Goodbye, Mr. Chips – Hello, Mr. Fries
When Larry Zwain joined McDonald’s as senior vp-U.S. marketing this spring, he did his new-employee training in Frank Sandoval’s restaurant in Colorado. The two men visited a nearby school, and as they toured with the principal, Zwain noticed that kids kept saying hi to Sandoval – but not to the principal. He ribbed the principal about it, asking if the kids were scared of him. “They all know Frank,” the principal shrugged. “I’ve only been here 18 months. Frank’s been here 18 years.”
McDonald’s is counting on those longtime franchisee friendships to spur nominations for its Millennium Dreamers campaign with Walt Disney Co. The worldwide recognition program invites adults to nominate kids who’ve done good deeds. Panels of local dignitaries will choose winners locally, and a total of 2,000 kids will win trips to Walt Disney World for a three-day summit in May. Partner United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) helps recruit judges and speakers for the summit.
The estimated $10-$12 million campaign is McDonald’s and Disney’s first global recognition program, and serves as a grassroots marketing platform for McDonald’s franchisees. The chain taps 3,000 U.S. franchisees and an estimated 16,000 worldwide to solicit nominations via counter cards and posters in restaurants – and by walking the halls in schools.
McDonald’s sent promotion kits directly to school principals, “but look at their in-baskets [full of pitches],” says Zwain. “Owner/operators are the key to distribution.”
Franchisees got promotion kits six to eight weeks before the Oct. 1 break, and work with regional agencies and local co-ops to execute the two-month campaign. All nominees get a certificate of recognition in March, and franchisees will get a kit to celebrate local winners. “This gives owner/operators the fuel to connect to something bigger than [what they’re already doing] in their own communities,” Zwain says.
McD expects around 60,000 schools to participate – that’s how many took part in the 1998 Sue T. Rex campaign, which offered dinosaur curricula featuring the Tyrannosaurus Rex that Chicago’s Field Museum is restoring under McDonald’s sponsorship.
Zwain says McD hasn’t felt pressured to back out of classrooms. Parent sensitivity “hasn’t shown up on our radar screen because our owner/operators are so personally involved.”
Just ask Frank Sandoval.
