McDonald’s Germany extends their linear TV activity with Connected TV

September 7, 20223 minute read
McDonalds + The Trade Desk Case Study Results

DRIVING LOYALTY ACROSS GERMANY

The world’s most iconic fast-food company, alongside their agency, OMD Germany, wanted to generate registrations for its new loyalty program which is embedded in the McDonald’s Germany app. The target audience was broad (18-49) but knowing that the viewing habits of younger audience has shifted away from Linear TV, it was essential that McDonald’s Germany made the most of their digital investment. Together with OMD Germany, we pointed them towards premium inventory on Connected TV – a perfect fit to deliver net reach for their loyalty program.

RELYING ON PEOPLE FOR INSIGHT

OMD Germany set to work on a human-centred methodology, relying on a dedicated panel of people who opted in to share their digital footprint with McDonald’s Germany. This approach was made possible thanks to The Trade Desk’s exclusive partnership with data analytics firm GfK and ad tech measurement company Beatgrid. McDonald’s Germany and OMD Germany surfaced in-depth analysis and compared performance across defined gender and age splits within the campaign – something advertisers cannot do with linear alone. The Trade Desk was then able to validate the brand’s existing marketing approach by analysing the additional reach McDonald’s Germany gained from placing ads around desirable TV channels for their audience across Connected TV.

EVALUATING CONNECTED TV VERSUS LINEAR REACH

The brand innovated their existing strategy across Connected TV and yet maintained the familiar human connection by reaching audiences in the comfort of their own homes. This was made possible by The Trade Desk’s identity solution, which allowed the brand to extend reach further and control the number of people who saw the ad within one specific household. Actionable insights were enabled by the panel’s mobile phone devices, which allowed the brand to measure ad interactions and the number of times audiences saw the ad simply by identifying audio through the device’s microphone. McDonald’s Germany could then recognise whether the ad played on linear or Connected TV and make evaluations through a collaborative engagement model with OMD Germany and The Trade Desk platform.

ACTING ON DATA IN REAL TIME

McDonald’s Germany found that there was a higher concentration of older demographic groups across linear TV and younger demographic groups for Connected TV. Thirty-one percent of Connected TV – exclusive users were younger than 30. With the additional ability to act on the data that was provided, McDonald’s Germany made changes to their campaign in real time, illustrating that Connected TV effectively complemented their marketing campaign. McDonald’s Germany successfully demonstrated industry best practices, and they used this insight to make more informed decisions when implementing a Connected TV strategy and carving out their own path in the future of television.