A Taste of Hollywood

IN A HIGHLY anticipated deal, McDonald’s Corp. has joined forces with Sony Connect, Inc., which is angling to be a major player in the digital music world. News reports regarding this promotional partnership began to surface as far back as March, but the companies hadn’t made their pairing official until June. The partnership is part of McDonald’s global marketing strategy, which fuses entertainment with food.

“Together we are taking the McDonald’s restaurant experience to a whole new level via the Connect music store,” says Larry Light, McDonald’s EVP and global CMO. “This is the largest promotion of its kind ever undertaken in the history of the music industry. Nothing on this scale has ever been attempted on a multi-national basis before.”

Along with Sony Connect, McDonald’s is launching an international restaurant promotion, tagged Big Mac Meal Tracks, that features free access codes redeemable for downloads. The promo, which began June 8, runs through the middle of August in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. Sony Europe and McD’s will launch the promotion in the U.K., France and Germany this month. It is expected to roll out to additional McDonald’s countries throughout the year as technology permits.

Santa Monica, CA-based Sony Connect will also reap the benefits of McDonald’s overall ad budget estimated at more than $30 million, which will be used to push the promotion.

Every customer who purchases a Big Mac Extra Value Meal will receive a free access code printed on the sandwich carton, redeemable for one song download at connect.com, a service that currently offers its listeners 500,000 songs. McDonald’s execs believe that millions upon millions of songs will be given away over the course of the promotional period. Two new global TV spots via Chicago-based Leo Burnett Worldwide support, one of which features a cameo appearance by singer and McD’s spokesperson Justin Timberlake. The spot contains a rich repertoire of music selections that represent the different music tastes of McDonald’s customers around the world.

“From a McDonald’s standpoint we are targeting not just young adults, but also those who are young at heart,” explains Dean Barrett, SVP-global brands for McD’s. “We want to be an inclusive brand, not an exclusive brand, and music appeals to all ages.”

Radio advertising, in-store kiosks, menu boards, window decals and packaging will all help to deliver the brand message.

“For the future we have been in lots of conversations with Sony on a lot of ideas,” says Barrett. “There are lots of things going on in numerous countries already; for example there is currently a CD promotion going on in Spain. We will be doing a lot more with music.”

Red Hot Flicks

In other McDonald’s news, the QSR has also inked a deal with DVDPlay, a company that produces fully automated Redbox DVD kiosks, as it prepares to enter the $25 billion DVD business. The kiosks are currently undergoing a test phase in McDonald’s 105 Denver stores following a positive response from similar tests in Washington, DC, and Las Vegas. This deal could be a blow to video rental franchises such as Blockbuster.

McDonald’s is currently promoting the DVD rentals at a local level. Redbox kiosks will be placed both inside and outside restaurants as a way to draw consumers in to the restaurants, especially during off-peak hours. Consumers can pick up any of the top 30 DVD titles for $1 a day with a credit or debit card and they can be returned to any participating McDonald’s. This pricing is significantly lower than the pricing of DVD rentals at top movie chains such as Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, which can cost upwards of $3.99 for three days and require memberships.