McDonald’s New Zealand shakes up social media game with Snapchat advertising via Fuse

McDonald’s New Zealand spiced up the release of its much-anticipated Spicy Shaker Fries using a new, custom Snapchat geofilter and 10″ Snap Ads via its social media agency Fuse.

After successfully – and organically – snapping for over a year as @mcdonalds_nz, this marks the brand’s first trial of Snapchat advertising.

On the live day, Snapchat saw 51,000 fry fans use the filter, resulting in a reach of 737,933 and 1.1 million impressions. The 11.87% engagement rate comfortably exceeded Snapchat’s benchmark of 5-10%.

The one-day life of the geofilter was extended by making it unlockable for one hour via scannable snapcodes included on street posters and Facebook. The use of the snapcode delivered an additional organic 2,132 impressions (views + swipes) with a unique reach of 1,558 users, a high conversion rate of 38% and an average user play time of 18 seconds.

McDonald’s also got some Snap Ads with that, which were developed using insights from the organic Snapchat channel and resulted in native platform-style ads using Snapchat-specific effects. For example, the temperature overlay shot up as the Spicy Shaker Fries were mixed in the bag. The SnapAds felt native to the channel, ensuring fans could engage with them as they would with any other Snapchat content.

The Snap Ads delivered an average $0.03 CPV, and 572,707 impressions with an average view time of 3.14 seconds – exceeding Snapchat’s 2 second average.

Says Simon Kenny, head of communications, McDonald’s: “We are always looking for new and innovative ways to connect with the elusive millennial audience. It was great to take the insights from our organic content and apply it to a paid campaign, in a way that resonated with the Snapchat audience. Snapchat continues to prove itself to be the most engaging social channel for McDonald’s NZ.”

Snapchat ad campaigns only launched in this market in March 2017, with McDonald’s being one of the first brands to place an order.

This campaign extended to Facebook and OOH, which gave users the ability to unlock the Snapchat geofilter throughout the course of the five-week campaign. The Snapchat strategy and creative was led and produced by McDonald’s NZ Social Media Agency, Fuse.

McDonald’s NZ

Senior Digital Account Manager: Marcel Nel