Kham Inthirath is the founder and president of Worcester marketing firm InThink Agency, focused on helping local businesses find and connect with their target audiences.
Updated: October 12, 2020
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Overhaul your branding like McDonald’s
By Kham Inthirath
When you think of the most established brands in the world, McDonald’s likely comes to mind. And for a good reason: McDonald’s is the globe’s largest fast-food chain, serving a staggering 68 million people each day.
Despite its icon status, McDonald’s has never been one to stagnate. The brand is currently planning its most significant marketing overhaul in 16 years. This move serves as an excellent example of what others could accomplish, were they not so afraid.
McDonald’s brand overhaul
McDonald’s wants to extend its reach to Black consumers. To do this, it’s launching what it calls the “Black & Positively Golden” campaign.
• The initiative will launch with a one-minute spot, airing twice during the 50th NAACP Image Awards.
• The campaign features a Black Marine and a woman receiving a college scholarship from McDonald’s.
• The campaign is utilizing radio ads and social media campaigns and will launch ads on the new Instagram channel, @wearegolden.
McDonald’s other historic rebrands
McDonald’s major rebrand comes on the heels of another big change: The brand’s sweeping efforts at unification and a complete overhaul of its global visual identity. McDonald's focused on decluttering, highlighting, and simplifying its messaging, via:
• Freeing the arches. Historically, McDonald’s golden arches were tied to the wordmark of the brand. Today, McDonald’s has liberated the golden arches to stand on their own.
• Flipping the palette hierarchy. Historically, McDonald's colors were red with touches of yellow. The brand has shifted yellow to take center stage.
• Typography. McDonald’s is using a single font in three weights. This unifies and helps make the iconic marketing much more recognizable.
Rebrand like McDonald’s
McDonald’s has overhauled its marketing plan as its customers, and the environment around it has changed. If you want your brand to grow, you’d do well to add a bit of strategic planning to your brand strategy.
Specifically, here are a few things you’ll want to consider:
• How to write a marketing plan. If you’ve never written a marketing plan before, learn how to do market research for a business plan. A great marketing plan provides structure for your rebrand, while marketing plan sections ensure you’re targeting your intended demographic effectively.
• How to roll out a new logo. Your visual identity is critical to the health and wellbeing of your business. If you’re going to change that visual identity, you need to do it intentionally, intelligently, and with the assistance of a skilled branding team.
• How to pivot your voice. If you want to target a new audience, learn how to extend your brand voice in an authentic, natural way is essential.
A brand change, made simple
What doesn’t bend breaks, and that’s as true for brand identity as it is anything else. As your demographics, customers, and services change, your brand identity should as well. Fortunately, brands like McDonald’s are demonstrating you are never too big to reinvent yourself. All you need to do it well is a bit of imagination and vision.
WBJ Web Partners
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