Tangibility: McDonald’s secret sauce for truly getting its message across
If being playful is a powerful brand asset, then McDonald's approach to it comes in the form of tangible, real-world campaigns that aim to deliver joy. And Cameron Russell, Head of Marketing at Marketreach, is loving it.
)
What do fry scoops, ‘Order 000’ and a cheeseburger chair have in common?
The answer is that they are all part of McDonald’s latest activity, Cards, a colourful campaign that encourages customers to collect 24 unique trading cards.
Coming just months after an ultra-rare Pokémon card sold for $16 million, the burger chain’s new promotion shows how well it understands the value of fun, physical brand connection and unexpected surprises.
The cards are a perfect mechanism to deliver joy – a critical brand asset from the owner of the Happy Meal.
The cards are a perfect mechanism to deliver joy – a critical brand asset from the owner of the Happy Meal. Through swapping and collectability, customers find excitement, investment and social interactions, giving McDonalds an emotional halo effect money (almost) can’t buy. The fact there are also super-rare, golden Ronald McDonald’s cards worth £10,000 to be found is just the pickle on the patty.
Above: McDonald's Cards understands the excitement of play and the attraction of tangibility.
This isn’t new territory for McDonald’s. Its continued investment in tangible activations signifies that Cards is more than just a marketing ploy aimed at tapping into nostalgia and driving short-term sales.
In an increasingly saturated digital landscape, the smart McDonald’s marketers have identified that physical touchpoints can drive competitive advantage. From its annual Monopoly promotion (accompanied by collectible stickers) to the 1.5 billion toys distributed globally through Happy Meals, the brand has long understood the power of playful tangible brand assets to capture attention and build emotional connection.
The curious and the bold needs be looking for fresh ideas to differentiate their campaigns and cut through the sea of digital sameness.
There is a resurgent urge to interact with real life comms in a world where we are being constantly pulled towards screens. The rise of games cafes, physical book sales, album listening parties and retro tech enthusiasm, shown by Gen Z’s demand for iPods, are all indicators of this shift.
But the Golden Arches shouldn’t be the only one thinking outside the Happy Meal box. The curious and the bold needs be looking for fresh ideas to differentiate their campaigns and cut through the sea of digital sameness that now greets consumers going online.
Above: In a world dominated by screens, Gen Z is moving back to more retro means of entertainment, like games cafes and physical books.
Every medium has unique attributes that can contribute to the experience and overall effectiveness of a campaign. But a tick-box approach that often sees media planning default to investment in search, social and some TV or streaming doesn’t just overlook valuable additional channels, it ignores this enduring trend towards tangibility and in-person brand connection. It’s a safe strategy but lacks the punch of surprise and the visceral connectivity that comes from having a disruptive element – a wildcard amongst the pack.
Physical channels offer a space which is playful, immersive and which invites people to engage. And if you can take the physical into the home, it can be very powerful indeed. The proof? Look at the response to door drops and mail. Whereas online ads may be lucky to receive a second of focus, door drops are achieving a full 60 seconds of attention, and direct mail 145 seconds on average from audiences of all ages, and it is especially resonating with Gen Z for whom it is a fresh, novel touchpoint. In fact, 2025 JICMAIL data shows that 88% of door drops are engaged with by 17-34-year-olds, with 6% going on to make a purchase or donation.
Physical channels offer a space which is playful, immersive and which invites people to engage.
And brands that bring a flourish of mischievous creativity to the canvas of a door drop or mail piece drive curiosity. McDonald's knows this, having played on the iconic brown paper bag and unmissable promotions to launch locally targeted door drop campaigns around new products, new store openings and to highlight delivery options.
Pringles navigated the UK government’s high fat, salt and sugar [HFSS] legislation by designing a door drop with the distinctive tube shape of the snack’s iconic can created with a die-cut booklet. A ‘Money off inside’ message provided intrigue and pushed people to open the leaflet.
Above: Land Rover invited consumers to 'just add water' in a campaign for its new Defender.
Physical media works for more than just for restaurants and FMCG brands. When Land Rover launched the new Land Rover Defender, it needed to hammer home the vehicle’s go-anywhere, do-anything credentials to a sceptical crowd that thought the new luxurious model had ‘gone soft'.
It needed an inventive way to show the vehicle could take on any challenge and came up with a mail pack that dramatised the new Defender’s water wading capability. Recipients were invited to "Just add water" to the pack, in turn revealing a water-reactive, exclusive invitation to test drive the Defender at the Land Rover Experience. If the text disappeared on the mailing, customers could simply wet it again, giving recipients a reason to keep the piece of branded communication in their house and in their minds.
Think about physical media as the tangible, attention-grabbing sauce on top of an already tasty burger. McDonalds certainly does.
Digital is, of course, a critical part of brand strategy. The McDonald’s cards are QR-enabled so that customers can continue their collecting experience on the brand’s app (and McDonald’s can collect that all-important customer data). Likewise, the new Defender campaign included a QR code and fallback URL to help each customer to seamlessly navigate to booking their test drive. But truly creative strategies lie in understanding when and how to make the most of the physical and the digital to create truly memorable and playful moments.
Think about physical media as the tangible, attention-grabbing sauce on top of an already tasty burger. McDonalds certainly does.
I’m off to track down that golden Ronald ticket. Wish me luck.
