Cross-border Cooperation between Film and Fast Food Industry McDonald's Avatar Marketing

< strong > McDonald's Avatar Marketing < / strong >

the face-changing game is just a small part of McDonald's & ldquo; Avatar & rdquo; marketing plan, and the fast-food giant has used almost everything it can for the marketing show.

an avatar face-changing game & ldquo; as Avatarize Yourself & rdquo; suddenly became so popular on the Internet that everyone seemed to want to upload a photo and turn himself into a blue-skinned and yellow-eyed Navi. The game is posted on McDonald's website, and the surge in click-through rates has made the fast-food giant feel elated.

this is just a small part of McDonald's & ldquo; Avatar & rdquo; marketing plan.

there is no Chinese version of the face-changing game. McDonald's only launches the game in Europe. But curious Chinese fans don't mind groping for the ldquo;next” button in French and German, and some people have posted strategies on the Internet.

but this game is not the focus of the plan & mdash; in the US market, the Big Mac package comes with one of eight McDonald's Avatar passion cards (McDonald’s Thrill Cards), for which McDonald's makes different versions of TV commercials around the world.

in this vision, known as augmented reality (Augmented Reality), combined with the Big Mac package, people can use a 3D image to explore the Avatar planet of Pandora by entering the & ldquo; McDonald's Wonderland & rdquo; game through the McDonald's website download software and pointing the cards received in the package at the camera.

the card contains a chip or code, and after the card is decoded by the camera through the corresponding software, the hidden video or image can be seen. This technology has already excited game fans.

in addition, McDonald's launched a global online game, mdash; Pandora Task, which includes a Chinese version. Players can go into the jungle to collect target items: RDA research team backpacks, kettles, and even McDonald's French fries with a huge eye-catching golden arch Logo, and Big Mac & hellip;… can become members of the RDA team when they reach the target mission.

Director Cameron seems to appreciate the collaboration: & ldquo; McDonald's customers will feel they are part of the movie. When the film is getting closer and closer to release, this way can make people excited about the film, this is really a creative collaboration. & rdquo;

20th Century Fox provided all the technical assistance to McDonald's & mdash;, to be exact, it all started with a packaging contract in 2009.

on May 13, 2009, McDonald's and Fox signed a three-year partnership agreement covering five films, including Museum Horror Night, Ice Age 3, and Avatar, which was also translated as an avatar at the time. Three of the five films are cartoons, and the other two use special effects many times.

in the film industry at that time, this agreement was regarded as an effective means to reduce the cost of film marketing. More and more Hollywood studios want to package commercial advertising, in-store promotion and online marketing. According to the Los Angeles Times, TV marketing alone cost an average of $10 million per movie at that time.

Jeffrey Godsick, executive vice president of Fox Marketing, boils down to the value of this partnership: & ldquo; can provide us with a wide audience and is also helpful for film promotion. & rdquo; they certainly won't give up the temptation of McDonald's global 5.8 million passengers a day, and McDonald's is used to promoting certain activities on a global scale.

McDonald's plans to attract more people interested in it by launching merchandise around the movie, which is often used by toys that come with children's paradise meals.

the Chinese market has also launched six Avatar series toys to cater to this global promotion plan. In Australia, people can take part in a lucky draw after finding hidden codes on McDonald's drink cups and trays; McDonald's restaurants in Latin America offer Avatar backgrounds for customers to shoot.

Director Cameron became the protagonist of the marketing show. Cameron and Avatar producer Jon & middot; Landau sat in a video studio in London for a webcast hosted by McDonald's at 23:30 Beijing time. Randall is in charge of a partnership with McDonald's digital production.

beside them are Mary & middot; Dylan, McDonald's global chief marketing officer, and Neil & middot; Gore, McDonald's chief marketing officer in the United States. McDonald's broadcast a short video of the movie on the webcast ahead of the premiere.

Dylan is excited that the live broadcast will push McDonald's marketing plan to its peak: & ldquo; We use unique digital technology to bring global consumers into the Pandora world, which is what James envisioned and envisioned. The adventure story embodied in "Avatar" will be shared in McDonald's restaurants and online through technology and creativity, which is a valuable experience that McDonald's brings to consumers. & rdquo;

Cameron doesn't mind being here: & ldquo; is pleased that McDonald's has moved my idea of Pandora's world from the big screen to the computer screen and the wider world. I've been looking forward to making Avatar into a movie for 14 years, and I'm glad McDonald's brought Avatar into life through their restaurants and online world. & rdquo;

this is the film promotion period, and he has been constantly thanking all kinds of people. Everyone knows that his film is burning a lot of money, and there have been media reports that Fox spent 150 million dollars to promote Avatar. A few hours later Cameron hurriedly appeared at the premiere of Avatar in the same suit.

the effect of this marketing is nearing its peak.

Avatar opens in North America on December 18. When I searched & ldquo; McDonald's & rdquo; on Google that day, I was automatically linked to Avatar. Google gave 1600 Chinese search results & few of which were available the day before mdash;.

McDonald's uses all the marketing tools available. McDonald's China Public Relations Department received various instructions to cooperate with global marketing on December 8, and the marketing department got the news earlier that Avatar toys went on sale on December 30.

McDonald's already has an account on Twitter. Ten days before the film's world premiere, McDonald's publishes a password on Twitter every day, and the top 10 followers who successfully decode and publish the answers will get the chance to have a Big Mac lunch and watch a movie with producer Jon & middot; Randall.

McDonald's is proud of its whirlwind marketing effect. This is in stark contrast to the low profile when it signed with Fox at the time-mdash; had a 10-year relationship with DIS.NYSE before the contract, and Disney didn't want to be associated with fast food and childhood obesity in 2006, and the company cancelled its partnership with McDonald's at Disneyland in 2008.

but DreamWorks SKG, another animation company owned by Paramount Pictures, has been working with McDonald's on Shrek 3 and Kung Fu Panda. McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker said McDonald's has begun to make changes on its menu, such as salads, yogurt ice cream and apple slices, and is gradually reducing oversized drinks and fried foods.

McDonald's is getting used to this kind of partnership with studios. When Shrek 3 was released, it had already launched an online interactive promotion campaign.

Avatar grossed $212 million in just 10 days. As of January 18, the global box office exceeded $1.6 billion, getting closer and closer to Titanic's global record of $1.84 billion.

this is good news for both McDonald's and Fox & mdash; even though McDonald's won't disclose how much it spent preparing for the marketing.

& ldquo; We can only say that this is a significant investment. & rdquo; Mary & middot; Dylan added.

< strong > McDonald's Avatar Marketing < / strong >

launch Avatar face-changing game on the website

Big Mac package comes with Avatar passion card

< strong > TV advertising < / strong >

launch McDonald's Wonderland game with passion card

Pandora Mission Adventure Game (available in Chinese)

promote Avatar series toys (including China)

play promotional videos before the Avatar premiere