2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

The chicken sandwich wars have been raging for a while in Canada. Everywhere you look, there are seemingly infinite options – and even brands more traditionally associated with pizza and ice cream have gotten in on the action in recent years.

It was in this context that McDonald's found itself in a wholly unfamiliar position. As the brand geared up to launch its own McCrispy chicken sandwich in August 2022, it was undeniably late to the party. Where other brands had built up equity in the chicken sandwich space, McDonald’s was firmly following the pack.

Cossette needed to drive the sort of conversation and excitement around the launch that would ultimately get this new sandwich into the hands of consumers in an already saturated market. But how were they going to stand out among the noise, and get people really engaging with yet another chicken sandwich? By successfully recruiting the real experts in crispiness, to try - and certify - the product.

It all started with a simple teaser post on McDonald’s social channels. Not your typical “coming soon,” but instead a simple appeal to the masses: “Looking for Chris P.”

Chris, Crystal, Kris, Kristen, Chrishell. All were welcome, so long as their name and last initial sounded a bit like “crispy.” Why? Because who understands crispiness better than those who live that Chris-P life, all day, every day.

The activation lived across Twitter and Instagram where the brand exclusively followed, recruited and rallied Chris Ps for a special McCrispy tasting. They created a secret focus group that only Chris Ps - or anyone with a name that sounded like
Chris P - could join, and used the responses to further fuel conversation
and draw in more recruits.

The McDonald’s social media person was on a relentless pursuit to round up
as many experts as possible to give the McCrispy the seal of approval -
from updating McDonald’s profile pictures to a cryptic “Looking For Chris P” icon,
to amended handles @RecruitingforChrisP, right down to guerilla-style
tweeting at famous Chris Ps.

The brand responded in real time, vetting the validity of countless suspect name and handle changes, and assuring all curious recruits that the secret project would kick off on August 22 when they’d be contacted with more details.

Then, on launch day, hundreds of Chris Ps were provided with
special delivery codes to try the new McCrispy, and invited to proclaim it “Chris P. certified” in their own social channels.

The results? 2.1K social conversations, 1.2M campaign reach, 454K impressions
and 11K engagements in just four days of activity – using only
organic design and text-based assets.

After the four-day campaign period, sales were also a full 70% ahead of forecast. But most importantly of all, the McCrispy had been officially certified by those who mattered most. So thanks, Chris (and Kris, and Christina, and…)

Credits

Executive Creative Director: Jason Hill
Group Creative Director: Alex Gadoua
Associate Creative Director: Jason Soy
Associate Creative Director: Zuheir Kotob
Copywriter: Celine Campbell, Michael Murray
Art Director: Todd McMackon
VP, Strategic Planning: Amy Badun
Sr. Strategy Director: Geoff Gingerich
Senior Content Strategist: Kat Kleon
Senior Social Media Manager: Celine Campbell
Business Director: Anjelica Kapetanos
Account Supervisor: Alison Still
Account Executive: Rachel Edelmeier
Lead Business Director (QC): Vanessa Audigand
Account Director (QC): Natalie Azoulay
Account Advisor (QC): Victoria Boyer
Producer: Lindsay Hann