McDonald’s uses billboards in high visibility locations around Seattle to attack Starbucks. Here’s why their coffee is better
Four Words Says It All
McDonald’s is using these billboards to promote their new espresso drinks.
This is foolproof copywriting at its best — the following two phrases were displayed on 140 billboards across Seattle:
Four Bucks is Dumb
Large is the New Grande
The McDonald’s Attack Plan
- Location matters: McDonald’s picked Seattle because it is Starbucks’ home ground
- Long-term communication plan in mind: this is a follow-up to unsnobbycoffee.com to promote the launch of espresso drinks in the Seattle market
- Picking on just one point: position Starbucks as expensive or snobby
- A single consistent value proposition that cuts across segments: “We really wanted to point out that ordering an espresso at McDonald’s is quick and simple. Small, medium and large. It’s easy.”
- Aggressive intentions: some of the billboards were located near Starbucks cafes. Starbucks employees driving northbound can see the billboard on their way into the city
- Building credibility over the long term: “The thing about these comparative campaigns is you have to hammer away at them for a long time. You can’t just hit someone and then run away. You have to have a lot of marketing dollars to put behind it and that’s something that McDonald’s could theoretically do.”
- Capitalizing on market conditions: timing is everything with the current economic conditions. “A new type of consumer, more conscientious, less vain, is emerging. Fewer will be slaves to Starbucks”.
- Aim to win more market share from a new category: “We see ourselves as trying to enter a new category and steal as much of the breakfast and coffee share as we can garner…”
The Starbucks Defense Plan
- They won’t react: “We’re not going to get into that conversation. We’re not going to get sucked into the, ‘My coffee is better than your coffee,’ price point type of coffee conversation. We’re going to play at a much higher level.”
- Cheaper modes of advertising: the coffee giant is turning to cheaper modes of advertising via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
- Sticking to their game plan: “I think the way we deal with that is not to respond to something that’s that frivolous,” he said. “Are you going to say to your friend, ‘Let’s go meet at Dunkin’ Donuts?’ Are you going to say that?”
- Remind your customers over and over again: Starbucks employees are being instructed to “remind” customers that the average price of a Starbucks beverage is less than $3, and that 90% of Starbucks drinks cost under $4
- Use disruptive tactics: Starbucks is introducing instant coffee in its stores, priced from $2.95 — they’re taking every opportunity to “remind” customers of the “affordable luxury”
What Can You Learn From This?
Besides the attack and defense points above, just remember this:
“The idea is, in a billboard, you got three or four seconds to capture people’s attention,” he said. “You’re trying to be as short and sweet and as pithy as possible.”
Apply this to your daily marketing initiatives (not just billboards, it works with Adwords too) and you will see tremendous results. Of course, foolproof copywriting does matter too =)
*p/s: thanks to the heads up from Marketing Shift & SeattlePI
