Promo - October 2008 - (Page 8)

10 new legal challenges 12 Interactive THE PLAYERS ‘Happy’ World McDonald’s extends Happy Meal promotions into virtual online play/Brian Quinton Okay, trivia buffs: What was the first movie property to appear in a McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion? If you said the original “Star Wars” back in 1979, the force is strong with you. Two years after the McDonald’s Happy Meal was invented to make the chain a more kidfriendly place, Star Wars-themed meals included a series of comics based on the movie, and images and games from the movie on the boxes. Just shy of 30 years later, the quick-service chain ran a September Happy Meal promotion that took kids once again to that galaxy far, far away, with a tie-in to the animated release of “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.” But this time players got to do something better than use their crayons to help Luke Skywalker through the maze to find R2D2. Instead, they were able to go online to www.happymeal.com, log into a new virtual world that was added to the site over the summer, and use product codes from the Happy Meal packaging to access features and game challenges built around the Star Wars characters. “We saw the virtual world as a great way to extend the fun of the fast-meal experience for kids into their homes and online,” says Rebecca Anderson, marketing manager for McDonald’s USA. “We saw how kids were reacting to virtual worlds launching on other Web sites and with other brands. And with our brand and our licensing partnerships, we saw this as a chance to something very cool and unique that only McDonald’s could do.” And it’s something the kid audience was primed for, too. Children have taken to virtual worlds in a big way, from Club Penguin, acquired by Disney for $350 million last year, to character-driven worlds like Nickelodeon’s Nicktropolis. They’ve also become smitten with toys that bridge online and offline, such as Webkinz, plush dolls that include an access code to a virtual world that saw 4.1 million visitors in May 2007. Right now both Barbie and Bratz coexist as fashion dolls and virtual-world avatars. The HappyMeal.com site grew up in 2005 and was originally designed as a place for kids to find out about upcoming promotions and to discover some games and real-world play suggestions. Last year the site added some interactive features, such as e-cards and shout-outs, that were available only to registered users. “Kids have a lot of love for Happy Meals, but as they’ve grown up, technology is taking a bigger part in their lives,” says Brian Irwin, manager with McDonald’s global market- ing group. “In order to remain relevant with them, we wanted the brand experience to extend beyond the restaurant. We own a strong relationship with kids in the real world, and we felt we could do the same in the virtual worlds that they’re living in more and more.” “The Happy Meal is one of the oldest and most successful loyalty programs out there,” says Scott Cotter, senior director of account services with Creata Promotions, which designed the site and the new virtual world. “As we saw new play patterns emerging with virtual worlds and higher levels of interaction and self-expression, we recognized that it was time for McDonald’s to explore that.” On that question of self-expression, kids get a voice in how the McDonald’s virtual world grows. In September, they were asked to go online and vote for a new name for the world. (Not surprisingly, they chose “McWorld.”) From now until Oct. 9, they can vote to include one of four new areas 8 october 2008 / WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM / Promo http://www.happymeal.com http://www.happymeal.com http://www.promomagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Promo - October 2008

Promo - October 2008 Contents Editor's Note 'Happy' World Legal Challenges Enter the Dragon 2008 Industry Trends Report Overview Direct Mail E-mail Coupons Event Marketing Games, Contests and Sweeps Interactive Licensing Loyalty Marketing Mobile Marketing P&I Product Placement Retail Sampling Q&A: Hoop Dreams Pro Awards Finalists Resource Center The Agency Center Compassion Fatigue Index of Advertisers

Promo - October 2008

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