Fueling young minds with aspirational stories one Happy Meal® at a time

I Can Dream Big retail poster with purple background

Opportunity

According to the National Literacy Trust, a UK-based charitable organization supported by McDonald’s, nearly 1 in 10 (9.7%) adolescents in 2022 who received free school meals did not have a book of their own at home. With this lack of accessibility to books for young students in mind, McDonald’s and tms set out to create “I Can Dream Big,” the latest iteration of the global Happy Meal® Readers program which builds off its original principles originating in 2001. The series consists of aspirational children’s books that encourage children to fall in love with reading with the help of fun and relatable storylines, accompanied by engaging new digital elements, activity sheets, and more.  

A seminal partnership was formed between tms, McDonald’s, and the Little People Big, Dreams brand, growing the partnership from a brief book series to strategizing a compelling new global Happy Meal Readers program. McDonald’s and tms strategized the concept of “I Can,” an idea centered around empathy, putting an emphasis on relatable stories with inspirational figures while giving children easy access to read with every Happy Meal. Commencing in August of 2022, the books touch on a variety of interests and lessons, offered as a choice alongside the Happy Meal® toy. 

Book or Toy poster image with Happy Meal box and books

The Happy Meal® Readers x Little People, Big Dreams partnership was thoughtfully designed with families in mind. Using the scale of the McDonald’s system, all partners came together to place books in the hands of children and families to make reading fun through moments of togetherness.

Philip Sheard
VP, Delivery, Global Happy Meal® at tms

Approach

The Happy Meal Reader initiative is based on three major pillars: entertainment, empowerment, and democratization. These pillars guided us towards creating accessible books that educate, motivate, and empower readers, while also providing storylines that are eye-opening yet relatable. 

Using qualitative and quantitative analysis in nine global markets, we selected engaging and confidence-boosting stories that teach important life lessons with engaging illustrations to keep little readers captivated. Through McDonald’s research, we found the most successful themes are animals, nature, and science. Other storylines range from athletics to social initiatives, including titles like “I Can Be a Sports Star,” “I Can Be a Champion of Change,” and “I Can Be a Talented Musician.” While these books are designed as condensed versions to fit within the Happy Meal packaging, full-versions of the books are available for purchase in retail book stores. 

McDonald’s and tms also created digital activities and games which correspond with the Happy Readers series that can be accessed by scanning the QR Code on the Happy Meal Readers Book, extending the storylines and education beyond the books to increase engagement and make young readers feel as they are a part of the protagonist’s adventure!  

I Can Dream Big book cover

Outcome

The readers have proven to be a global success, with 17 books published in 2022 and 41 diverse role models featured in over 100 countries. Since 2001, tms and McDonald’s have been passionate about making books accessible for children and have produced nearly 1 billion books as of 2023, making McDonald’s one of the largest children’s books distributors in the world. Through the “I Can Dream Big” Happy Meal Readers initiative since 2022, McDonald’s has successfully put over 50 million books into the hands of young readers. 

I can Dream Big Blue front and back book cover

Results

51 Million books put into customers hands through the “I Can Dream Big” series
100+ Global markets reached
55% Customers trust McDonald’s more with the addition of Happy Readers

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Samsung Galaxy | Big Ten Conference

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Capturing the Big Ten Conference with Samsung Galaxy

People playing basketball

Opportunity

US sports fandom knows no bounds – especially when it comes to their college alma mater. Knowing how fanatics love to dissect and see every angle of the action, Samsung Galaxy provided a never-done-before viewing experience for one of the biggest sporting events of the year men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments. tms had the opportunity to bring to life this first-of-its-kind partnership between Samsung Galaxy and the TIAA Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, making the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra the official smartphone of the conference. 

Basketball arena with jumbotron

Approach

To showcase Samsung Galaxy’s newest S24 Ultra as the most powerful device in the history of the S Series, tms negotiated and managed a partnership with the Big Ten Conference, overseeing day-to-day business to ensure its success. Known for its industry-leading camera and AI capabilities, the S24 Ultra is the first device to capture and stream in-game content from behind the basket. The Big Ten Conference, an association of fourteen esteemed Division I universities within the NCAA, streams over 2,200 live events across Fox Sport’s Big Ten Network (BTN), making this partnership a perfect opportunity to spotlight the S24 Ultra’s capabilities to a wide-reaching audience. 

Multiply S24s capturing the basketball game

In utilizing Samsung’s advanced technology, we are excited to enhance our game broadcasts with action shots from the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and add an element of creativity to the TIAA Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments.

François McGillicuddy
BTN President

Outcome

Throughout the TIAA Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, the S24 Ultra captured historic moments and upsets, from the tip to the final buzzer. With its unparalleled camera position, fans were able to see all the basket action with the “Ultra Replay Report” streamed on the BTN’s broadcast channel and livestream. Fans could even take part in the experience at the Target Center arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota to try out some of the newest Galaxy AI features on the S24 Ultra, including its ProVisual Engine and 100x enhanced digital zoom. Samsung also let fans get in on the action by releasing a series of digital branded social content across its platforms. 

Man dunking a basketball

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Driving sales through brand heritage

A man in Juventus uniform posing for the camera

Opportunity 

tms set out to create a FW 23/24 kit launch campaign for the adidas-sponsored Juventus Football club Long hailed the “Bianconeri” for the club’s black and white striped uniforms, we saw an opportunity to bring this strong visual motif to life with a film and campaign photography that honored and celebrated the club’s rich Italian heritage and loyal fanbase dubbed the “heard”.

Capitalizing on the untapped potential of club kits as cultural and streetwear icons, we collaborated with adidas to make this vision come to life.

Image of people opening doors dressed up in uniform

Approach 

tms used renowned Italian imagery as a creative starting point, merging references such as Paolo Sorrentino’s surrealist film, The Great Beauty, with Juventus’ core values and design hallmarks. The iconic Bianconeri stripes are a thread that runs throughout the video and photography, establishing a clear, captivating, and unique visual identity for the brand, setting it apart from competitors. This elevated presentation of the FW 23/24 kit was an expression of the club’s individuality to inspire positive sentiment, create hype, galvanize fans, and ultimately boost adidas sales.  

A man in the Juventus black and white striped football outfit

Outcome 

Leading the creative direction and production, tms provided Bianconceri fans with an immersive tour of Villa Perosa, just a 25-minute drive from the football club’s training grounds in Italy. Directed by Theodore Guelat and photographed by Dali Geralli, the campaign cast Juventus players, legends, and fans in unexpecting roles, featuring stars like Alessandro Del Piero, Danilo, Lisa Boattin, Kenan Yildiz, Dean Huijsen.

While the campaign is inspired by classic Italian surrealism, we balanced this with modern techniques such as 3D scanning techniques and aerial views of the estate. The zebra print is featured throughout, from the top hats, interiors, and jerseys to an actual horse dressed as a zebra. The end scene pans out to a portrait of the Juventus “family” featured in the film, symbolizing the power of the Juventus fandom and demonstrating that success is built off years of teamwork between the club and its fans.  

Portrait of all the Juventus cast members with members in the front row in striped jerseys and the text

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Showcasing a next-generation device with a next-level tournament

4 gamers behind 2 computer screens and yellow and black background that says

Opportunity

To create an ownable, repeatable, headline-worthy launch moment that blends what fans love about Tribe Gaming with the power and performance of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Mission Galaxy poster with logo

Approach

What better way to show the power and performance of the new Galaxy S23 Ultra than putting it in the hands of the biggest mobile gaming and esports group – Tribe Gaming. tms placed the device’s superior performance, power, and innovation at the forefront of all the messaging as well as leveraged Tribe Gaming talent, IP, community and tournament activation to create a stand-out moment.

Gamer plays on Samsung mobile device in front of computer screen

Outcome

Enter “Mission: Galaxy” a next-level mobile gaming tournament with a futuristic creative direction that showcased the new Samsung device’s advanced technology and features. Pairing the Galaxy S23 Ultra with eight of the most popular Tribe creators, we brought to life the ultimate battle. Tribe Gaming echoed our creative direction across their channels and released a series of unique unboxing social videos to raise hype in the run-up to the event.  On the day of the event, the tournament featuring eight Tribe competitors was live-streamed across the platform, with content amplified by Tribe Gaming’s vast social community to increase viewership. The livestream itself also included midroll content during “intermission” there were unique “ads” Tribe created with Samsung approval, and Samsung also provided some of their product ads to include in the block.

 

The $15,000 1v1 tournament is available to view online.

2 hosts of the Samsung Galaxy video game event conversing

Results

1+ Million
Pre-event views
457 Thousand
Live event views
388 Thousand
Post-event engagements
1.9 Million
Total impact

Watch Mission Galaxy Highlights

We’re thrilled with the results of Mission Galaxy. With the support of partners like tms and in collaboration with Tribe Gaming, we were able to reach millions of mobile gamers and demonstrate the gaming capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Mission accomplished!

Janet Lee
SVP of Mobile Experience at Samsung Electronics America

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Remixing the past to create the future

made originals art display - case study featured image

Opportunity

adidas’s “made Originals” campaign demanded a finale that would be both a relevant cultural moment and a ​celebration of the brand’s heritage. Centered in London, the city needed to permeate the experience.

woman in a track suit

Approach

tms set out to create an experience that would fully immerse adidas’s community in a brand world that was more than just a party. We mashed up the past and present by paying homage to iconic brand moments while partnering with local communities to show what “made Originals” means to them and to provide an authentic voice that resonates with Gen Z consumers.

screens
live music

Outcome

Taking over subterranean West London venue Ambika P3, tms transformed the space with a bespoke creative identity that celebrated the city’s aesthetic and vibe. The whole event was live streamed on TikTok, allowing the public to browse and purchase classic products. Working alongside key brand partners, Blondey McCoy and Gary Aspden, we conceptualized and brought to life a host of immersive experiences. These included exclusive product drops, customization workshops, skate demos, interactive gaming, digital competitions, and previously unseen archival exhibitions. Visitors were also transported to a digital representation of the “made Originals” world through a personalized 3D avatar and an exclusive FORTNITE world — playable alongside London gaming collective Black Girl Gamers. The two-day events came to an energetic close with performances from established British rapper slowthai, DJ collective GirlsDon’tSync, and South London rapper Che Lingo. We used the adidas CONFIRMED app as a digital “host” for the event, delivering hyper-local push notifications to inform attendees of what was happening, offer exclusive product raffles within the space, and manage all ticketing, and communicate pre/post event.

The team created a jaw-dropping experience giving Gen Z London the ultimate immersion into the world of ‘made Originals.’​ adidas has played such an important role in shaping London subcultures around fashion, music, and sports. It was a privilege to reflect on this heritage and look to the future by collaborating with creators at the forefront of their communities.

Hannah Partridge
SVP Client Engagement, tms
people at the event

Results

58 Million
global impressions
10,000 Engagements
on the CONFIRMED app
1,450 Attendees
at the “made Originals” experience
crowd of people

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Solidifying Samsung Galaxy as the go-to brand for mobile gamers

Person playing a mobile game

Opportunity

tms had to establish Samsung Galaxy as a prominent player in mobile gaming and authentically connect with Gen Z gamers.

Samsung Galaxy and Tribe logo

Approach

A huge Gen Z passion area is mobile gaming. While gaming, in general, has grown exponentially, mobile esports and gaming specifically have made significant contributions to that growth. We needed to demonstrate the power and performance of Samsung mobile devices by showcasing how the mobile esports players compete better and win more with Samsung Galaxy.

Outcome

tms set out to solidify Samsung Galaxy as the leading brand for mobile gamers, and what better way to do that than to turn the world’s biggest mobile gaming creators into Galaxy ambassadors? We needed to find the right partner to collaborate with. Introducing Tribe Gaming, America’s most influential mobile esports organization, with 21 creators and 28 esports players. We created a wealth of custom Tribe/Samsung Galaxy content that featured the creators using the device. This was used across multiple channels and included: announcement videos and cut-downs, YouTube video integrations, social posts, and creating its own bespoke tournament.

4 people

Results

60+ Million
device views in action
98.3% Positive
brand sentiment
20+ Created
unique pieces of content

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Opportunity

In a world of sub-par customer rewards programs, T‑Mobile wanted something that set their services apart and provided real value for their customers by showing true appreciation.​

woman smiling on her phone

Approach

Our data showed customers were sick of convoluted, tiered programs with valueless points. tms set out to drive value just for being a customer — skipping complex points systems. We shook up the idea of loyalty by keeping it simple and rewarding. We aimed to earn customers’ loyalty by proving T‑Mobile was already loyal to them.​

smiling people

Outcome

We created the wireless industry’s first customer appreciation platform —T‑Mobile Tuesdays. Reinventing the loyalty paradigm in a way only T‑Mobile can, we thank customers every week with access to exclusive deals, content, and chances to win awesome experiences from brands they love. We are proud to have a longstanding relationship with T‑Mobile, continue to evolve the T‑Mobile Tuesdays platform, and connect T-Mobile with new, relevant brand partners to meet the ever-changing customer demands.​

smiling people

Results

50+ Million
registrations
300 Million
partner claims
$1.5 Billion
customer value delivered

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Boosting the momentum of a long-standing program

Monopoly Coast to Coast

Opportunity

Find a compelling way to drive sales, guest counts, and digital engagement from a successful long-standing program.

peeling a sticker off a cup

Approach

Our research showed that guests were getting tired of collecting duplicate game stamps. With the intent of driving renewed excitement in stamp collecting, we gave every game stamp additional value online.​

treasure chest illustration

Outcome

Within tms’s digital experience we introduced the Bonus Chest. With every 5 game stamps entered, the Bonus Chest unlocked up to 8 exclusive partner discounts. We continued to exceed sales, guests counts, and check benchmarks from the previous year. Additionally, the game website continues to see high engagements with all aspects of the game.

burger box

Results

2.6 Million
visitors
13% YoY
visitor growth
11 Million
code entries
5% YoY
code entry growth

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adidas | Football Collective

three sporty kids smiling

Approach

tms saw this less as a brand initiative and more like a social movement — a grassroots program that was born within grassroot communities. We established the “adidas Football Collective,” a platform in which Gen Z had control, spirited with positive rebellion to upset the status quo. The program had its eyes and ears in the communities, seeing the problems that truly impacted equality in football and the ability to differentiate superficial symptoms from the deep-rooted causes.

3 people smiling
group of people laughing

Outcome

adidas Football Collective has grown to become a unique sub-brand within the adidas brand architecture – collaborating across adidas’ global football infrastructure, catalyzing grassroot community efforts. It works with some of the world’s leading professional and local grass root clubs and partners with UEFA and charities like Common Goal. It has its own fashion line sold across adidas retail and inspired ground-breaking activations.

4 kids smiling

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Boosting brand love with an exciting promotion

Opportunity

Noticing a pattern of decreasing visits to its restaurants during the month of October, McDonald’s wanted to introduce a month-long program that would tempt customers back. We made it our objective to turn that around by crafting an experience that drove guest counts, reinvigorated sales, and boosted brand affinity.​

trick treat win

Approach

tms put a new twist on the standard sweepstakes promotion with an exciting Halloween campaign that drove guests back into stores.​

woman putting up pictures

Outcome

We developed a bold program called “Trick. Treat. Win!” which leveraged a timely Halloween theme and a chance at instant-win prizes to delight customers. And for the first time ever, our program gave customers the opportunity to choose the prizes they won. As well as owning the campaign strategy, our creative identity featured across stores, digital channels, and the campaign packaging.

mobile app

Results

1.3 Billion
sweepstakes entries
4.1 Million
app downloads

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