Alba Daniela Cuevas

Professor Kim
8 October 2014
Case Statement
McDonalds Global 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Sponsorship:
Bringing People Together Like Never Before
with GolinHarris
Part One: Statement
During the Global 2008 Beijing Olympics, McDonalds faced a lack of secured positive
media coverage worldwide because of the publics view of sponsorship as being old and
commercial.
Part Two: Background
McDonalds became an official sponsor of the Olympics in 1976 making it the 6th
Olympic worldwide sponsor. McDonalds, with 30,000 restaurants opened worldwide, focuses
on serving a wide range of audiences.
Competing against other major Olympic sponsors for limited positive media space,
McDonalds, with the help of GolinHarris, created a plan to cover all issues presented. They
created a comprehensive strategic plan under an umbrella theme of Bringing People Together
Like Never Before. Through a well-timed, two-year period with a PR budget of $1 million to
cover fee and expenses for GolinHarris, McDonalds launched its plan.
Through extensive research, McDonalds developed three programs that helped reach its
audience. First it launched the first-ever kids initiative to demonstrate its commitment to
childrens well-being: the McDonalds Champion Kids program. Second, McDonalds launched
the McDonalds Olympic Champion Crew. McDonalds gathered 1,400 crew members from 36
countries to staff four new McDonalds venues and to experience the game first-hand in China.

Lastly, it developed The Lost Ringthe first-ever alternate reality game to connect with its
online community.
Along with the programs, McDonalds also brought its plan to life by holding different
events and conferences starting a year before the Olympic Games were held. With each event
and program, McDonalds contracted Legendary Olympians Michael Phelps and Carl Lewis to
be program ambassadors.
Part Three: Issues
Competition with other major Olympic sponsors
McDonalds wanted to be among the top three most sponsored industries during the
Beijing Olympics. Knowing that sponsorship was viewed as an outdated form of commercial,
McDonalds had to make more innovative steps to reach its media gold.
No focus on the Sponsors/ Media has no interest in the Sponsors
The main point of the Olympic Games focuses on the games in which all countries
participate in. The general public as well as athletes, the IOC, and the BOCOG have all their
attention to main events and not the sponsors. McDonalds had to redirect its audiences focus
back on to them.
Security restrictions and obstacles from IOC and BOCOG.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Beijing Organizing Committee for
the Games (BOCOG) had to implement restrictions for all participants in the Olympics for safety
measures. McDonalds needed to work around these restrictions in order to send its message to
its target audience.

First Olympic Games to have full digital coverage.

Unlike in the past, this Olympic Game was the first to have full digital coverage. This
gave the Games, and McDonalds, a new audience to draw ininternet users.
Focus is primarily on Chinas issues and competitions
When the focus is not on the events of the Olympic Games, attention is geared towards
the host countrys issues, whether current or past. McDonalds used this as an opportunity to
earn positive word-of-mouth by donating 10 ambulances through the Ronald McDonald Charity.
Viewers with diverse backgrounds
The Olympics are a time where nations can come together peacefully and enjoy in one
anothers participation in games. McDonalds had to create a message that would touch the
hearts of the different publics.
Internal communication difficulty as the largest fast food chain.
With over 30,000 McDonalds in over 118 countries, maintaining McDonalds main
mission and goal can become lost through the gaps of the hierarchical structures implemented in
each restaurant.
Part Four: Audience
Media: National, regional, and local. Print, broadcast, and online
One of the main objectives for McDonalds plan was to gain 300 million positive
coverage through the Olympic Games. Because of its international audiences, McDonalds had
to focus on all the news outlets that were present at the Games to advocate its sponsorship.

International Consumers: Children/Parents and Young adults

The Olympics garner attention from all parts of the world. Almost everyone from almost
every country sit around their television to watch the friendly competition. McDonalds had to
reach out to the watchers, whether families or young adults on their own, McDonald wanted to
obtain their attention with its sponsorship.
McDonalds Communicators (in more than 100 countries): PR/ADV/MKT/HR and Employees.
Owning more than 30,000 stores around the world, McDonalds had to find a way to
confirm unity throughout each branch.
Online community, specifically gamers
Being the first Olympic to digitize its content, McDonalds had to branch out to the
online community. This community might have never been interested in watching the games
before which challenged McDonalds in gaining their attention. Through this new platform,
McDonalds needed to learn what members of the community wanted in order to give their
attention to the Olympic Games and McDonalds.
The Olympic community: The International Olympic Committee (IOC), The Beijing Organizing
Committee for the Games (BOCOG), and Olympians, spectators, officials, judges, and coaches
Members of the Olympic community was the largest audience that McDonalds focused
on. Attending the event in Beijing led them to experience everything first-hand, something that
the rest of the world did not have. McDonalds needed to reach out to them and needed to leave a
lasting impression on them. When they travelled back home, whether it was in another part of
China or around the world, they were able to bring back positive experiences about the Games
and McDonalds.