McDonalds recently launched a campaign to bring the quarter pounder burger to Japan, which includes the converting of two of their locations in Tokyo into exclusive Quarter Pounder shops, but in an interesting move they are positioned under a completely new identity and as such are missing the McDonalds brand.
Instead of golden arches these restaurants have a sleek, minimalist black interior with Le Corbusier sofas, red and black packaging, and a style quite unlike any other of the company’s previous refits. The menu consists of single and double Quarter Pounders only, a new name for the Japanese consumer and one that McDonalds are very cleverly promoting. The temporary brand silence is carefully undeceptive, encouraging consumers to find out more- a competition running alongside the launch asks applicants to name the fast food chain who launched the Quarter Pounder in Japan and win a sightseeing trip to America.
A clever little viral without going down the over-used pop-up route, and one that seems to have gained a fair amount of attention at its rather exclusive-styled opening events.
via FiveByFifty
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So, not even a Coke or fries with that? Is it complete without a Coke and fries?
November 11th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
oooh la la, how times are a’changin’… we can look back and pinpoint the exact date a phenomenal transformation took place. It was the time that THAT monster started to fit in to existing cultures. What a difference MacLibel has made.
November 13th, 2008 at 2:59 am
This is so weird, especially since I was just reading about McDonald’s on Dr. Tantillo’s marketing blog – http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv – where he praises McD for being so flexible and adapting to demand but prefaced this with: “The big things about McDonald’s cosmetic image (i.e., colors, designs, clown mascot) have never essentially changed. Neither has the basic serving and restaurant setup.”
Guess they are even more flexible than though.. Full post: http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv/2008/11/15/brand-winners-and-losers-mcdonalds-and-government.aspx
And actually I guess cultivating this sort of aesthetic is in line with their move to diversify their holdings (they own a significant portion of Chipotle, or did last I knew) and expand/diversify their customer base (Ex. their ‘unsnobby coffee’ campaign. Tantillo did a post on Starbucks/Dunkin’ Donuts mentioning McDonald’s coffee, too: http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv/2008/10/26/brand-winners-and-losers-dunkin-donuts-and-starbucks.aspx )
November 16th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Maybe it’s based on different strategies.. http://www.physorg.com/news145714428.html
November 17th, 2008 at 6:30 pm