MANILA, PHILIPPINES — “Our core commitment at McDonald’s has always been about creating meaningful, feel-good moments for our customers and employees, and making a difference in the community,” said McDonald’s Philippines President & CEO Kenneth Yang. As majority owner and master franchise holder, Mr. Yang, together with his father, Chairman and Founder Dr. George Yang, has always been passionate about driving positive experiences, not only through its products and services, but in how the brand communicates and engages with its customers.
Through the years, these efforts have not only touched Filipinos’ hearts but have also translated to growth in the brand and business even during challenging times like the pandemic. Coming into 2022, McDonald’s has remained resilient and sustained its recovery momentum in the first half of the year as it remained a trusted part of everyday Filipino life and culture with its safe, quality food, innovative services, support for its employees and communities in need, and being a partner of the government in navigating through and beyond the pandemic.
Demonstrating how its campaigns and initiatives have become a force for good, McDonald’s Philippines recently won several awards at the recently concluded APAC Tambuli Awards. Organized from Manila by the School of Communication of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) in collaboration with local and international industry partners, the Tambuli Awards focus on mainstream brand campaigns that celebrate humanity, inspire purpose, and deliver results.
Committed to uplift the poor and marginalized sectors, McDonald’s launched a corporate campaign “Serving communities with good food and kindness” to highlight how the QSR giant leveraged its scale, operations and employees to gather support from the government, stakeholders, and partners to help those communities in need.
This campaign won in the Corporate Purpose category, Hunger and Poverty, a new award category that highlights the reason for why a business exists, as reflected in its mission, vision, goals, strategic direction, culture, and practices, for the common good of its employees, other stakeholders, and the communities they serve.
Reflecting McDonald’s commitment to promoting nation-building while developing a sense of responsibility among Filipinos, the Voter Registration Countdown took the Bronze in the Humanity and Culture Category for Responsible Citizenship. This campaign encouraged citizens to exercise their right to vote by offering a generous discount voucher on McDonald’s meals as an incentive for registering.
Also recognized was the Share the Light campaign, McDonald’s omnibus holiday campaign, which took customers on a Ride-Thru Christmas Lights Show experience; brought community cheer through Share-A-Meal; and delighted customers with holiday desserts and Coke aluminum cup collectibles. The campaign garnered a Bronze in the Media category – Brand Experience and Activation for the Drive-Thru Light show and was a finalist for the digital, social, and e-commerce category.
On the other hand, McDonald’s tribute to mothers on Mother’s Day, in the form of a touching video ‘A Mother’s Slumber’ that enjoined Filipinos to reciprocate their moms’ efforts by giving her a day of rest, melted many hearts and eventually became a Finalist in the Creative Category for Brand Storytelling.
“We are honored to have our initiatives well received by industry experts both here and abroad just as they have resonated well with our customers. This recognition by the APAC Tambuli serves as an inspiration for us to continue delivering feel-good moments and uplifting brand experiences for our customers, employees, and the community through good and bad times,” Mr. Yang shared.
Another feat for the company was to have McDonald’s Marketing Manager Ashley Santillan, the master orchestrator behind the brand’s major launches in 2021 and a strong advocate of inclusivity, to be named as one of the two Young Marketing Leaders of the Year. Even before diversity, inclusion, and equality became buzzwords, Ashley had already been working on bringing these values to life in her campaigns, such as the 2019 McDonald’s Mother’s Day thematic video ‘Story of Us’ which welcomed all kinds of families— including single mothers; and ‘McDeliverBack’, a campaign that gave recognition and showed appreciation to the underrepresented delivery riders. Her pursuit for creative excellence and passion for purpose has resulted in consistent delivery of results for the business, the brand, and McDonald’s customers.
All these would not be possible through the support and synergy of McDonald’s partner agencies namely Leo Burnett Manila, TBWA\Santiago Magada Puno, and Wunderman Thompson for creatives; Greenbulb Communications for public relations; and OMD Philippines for media.
The synergy between the McDonald’s team, its partner agencies, and everyone involved in the campaigns was a key driver in producing not just award-winning campaigns, but sustainable initiatives that are reflective of the brand’s values and purpose.
