12/30/15, 2:27 PMHow McDonald's Used Technology to Engage Attendees

Page 1 of 14http://www.bizbash.com/how-mcdonalds-used-technology-to-engage-attendees/orlando/story/28449/#.VoQ9FzayU5M

EVENT INTELLIGENCE

! " # $

How McDonald's Used Technology to Engage AttendeesThe fast-food giant used an interactive website, push messaging, and attendeetracking to improve the experience for both attendees and non-attendees

(http://www.bizbash.com/addition-internal-chat-network-push-notifications-app-included-

pinch/gallery/141084)

ADD TO IDEABOOK !

LAUNCH SLIDE SHOW (HTTP://WWW.BIZBASH.COM/ADDITION-INTERNAL-CHAT-NETWORK-PUSH-

NOTIFICATIONS-APP-INCLUDED-PINCH/GALLERY/141084)

12/30/15, 2:27 PMHow McDonald's Used Technology to Engage Attendees

Page 2 of 14http://www.bizbash.com/how-mcdonalds-used-technology-to-engage-attendees/orlando/story/28449/#.VoQ9FzayU5M

RELATED:

TOPIC: Meeting Ideas (/meeting-ideas)

Greener Meetings: Ideas From McDonald's, Symantec, and Intel Events (/greener-meetings-ideas-from-mcdonalds-symantec-and-intel-events/chicago/story/25919)

TOPIC: Most Innovative Meetings 2013 (/innovative-meetings-2013)

TOPIC: Event Technology (/event-technology)

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDAORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA McDonald’s comes to the Orange County Convention Center

(http://www.bizbash.com/orange-county-convention-center/orlando/listing/782298) every two

years for its Worldwide Convention, a gathering of 15,000 owner-operators, franchisees, corporate

staff, and suppliers from 119 countries. The event offers a mix of general sessions, learning

experiences, an exhibit hall, and entertainment. But along with the standard offerings, the company

looks for opportunities to innovate and use the event to demonstrate best practices for its attendees.

In 2008, that led to the creation of a sustainability program, which has continued and grown since

Organizers created a large theater inside one hall of the Orange County Convention Center to host the

event's four global sessions.

Photo: Courtesy of McDonald's

By Mitra Sorrells Posted May 8, 2014, 7:30 AM EDTPosted May 8, 2014, 7:30 AM EDT

12/30/15, 2:27 PMHow McDonald's Used Technology to Engage Attendees

Page 3 of 14http://www.bizbash.com/how-mcdonalds-used-technology-to-engage-attendees/orlando/story/28449/#.VoQ9FzayU5M

then. At this year’s convention, held April 28 to May 1, McDonald’s focused on using technology as an

engagement strategy for both attendees and non-attendees beginning months before the actual

event.

The effort began in January with the launch of the convention website on the company’s intranet. In

past years the site had focused strictly on logistical information, but this year the company created an

interactive news feed, similar to Facebook, where it shared previews of event content, facts about the

convention, and insights from senior leadership, and it invited users to comment and “like” posts.

“It was a more digestible news-bite type format rather than heavy reading. It’s categorized into topic

areas and you can search and filter by topic,” says Lisa Fingerhut, McDonald’s engagement project

manager. “It features messages that are designed to resonate with and align the entire system. So

while in previous years users would visit the website if they were a convention attendee, we are now

really marketing it to non-attendees as well.” The company also used the website as a marketing tool

for the convention by inviting users to answer questions such as, “What would you tell an owner-

operator about the convention?” or asking them to upload videos showing what the convention theme

of “As One” means to them.

Also new this year, the website offered live streaming of the event’s four general sessions and on-

demand access of the programs by the end of each day. To date, the site has garnered more than

35,000 unique visitors and nearly 400,000 individual page views.

The second phase of the strategy involved the event’s mobile app, which in the past was also used

primarily for logistical and navigation support, but this year became an engagement tool. In the days

leading up to the convention, organizers sent out a video welcome message from singer and music

producer David Foster, who served as M.C. for the convention's final-night concert. The message

received more than 22,000 page views. “It really generated a lot of excitement,” Fingerhut says. Each

morning of the convention, users received a “What’s Hot” message through the app, which received

about 16,000 views each day and replaced the email blasts that were used in the past.

To address the needs of its international audience, organizers developed separate communication

systems within the app aligned with its four worldwide communication teams. “We were able to

target push notifications to specific attendee types, so while I had the U.S. messages on mine, I did not

receive others from other parts of the world,” Fingerhut says.

12/30/15, 2:27 PMHow McDonald's Used Technology to Engage Attendees

Page 4 of 14http://www.bizbash.com/how-mcdonalds-used-technology-to-engage-attendees/orlando/story/28449/#.VoQ9FzayU5M

The app also offered a closed social network, called WWChat, that allowed attendees to check in to

event locations, share photos, and post comments. Large screens in the exhibit hall displayed both

this internal chat stream and also posts from external networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and

Twitter, using an aggregation system from Mass Relevance (http://www.bizbash.com/mass-

relevance/austin/listing/885326). “We are showcasing the voice of our customer; we are showing the

reality of the conversations, both the brand love as well as challenges and opportunities,” Fingerhut

says.

The convention also used Cisco’s Connected Mobile Experience system to track attendees as they

moved throughout the convention center. The Wi-Fi-based system provided real-time data on traffic

patterns, dwell time, and most-visited exhibits. At the end of the first day, Fingerhut says the data

showed that as the crowds emptied out of the keynote session at lunch time, the majority went to the

restaurants on one side of the exhibit hall, leaving the other side less crowded. So the next day they

changed the traffic pattern coming out of the keynote to disperse the crowd more evenly.

“Our objective for using digital throughout the convention was to help attendees really understand

that the needs and behaviors of our customers are changing, and the use of mobile technology will be

an effective marketing and communication tool for the future,” Fingerhut says.

McDonald’s worked with Kindle Communications (http://www.bizbash.com/kindle-

communications/chicago/listing/885327) to develop and implement the engagement strategy.

RELATED TOPICS

McDonald's (/archives/mcdonalds/3156), Apps (/archives/apps/9637), Social media integration(/archives/social-media-integration/9649), Web streaming (/archives/web-streaming/9491)

RELATED:

TOPIC: Meeting Ideas (/meeting-ideas)

Greener Meetings: Ideas From McDonald's, Symantec, and Intel Events (/greener-meetings-ideas-from-mcdonalds-symantec-and-intel-events/chicago/story/25919)

SIGN IN(/)