McDonald’s suits me

Why is this campaign worthy of an award? The Romanian labour market has been facing multiple difficulties in the past few years in terms of employment, with the main affected industries being trade, tourism, retail and food service. There is a constant need for attracting new employees and, when it comes to McDonald’s, people are usually undecided whether to work with you or not. The mainstream opinion: „Working at McDonald’s is hard, exhausting and not very appealing”. In the next couple of minutes, we will take you through the story of how we managed to „fight” such strong opinions and, most of all, how we managed to hire more than 1000 employees in one month, improve brand perception and generate trust and internal engagement. McDonald’s Suits Me is the McDonald’s employee’s story. Of those who work hard and passionately. And this is the story we’re going to tell you right up next.

McDonald’s is one of the most important private employers in Romania and globally. Four years in a row the brand was voted Best Employer by AON Romania and finds itself in the local Top 10 Most Recognized Employer. Furthermore, it is one of the largest employers in the world and the largest first employer. Meaning that, in the entire world, there are hundreds of thousands of people (if not millions) who had their first job in a McDonald’s restaurant. However, in Romania, the jobs at McDonald’s are considered low-paid, hardworking and not suitable for people with higher education. So, when it comes to McDonald’s employer brand in Romania, we have a never-ending task & opportunity: highlight the benefits of McDonald’s employees through a comprehensive, employee-oriented recruitment and employer branding campaign. We are well aware of the fact that the employer communication for McDonald’s is never a one-time opportunity.

PLANNING

The Strategic Approach. Our task was specific: tell people about the benefits McDonald’s is offering to potential employees, in a realistic, honest way. That’s why we decided to turn to the employees, and turn them and their stories into our main communication support. However, the negative perception of the demanding work required in the quick service restaurants sector did not help too much with this task. Our superpower was the strong insight: no matter who you are, where you are from, or what age you are, you can do your job right and be proud of it, if your job suits you.  

The Creative Idea: McDonald’s Suits Me “I know my job, I do it well, I’m always helping my colleagues, I receive bonuses and many benefits for my performance. So, I feel that I can build a career in this place. I work at McDonald’s because McDonald’s suits me.” We are speaking WITH the current employees FOR the future employees who need to know the truth about working here. It was the first time we decided to recruit colleagues for each of the jobs that you can find in a McDonald’s restaurant. First time when we talked about our job openings for Hostess, Guest Experience Leader & Barista. With our EVP, each job is valued and is represented by an employee.

CREATIVITY

We had the “luck” to find the most real insight there is, when it comes to working: to stay and work in one place, your job must suit you. From this moment on, the campaign was a cozy visit to all those who are part, in one way or another, of the employer branding story of McDonald’s: the management team, the agencies, the restaurant employees and their friends and families, the potential employees, and, of course, the media. “McDonald’s suits me” is the employees’ campaign. And, if there’s anything we learnt: when in doubt, go where it all started. In our case, the McDonald’s restaurants. With the help of the restaurant employees, we remembered why McDonald’s suits us.

INNOVATION

The McDonald’s team is the best brand ambassador of the company. Involving them in the campaign, ever since the research stage, was a real innovation for McDonald’s: not only did we base our instincts on their input, but The FIRST employee advocacy program ever launched by McDonald’s! A program that was born in Romania! And it was also probably the first program of its kind launched by a company in our country. Innovation, just like employer branding, should be built from within. And this is what we’re workin’ on.

The results are impressive, managing to hire 1000 employees in the first month of the campaign, while key brand perception metrics being successfully exceeded, proving once more the impact of creative and strategic communication.