Marketing is a very competitive industry where each brand often strives to be better than the rest. The industry of marketing is characterised by so cut throat competition that brands often indulge in competition for audience’s attention using visual cues, memorable slogans and fun advertisements that leaves the audience in awe.
Well this time there is another brand that went beyond their limit to surprise their audience with their new marketing strategy. Mcdonald’s has made a unique and fun approach in capturing the attention of the audience by not targeting their eyes this time but noses. Yes ! you read that right!
McDonald’s have strategically placed plain yellow and red billboards all over their place just two hundred metres away from the restaurants which contain the scent of the food they sell. Why ? Delve into to know why and how they have come up with such a great marketing strategy to capture the nose of the audience this time.
McDonald’s has decided to refrain from using the traditional marketing methods like they used to do. They have focussed on the scent driven marketing that stems from the deep understanding of the consumer’s purchasing behaviour. Understanding and recognising that the scent of their iconic food chain that includes their tasty fries, burgers and yummy deep fried chicken wing ranges are irresistible to many once they get the smell of them.
Here the brand saw a chance to leverage the sensory experience to attract their customers, hence instead of bombarding their audience with the boring billboards and flashy slogans and logos, they went for a subtle advertising approach that appeals directly to their noses. How smart could that be!
The placements of the plan solid coloured billboards is anything but random. The McDonald’s strategically placed positioning of the billboards is within the 200 metres of their restaurants, targeting the places with high foot traffic of the audiences. This proximity is sure that the power of the scent wafts from the billboards and reaches the hungry peddlers, triggering their cravings and provoking them to visit the nearest McDonald’s outlets.
The scent based billboard ads of McDonald’s do a lot more than just making the audience curious about their marketing move. When the audiences see these typical red and yellow coloured billboards , they are simply hit with the smell of the brand’s food which helps the audiences recall their memories of the food. The aroma of the food simply reminds them of McDonald’s food items leaving them with intense cravings. The marketing strategy used here simply pushes people to buy the food.
The consumer reactions to the new scented billboards are just extremely and overwhelmingly favourable. Many have been left surprised and delighted upon realising the strategy of bringing them to buy what they can smell. The smells have left the consumers imaging the food they are smelling.
Various social media platforms and marketing channels and pages are being flooded with the posts capturing the moments of these surprised and suspecting consumers engaging with the billboard ads that is further amplifying the reach of the brand’s innovative campaign.
Besides its direct effects on how the consumers have behaved, the brand McDonald’s plain billboards tell a broad narrative about the ever changing landscape of the advertising and the marketing field. In this digital age where the consumers constantly encounter loads of information and graphics and stimuli at every turn of the streets , brands should always come up with brainstorming ideas that cut through the noise and don't make the audience feel bombarded with the constant information and graphics filled ads. The brands should work on making engaging ads not just online but offline as well so that it helps the brand build strong connections with the audiences.
McDonald’s innovative and strong marketing strategy that used the power of scent to demonstrate how effective it is to think out of the box and tap into the sensory experiences that resonate deeply with their consumers. This has truly raised the standards of advertising and has definitely been the best to compete with so far.
By now you already know the competition in the field of marketing and advertising where everyday some brand comes with jaw dropping brainstorming strategies to get the audiences to them. This time McDonald’s have left no stone unturned to set itself apart from the competition with its unconventional and unique strategy to capture the audience.