Brand in action: How McDonald’s India celebrates the festive culture by tailoring its offerings and experiences

Festivals bring families together when they celebrate joyous occasions and Arvind RP, chief marketing officer of McDonald’s India (West and South), speaks to WARC India Editor Biprorshee Das about how the fast food giant is focusing on family-centric themes and the importance of customising its festive campaigns.

WARC: How relevant, culturally and from a business perspective, is the festive season in India to McDonald’s?

Arvind RP: The festive season for McDonald’s India is of high cultural and business significance. It’s a time of celebration and joy, where families come together to create memorable experiences, a cornerstone of the brand McDonald's. Given our platform’s theme, “McDonald’s in every celebration”, we actively participate in the festive spirit by tailoring our offerings and in-store experiences, allowing us to connect more meaningfully with our diverse customer base.

It is also the time when families often dine out more frequently and we introduce limited-time festive products and relevant thematic promotions. These initiatives help in strengthening our brand relevance and affinity around the most important cultural occasion in consumer’s lives.

How do you tailor your marketing approach to various festivals in India?

In India, the concept of the festive season extends across the calendar, given the country’s diverse celebrations, rooted in its rich cultural mosaic. The festive period extends from October to December, covering major celebrations including Dussehra, Diwali and Christmas, making the October-December quarter the pivotal time of year for us.

Our festival campaign prep is driven by a strategic framework that is based on ethnographic research-based consumer insights and past learnings. Each festival has its unique consumer behaviours and preferences, and our initiatives are designed to engage these diverse audiences effectively.

Guided by these insights, our teams collaboratively develop festive menus and design themed packaging, in-store decorations and marketing campaigns that capture the essence of each festival. These efforts are coordinated to enhance the festive experience at our restaurants, making McDonald’s a top destination for celebrations.

What role does digital marketing play in McDonald's India's festive campaigns?

Digital marketing plays a pivotal role in McDonald's India's festive campaigns, serving as a crucial tool for amplifying reach, enhancing engagement and ensuring precision in audience targeting.

Through various digital platforms such as Instagram, X, YouTube, etc, McDonald's connects with a large number of consumers across diverse geographies. This is particularly valuable during festive seasons when engagement can translate directly into festive cheer and brand affinity.

What’s the optimal media mix to reach customers during the festive season?

A key focus for the brand is to bring alive the festive cheer at our restaurants with our crew leading from the front, thus creating memorable experiences for consumers.

From a media perspective, we aim to maintain an optimal balance between traditional and digital media, recognising the strengths and unique roles of each. Rather than viewing digital and traditional media as separate or opposing forces, we see them as complementary components. Whether analysing from a sales funnel perspective or through market research, the synergy between traditional and digital media enhances our overall marketing effectiveness.

Despite the rapid growth of digital platforms, traditional media remains a vital part of our advertising strategy. Recent studies confirm that traditional media channels, especially television, continue to excel in capturing audience attention. The metrics on attention clearly demonstrate the enduring potency of traditional media.

Conversely, the digital landscape is experiencing immense proliferation, particularly noticeable in its deepening penetration among younger demographics. This trend underscores the importance of integrating digital media into our marketing strategies.

What are some successful McDonald’s festive campaigns and their key lessons?

Over the past few years, we have launched multiple festive campaigns, primarily focusing on family-centric themes. We believe that like McDonald’s, festivals have a unique way of bringing families together to celebrate joyous occasions.

Among our successful initiatives, the “Meals Make Families” and “Festivals Make Families” campaigns stand out. The latter, an extension of the former, captures the essence of festive occasions and how they create lasting memories.

Our “For Your Other Diwalis”campaign acknowledges the various interpretations of family. It celebrates not only our traditional families but also the ones we “create” – friends, colleagues and extended relatives. All these types of connections enrich our festive celebrations in distinct and meaningful ways with the most loved McDonald’s meals.

The “McDonald's in Every Celebration” campaign, launched during Ramadan a few years back, was also one of our most successful initiatives. It effectively highlighted how McDonald's meals enhance celebrations and bring families together, resonating deeply with our customers.

Our ongoing goal with these campaigns is to build relevance among families around the festive occasions, enhance their celebrations with McDonald’s meals and play a pivotal role in making these gatherings memorable. We have tapped into the deep human desire for togetherness, especially important during festive seasons.

What unique challenges does McDonald's India face in executing festive marketing campaigns?

At McDonald's India, our approach is to build enduring platforms that resonate year after year. We focus on refreshing this platform with fresh insights every year, injecting fresh cultural nuances and layers in every campaign. This process ensures a platform that is relevant year after year.

For example, our “Festivals Make Families” campaign targeted multi-generational families, celebrating the traditional way festivals bring these families together. Building on this foundation, we elevated the narrative of our “For Your Other Diwalis” campaign by celebrating not just with traditional families but with people we choose to call “family”. This campaign brought to life the idea of enjoying multiple celebrations of a festival, each uniquely meaningful.

By continuously enriching the narrative while rooted in a consistent insight, we strive to keep our campaigns timely and pertinent, aligning perfectly with the ever-changing trends and maintaining brand relevance.

Does the strategy for reaching metro and non-metro consumers differ during the festive season?

At McDonald's India, we pride ourselves on being a democratic brand that appeals to all age groups and socio-economic classes, ensuring that each customer gets smart, convenient and feel-good McDonald’s experiences whenever they dine with us. Our widespread network, with over 400 stores, brings this alive, making it easy for everyone to access the Golden Arches, no matter where they are located.

During the festive season, our strategy is carefully crafted to evoke a universal emotion that transcends demographics, ensuring our campaigns connect democratically. This approach is evident in our communications for festivals like Diwali and Dussehra, which are celebrated across the country. By leveraging universal insights, we build narratives that resonate with broad audiences, while celebrating these shared cultural moments.

How do you measure the effectiveness of festive campaigns? Are the KPIs different from other types of campaigns?

Our approach to measuring the success of any of our marketing campaigns is consistent with how we evaluate our regular campaigns. We utilise a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that are crucial both during the festive season and throughout the year. These metrics include sales and market share growth, and brand perception metrics which assess overall brand equity and health.

How does McDonald's India balance global brand messaging with local cultural sensitivities during festivals?

At McDonald's India, we adopt a glocal strategy that perfectly marries our global brand positioning with local cultural sensitivities. This approach ensures that while our core brand messaging remains consistent with McDonald's worldwide, it is also thoughtfully tailored to resonate with the diverse and rich cultural landscape of India.

Our commitment to this strategy involves continuous, indepth local market research and an acute awareness of regional preferences, even within and across India. This dual focus allows us to cater effectively to the varied palates of our Indian customers. A compelling example of this is the introduction of menu items such as the McAloo Tikki and McVeggie. These products were developed as a result of extensive research conducted around the time of our launch in India in 1996 and have since become iconic, beloved choices among our customers.

In early 2023, we partnered with Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag to launch the global favourite Big Mac in a chicken avatar, tailored specifically to meet the tastes and preferences of Indian customers. Moreover, during festivals that are deeply ingrained in the Indian social fabric, we take special care to ensure our campaigns and product offerings reflect the celebratory spirit and cultural nuances. Whether it’s Diwali, Eid or Christmas, our promotional activities and menu selections are designed to enhance the festive experience, while staying true to local traditions and tastes.

What are the key insights into the local cultural nuances of the Indian market?

Engaging closely with the Indian market through varied cultural opportunities has equipped McDonald's India with valuable insights and lessons that have significantly shaped our approach. One pivotal insight is that “one size doesn’t fit all”. India's vast diversity in tastes, cultural practices and preferences necessitates a tailored approach to menu offerings and marketing campaigns.

Successfully adapting our products to meet local tastes, with the introduction of McAloo Tikki, McSpicy Paneer and other India-specific menu items, underscores the importance of customisation.

In 2013, in response to the rising trend of coffee culture in India, we launched McCafé to offer our customers a premium aromatic coffee experience alongside our signature dishes. This addition has made McDonald's an appealing destination for a variety of occasions, including Valentine's Day, Friendship Day and more.

Similarly, in alignment with the culinary preferences of our customers in the south, we are focusing on expanding our chicken offerings, particularly bone-in chicken options. Recognising the preference for spicy, on-the-bone fried chicken, we launched our McSpicy Fried Chicken in sharing buckets, with the actor Jr NTR as our brand ambassador.

We are committed to developing a comprehensive chicken portfolio to further increase product relevance and cater to the distinct tastes of the southern market.

What trends or innovations can we expect to see in McDonald's India's upcoming festive campaigns?

At McDonald's India, we are committed to innovation and inclusivity that aims to resonate with a diverse consumer base. Our aim is to create campaigns that are deeply entrenched in the ethos of the festivals we celebrate.

McDonald's has always aimed to be a part of our customers' lives and celebrations. Our previous campaigns, such as “McDonald's In Every Celebration”, “Meals Make Families”, “Festivals Make Families” and “For Your Other Diwali”, were not just promotions but our way of integrating McDonald's into every festival and representing the rich and varied culture of India.

In our upcoming campaigns, we will focus on creating content that is universally appealing and relatable. Our future campaigns will be an interesting combination of engaging storytelling and innovative product offerings.

One of the key trends we are focusing on is the implementation of a 360-degree campaign approach. This method ensures that every possible consumer touchpoint is integrated – from online digital ads and social media interactions, to offline experiences in stores and community engagements. This holistic approach helps sustain a consistent and compelling narrative that cut across all generations effectively.

How Indian festive marketing is evolving from tradition to commerce led celebrations
Ana Avasthi
Media.Monks India