Here’s how McDonald’s trick you into buying more
Do you know that McDonald’s doesn’t actually sell fast food?
If you look closely, most of their successful products like Happy Meal make people excited. They often partner with entertainment companies to include toys from popular children’s movies, and kids are hooked — because the toy is often a surprise.
Most of their marketing campaigns encourage building relationships and happiness. Take a look at these examples below:
So what do they actually sell?
My wife grew up in Singapore, where dining at McDonald’s is often a family culture, especially in the 90s. Ask any Singaporean millennial who grew up in the 90s about their favourite childhood fast food and chances are, they would name McDonald’s.
Whenever my wife orders a McDonald’s breakfast, she would be reminded of those times when she dined with her parents at the fast-food joint near her home. And she would especially look forward to her Happy Meal toy. Those were happy memories, she tells me.
These heartwarming recollections often create a very special place in the hearts of those who similarly grew up with McDonald’s, so much so that when the fast-food chain in Singapore reopened in May 2020 after a three-week islandwide closure due to Covid-19, people flocked to its outlets and some customers even had to queue for nearly an hour.
How many of you have similar experiences?
So, McDonald’s doesn’t actually sell fast food. They sell emotions.
They promote themselves as a place where customers can find happiness. And this shows in their marketing communications.
You aren’t just buying your Cheeseburger, but you are purchasing bites of happiness.
Likewise, Apple doesn’t sell computers, they sell pride.
WWF doesn’t sell conservation, they sell fear.
Coca-cola doesn’t sell beverages, they sell happiness.
Great brands sell emotions, not products.
How can you replicate the success of these big brands?
First, start by creating viral content that can successfully generate sales.
To be honest, when I first dabbled in content marketing 6 years ago as the co-founder of a digital travel media company (TripCanvas), I could barely write any content that could get anyone’s attention.
But throughout the years, through many experiments and mistakes, my team and I finally found the winning methodology that has helped us attract 78 million visitors to our site, and referred more than USD $5.7 million in booking revenue to more than 120 of our clients (including Airbnb, Marriott, Agoda and more), and I would love to share them with you.
We’re now revealing our content marketing strategies in our course ‘Supercharge Your Sales in Content Marketing’.
Find out more here (only $17 for the first 50 sign-ups!).
Co-written and edited by Candice Neo
