providing support to the Olympic Games, and 'The Lost Ring' formed a part of those
efforts.

The Lost Ring, an alternate reality game (ARG) (Refer to Exhibit I for more about alternate
reality games), was created for the US-based fast-food company, McDonald's Corporation
(McDonald's) by renowned ARG designer Jane McGonigal (McGonigal) and AKQA. The
International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also actively involved in the project. To
commemorate 40 years of sponsoring Olympic Games, McDonald's launched a multi-
pronged marketing effort, whose main aim was to enhance the brand image of McDonald's
while providing support to the Olympic Games, and 'The Lost Ring' formed a part of those
efforts.

McDonald's Advertising Strategy - The 'Lost Ring' Campaign

Q) Give a background note on McDonald ?

McDonald's was founded by the McDonald brothers - Richard and Maurice - in San
Bernardino, California, in 1937. It was the first self-service restaurant in the US, and it soon
gained popularity. In 1961, Ray Kroc who was a franchising agent for McDonald's bought out
the business rights for McDonald's and changed the name of the company to McDonald's
Corporation...

Q) What was the mystery all about in the lost ring campaign ?

The game started in February 2008 with McDonald's and AKQA sending packages to 50
active bloggers, who blogged frequently about gaming.

Packages were sent from a mysterious address - T L Ring, 1920 Olympic Way, San
Francisco, CA - to bloggers across the world, located in the UK, Canada, the US, and
Germany. Each package contained a few postcards from the 1920 Olympic Games , a poster
from the 1920 Olympic Games with a picture of a discus thrower, and a ball of yarn of
different colors.

Q) Was the secret about the lost ring revealed? If yes mention about it ?

The Codex of twenty seven artifacts, when completed, revealed three secrets. The first secret
was that there were several parallel worlds existing in the universe, and the six amnesiac
athletes came from these worlds. The second secret was that the worlds remained in
coordination, due to the practice of the ancient sport called Labyrinth Running...

McDonald's Advertising Strategy - The 'Lost Ring' Campaign

CONCLUSION

Like any other ARG, 'The Lost Ring' also involved gathering information through social
networking.

The players were allowed to communicate with each other and also with the characters  -
Ariadne, Diego, Lucie, Markus, Meihui, Noriko, Eli Hunt, Kai, and Larissa through e-mails,
chats, bulletin, etc. and then also share the information on public forums. The players did not
have to be technical wizards. Only access to the Internet and the ability to use image sharing
was required. 'The Lost Ring' also used GPS devices called tracksticks to verify the labyrinth
paths.

McDonald's Advertising Strategy - The 'Lost Ring' Campaign