50+ thinkers and planners within MSLGROUP share and discuss inspiring projects on corporate citizenship, crowdsourcing and storytelling on the MSLGROUP Insights Network. Every week, we pick up one project and do a deep dive into conversations around it -- on the MSLGROUP Insights Network itself but also on the broader social web -- to distill insights and foresights. We share these insights and foresights with you on our People’s Insights blog and compile the best insights from the network and the blog in the iPad-friendly People’s Lab Quarterly Magazine, as a showcase of our capabilities. This week, our topic is McDonald's Germany - Mein Burger. For more, see:http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

1. crowdsourcing | storytelling | citizenship
People’s Insights: Volume 1, Issue 27
McDonald’s
Mein Burger

2. McDonald’s Germany – Mein Burger
Photo from birgerking on Flickr
To celebrate its 40th anniversary in Germany, McDonald’s launched a
six-month-long crowdsourcing campaign, inviting Germans to make
their own burgers online.
Campaign site - www.mcdonalds.de/mein_burger/

3. We knew that many dreamed of creating their own individual McDonald’s
burger. A burger that would appear on the plates of our two million daily
guests. So we created a competition and invited everyone to take part.
- Razorfish Germany.
Germany's 1st crowdsourced burger
People used the ‘Burger Configurator’ tool to choose from 70
ingredients (bread, meats, sauce) to build their dream burgers,
and to give them a personalised name.
“
“

4. DIY marketing
McDonald’s empowered participants, providing do-it-yourself tools to
make personalised banners, video promos and posters. An attractive
gallery showcased the burgers for smoother public voting.
It's all about the execution in this case as Razorfish... provided the tools for
users [to] promote their burger creation and encourage their friends, as well
as the general public, to vote for the eventual winners.
- Reuben Halper, Google UK @ Five Cool Things“
“
“Your video, Flyer, Profile, Wallpaper, Web Banner, 1 on 1
for Facebook” (courtesy: Google Translate)
Facebook.com/McD

5. Celebrating the winners
Five finalists were chosen and given star treatment.They starred in their
own TV commercials, and their burgers were served across Germany
for a week each. Just Stevinho won after the last round of voting.
Photo from stevinho.justnetwork.com Photo from junkfoodtaster.com

6. Impact online and in real life
Collage: Votes on McDonalds site, Views on McD Germany YouTube, Engagement on McD
Germany Facebook & Comments from blogs around the web
Online: 116,000 burgers created, 1.5 million votes cast and every fourth
German online reached. In real life, the campaign set local benchmarks
for promo burgers sold, customers gained and revenue raised.
160,354
votes
45,832 votes
10,104 views
10,574 views

7. The secret sauce: Name your burger
The personalised names served as an outlet for creativity and,
more importantly, as enticing short-form content pegs people
could push out while asking for votes.
Comment from the Insights Network, MSLGroup Community Facebook comments on a blog post at
KnowYourMeme.com

8. The secret sauce: Tapping into communities
1) trendspektor.de/2880/lifestyle/mein-burger-2012-die-communities-dominieren-die-mc-
donald%C2%B4s-burgerwahl/
2) stevinho.justnetwork.eu
Online communities played a key role in building hype and spreading
reach. In 2011, the community of prominent gaming podcaster Steven
‘Stevinho’ Krömer helped the McStevinho win.
(Courtesy: GoogleTranslate )

9. Power of niche communities: Bronies
*Bronies - community of male fans (age 13 - 30) of animated TV series My Little Pony,
described by Gawker as: "One of the strangest, most volatile fanbases on the internet, a
fan base as entitled and obsessed as that of any adult sci-fi series or comic book."
Sebastian, a participant, tapped into the power of the German Bronies*
by naming his burger Scootaloo, after a character on ‘My Little Pony’*.
His burger received the maximum support – more than 160,000 likes.
160,354 votes
“So now German Bronies have a awesome place to
meet up” - Vinnyboiler
“ If this burger would win the final competition, i
would defenitly buy it. :D “ - Pinkie Swirl
“YES! Being German finally pays off! I normally
avoid it, but I think it's about time to visit
McDonald's again ” - dontstopme
“brb,flying to Germany to order a chicken
sandwich” - Haloman2023
Comments in Brony fan site Equestria Daily, and on
YouTube (Courtesy: GoogleTranslate )

10. Global brand, local relevance
Traditional German ingredients - Nuremberg grilled sausages, black
forest ham, pretzels - were most successful. This campaign allowed
McDonald’s to connect with Germans on a deeper, more personal level.
http://www.germanpulse.com/2012/04/25/the-pretzelnator-becomes-mcdonalds-latest-menu-
item-in-germany/
“
“
This year’s first place winner has
Germany written all over it…
…The ultimate winner was
the Pretzelnator which consists of a
pretzel bread bun with sour cream,
onions, lettuce, schinken, hard cheese,
beef, and cheddar cheese. What more
could you expect from a German
creation?

11. Local campaign, global reach
1) http://thefatbrat.com/2012/05/02/make-this-please-mcdonalds-pretzelnator/
2) http://www.thedailymeal.com/mcdonalds-release-pretzel-burger-germany
Digital is a global medium, and McDonald’s a global brand. Participants
tapped into global communities to gather votes, exposing the Mein
Burger campaign to browsers across the globe.

12. Crowdsourcing campaign, and control
Comments from knowyourmeme.com/photos/231595-4chan
Brands relinquish control when crowdsourcing content. They need to
monitor their properties closely, and act swiftly to rectify embarrassing
situations. McDonald’s succeeded in containing one such situation.

13. Crowdsourcing in the F&B space
Several food and beverage brands globally have experimented with
crowdsourcing product innovation, to varying degrees of success,
including Domino’s Pizza, Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, and Mountain Dew.
Domino’s Pizza Australia Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Global campaign (13 countries)
Domino’s Social Pizza - https://www.facebook.com/DominosAustralia/app_227610497336841
Read about Ben & Jerry’s - http://mashable.com/2011/02/20/crowdsourcing-case-studies/

14. More People’s Insights Weekly reports
For more reports, visit: peopleslab.mslgroup.com/peoplesinsights/
Every week, we dive into one topic for discussion on the MSLGROUP
Insight’s Network and discuss insights and foresights, in three key
areas: crowdsourcing, storytelling and citizenship.
Crowdsourcing
Mahindra Spark the Rise
Storytelling:
@MarsCuriosity
Citizenship
#Kony2012

15. Read People’s Lab insights and foresights
The People’s Lab team shares the insights and foresights from the
MSLGROUP Insights Network on the People’s Insights weekly blog and
the People’s Insights Quarterly magazine.
MSLGROUP Insights
Network
50+ MSLGROUP planners
share and discuss inspiring
projects on corporate
citizenship, crowdsourcing and
storytelling.
People’s Insights
weekly blog
We deep dive into
conversations around one
project -- on the MSLGROUP
Insights Network itself but also
on the broader social web -- to
distill insights and foresights.
People’s Insights
Quarterly magazine
Every quarter, we will compile
the best insights from the
network and the blog in the
iPad-friendly magazine, as a
showcase of our capabilities.
For more, visit http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

16. Coming soon: People’s Insights Annual
Report
In early January 2013 we will publish the People’s Insights Annual
Report, in which we synthesize our insights from throughout 2012 and
provide foresights for business leaders and change-makers for 2013.

17. People’s Lab: Crowdsourcing Insights &
Innovation
People’s Lab is MSLGROUP’s proprietary crowdsourcing platform and
approach that helps organizations tap into people’s insight for
innovation, storytelling and change.
For more, visit http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

18. For People’s Lab
solutions, contact
pascal.beucler@mslgroup.com