McDonald's - 15 Years of Supporting Community Football

Background:
Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, famously once stated, “we have an obligation to give something back to the community that gives so much to us”. This sentiment lives on as a fundamental component of the brand’s DNA, guiding its behaviour worldwide to this day.

Supporting football at grassroots level is democratic, brings communities together, and of course, encourages activity. It’s the nation’s favourite pastime, allowing us to make a positive impact across the UK aligning with our brand values: Fun, making a difference, democratic and community minded, thereby fulfilling Ray Kroc’s obligation.

To truly benefit McDonald’s business, commitment to football needed to be heartfelt and impactful, making a genuine difference and being seen to do so by UK communities who care passionately about their local clubs. McDonald’s worked side-by-side with the four home nation FAs, developing these relationships over the last 15 years, not just as a sponsor but as an active partner.

McDonald’s have invested over £60m into local football programmes, benefitting communities through a broad range of meaningful initiatives including: training new football coaches, providing kit and equipment to accredited clubs, and delivering fun Community Football Days, to name just a few.

Objective: Building Trust in our brand – helping long term business growth

Involvement in community football greatly benefits the brand. McDonald’s research proves people aware of our sponsorship initiatives believe McDonald’s are “involved in their community” and therefore trust the brand more than those unaware. Ultimately, those trusting the brand visit McDonald’s almost twice as often as those who don’t – contributing towards long-term business growth.

Target Audience:
Families are our largest and most important customers, accounting for nearly 50% of all visits. Our key target audience is parents of children aged 6-11.

Targets: community partnership with all four UK FAs

2002-2006
- Creating 10,000 new, qualified community football coaches: “Coaching the Coaches” and providing them kit and coaching equipment
- A genuine and tangible contribution to local communities over time – delivering a real need for UK football and starting a valuable legacy

2006-2010
- Supporting coaching in communities: Further qualified coaches plus deployment and community involvement.
- Encouraging football participation through community football festivals and events, utilizing McDonald’s qualified coaches.

2010-2014
- Continuing to raise standards in the grassroots game and assisting the development of Charter Standard/accredited Clubs
- Support, recognition and reward for volunteers in the game (mainly coaches)
- Linking our Franchisees/restaurants with local accredited Clubs with many qualifying as coaches and volunteering at events

2014-2018
‘Better Play’ through McDonald’s community football support. Increasing access and quality of grassroots football for children
- Distributing 250,000 kits to children’s teams in accredited clubs in recognition of their achievement
- Better kit and equipment
- Better quality coaching
- Better playing experiences

2017 specifically:

Celebrating our long term 15 years community football support with our biggest-ever activation and communication programme, in order to:

• Increase % of parents aware of McDonald’s community football initiatives.
Target our highest ever: 50% (vs. 39% in 2016)

• Improve parents’ brand perceptions – agreement to:
o “McDonald’s involved in my community” (45% 2016)
o “McDonald’s a brand that I trust” (51% 2016)

2017

Fully aligned and integrated communications and activation plan with clear, simple and consistent messaging

Measured and reported through:
• McDonald’s Quarterly Omnibus
• Media Channel/TV audiences (Channel 4/consumer-insight)
• TV audience data/SMG and OMD (media)
• TNS Fast Track: average frequency visits/month by brand trust

Communication/messaging:

Clearly communicating our landmark community football achievements and legacy over 15 years, whilst encouraging more parents and their children to get involved through our initiatives.

Events
o FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald’s (ArsenalvChelsea at Wembley):
-Stadium branding: LED perimeter boards, External LED screens, internal big screen, Centre Circle, Matchday programme and editorial messages.
-Player Escorts leading players onto the pitch: wearing ’15-years’ t-shirts.
-On-pitch grassroots clubs and players (Guard of Honour): holding ’15-years’ placards.
-Wembley Way (OOH): Bridge and underpass towards stadium

Activations
o The best, most deserving UK community clubs hosting McDonald’s Community Football Days
o Distributing the final instalment of 250,000 Kits (since 2014)

Communications
o BT Sport broadcast sponsorship of Community Shield, sponsored by McDonald’s.
o Channel4 broadcast sponsorship of Women’s EURO, sponsored by ‘McDonald’s Community Football’.
o Channel4 TV campaign, placed in relevant sport and family programming.
o In-store/restaurant materials, trayliners, posters and digital Community Notice Boards

Showcasing 15 year achievements:
o 30,000 new Coaches trained and qualified (delivering over 2m hours of free, quality coaching to children).
o 250,000+ Kits distributed (to 7000+ accredited clubs/teams).
o Over 600 Community Football Days since 2002 with 750k+ attendees

2017 results achieved the highest to date!

ACTIVATION, Sponsorship exposure:
(Source: OMD, C4, consumer insight, SMG)

• FA Community Shield
o Viewed live on BT Sport and BBC highlights by 1.9 million.
o Delivered over 1 hour of McDonald’s-branded messaging.

• UEFA Women’s EURO on C4:
o Record viewing figures delivered double the media value vs. investment.

BRAND, opinion
(Source: McDonald’s Quarterly Omnibus Q3/2017; OMD, C4, consumer-insight)

• Parents’ awareness of McDonald’s community football initiatives rose to 52% (target: 50% vs 39% 2016).
• Parents’ brand perceptions, as a result of McDonald’s community football involvement:
o 60% recognise “McDonald’s is involved in my community” (from 45% 2016).
o 63% parents agree “McDonald’s is a brand I trust” (from 51% 2016).

• Additionally, as a result of C4 TV Sponsorship:
o 62% of viewers feel warmer towards McDonald’s (C4 average: 54%).
o 52% of viewers more likely to consider eating at McDonald’s as a result of our programme sponsorship.

BUSINESS, sales
(Source: Football Omnibus and TNS Fast Track)

• Growth in Trust increases parents propensity to visit more frequently, therefore 12% extra parents who think “McDonald’s is a brand that I trust” can now be expected to visit McDonald’s more often.

COMMUNITY FOOTBALL LEGACY

In 2017, kits, equipment and investment to improve the quality and accessibility of grassroots football have been successfully delivered. Additionally, our community football days had a significant impact on communities including:
• The highest number of CFDs in one year: 66.
• Record numbers of attendees: 75,000+.
• Over 70% of clubs reported increased volunteer and player sign-ups as a direct result of their CFD involvement.

Over 15 years, through football, McDonald’s has established itself as a valuable member of UK communities. It has made football more accessible to more children and their families and helped to improve the quality of the game. The brand has achieved record levels of trust amongst parents and the general population alike.

Planning is currently underway to continue building on this community football legacy beyond 2018, just as Ray Kroc would have expected!