Opportunity
Guided by that insight that 80% of UK customers engage with brands through their mobile phones, there was an opportunity to evolve MONOPOLY® for a new generation of fans that highly value digital experiences.
tms and Boxer Brand Design bring a modern flare to McCafé holiday cups
tms brought holiday cheer to McCafé Holiday cups this season with a new festive and modern design! During the Holidays, McDonald’s wants to celebrate everyone with a design that is bold like McCafé drinks, simple like their menu, and colorful like everyone that visits McDonald’s. These festive cups bring holiday cheer with every sip and will be available from November 20 to December 29 in the US, making daily life a little more joyful.
Boxer Brand Design, tms’ embedded brand identity and packaging agency crafted the cups in a celebratory, colorful, and geometrical manner, staying true to McCafé’s sleek yet bold design style. The cup’s contemporary design contains vibrant hues of pink, green, red, blue, and yellow, with geometric holiday motifs like Christmas trees and snowflakes.
Every year, the Boxer team waits with anticipation to work on the McCafé holiday cups. It is one of our favorite projects, and the work keeps getting better and better. We are building momentum with these new designs based on the success of the 2022 cups, which got us to win 6 design awards!
Explore more of Boxer Brand Design’s cutting-edge work with McDonald’s on their website.
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tms takes home sustainability award at McDonald’s 2023 Japan Supplier Summit
tms was recently honored at the 2023 McDonald’s Japan Supplier Summit in Tokyo on November 17 for our sustainable business initiatives. tms Japan was presented with the prestigious “Giving Back to the Community Together Award,” which recognizes tms for our commitments to bettering the communities we live and work in.
The “Giving Back to the Community Together Award” embodies one of the four major strategic focuses identified by McDonald’s Japan. This award signifies the strong partnership and successful collaboration amongst our teams to create positive change for our planet. We are extremely honored to be recognized by McDonald’s for our ongoing diligence in the supply chain and category management industries. This award further motivates our commitment to help McDonald’s achieve their sustainable brand goals for 2025, driving industry excellence and innovation that will lead to a brighter future.
Toshihiko (Toshi) Hobo, Account Management Director of Sourcing at tms, graciously accepted the award on behalf of tms at the summit and represents one of the many colleagues who played an integral role in the receival of this award.
The competition amongst suppliers to receive this award has always been fierce, so we are extremely honored to be recognized by McDonald’s Japan. We believe our efforts paid off with this acknowledgement, and our motivation to succeed has increased even more with this vote of confidence. This award is a result of teamwork across all tms stakeholders, and we are thrilled to have won in the sustainability category, which is such a critical strategic area for both tms and McDonald’s. We love the McDonald’s business!
Learn more about our commitment to helping leading companies achieve their sustainable business objectives through our Better Future Blueprint, and read more about McDonald’s environmental goals on their planet impact overview.
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Squishmallows continues the fun for McDonald’s Autumn Happy Meal®!
Squishmallows will continue the cuddles for McDonald’s new Autumn Happy Meal®! The campaign will run from November 1 to 21 exclusively in the UK and ROI. Squishmallows are internationally bestselling plush which unite children through their colorful personalities!
The program unveils a new collection of plush toys, including Tatiana the Dragon, Benny the Big Foot and Fifi the Fox! The Happy Meal® boxes also feature autumnal motifs and are the perfect setting for your cuddly Squishmallows friends to hang out in.
Along with the Squishmallows toys, kids can enjoy seasonal activity sheets and the latest edition of the Little People, BIG DREAMS® book series, “I Can Be a Brilliant Scientist.” Little People, BIG DREAMS® encourages children to read through motivational and engaging stories in hopes of motivating children to achieve their dreams.
Squishmallows teaming up with Happy Meal® is an absolute win! Squishmallows has broad appeal reaching both kids and grown-ups. Truly everyone gets to relish in the Happy Meal® magic, with adorable autumn-themed toys that have everyone flocking to McDonald’s for a taste of squishy cuteness. It was such fun working on this program.
tms was responsible for the toy development and packaging of the Squishmallows toys, as well as the development and packaging of the Little People, Big Dreams book series. Our team designed the digital play retail elements, as well as all retail POP materials, including in-store posters, drive-thru banners, digital window screens, activity sheets, flags, and fruit packaging.
Your favorite fall Squishmallows friends won’t be around forever, so make sure to head on over to your local McDonald’s if you are in the UK or Ireland!
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tms creates a spooky soft experience with Squishmallows and McDonald’s UK
This Halloween season, Squishmallows brought squad-ghouls to McDonald’s Happy Meal®! The Squishmallows Halloween Happy Meal® ran exclusively in the UK and ROI from October 11 to 31, featuring plush toys with unique and colorful personalities that unite the world through universal cuddly experiences everyone can enjoy! They are considered the number one selling toy by The NPD Group and have received seven Toy of the Year Awards for their cuddly friends.
The Halloween Happy Meal® included six spooky yet soft Squishmallows toys — Drake the Dracula, Bella the Spider, Wade the Werewolf, and more! The Happy Meal® boxes were eerie-sistably festive, with different characters featured in a spooky pumpkin patch! The family fun packs and activation kits with frightfully fun games and activities allowed families to continue the ghoulish games at home. On top of all the thrills, McDonald’s also gave out the book ‘I Can Champion Change’ with all Happy Meals® as part of their Little People, Big Dreams reading series.
Collaborating with an iconic license and bringing it to life through Happy Meal® was an absolute delight. We can hardly contain our excitement to witness fans’ responses to these lovable collectibles!
tms was involved with many aspects of this campaign. We were responsible for the toy development and packaging, as well as all digital play elements. We also managed the Little People, Big Dreams book development and fruit packaging. tms designed all point of purchase retail media, including in-store posters, drive-thru banners, digital window screens, and digital menu boards.
While this promotion has ended, make sure to check out our new Squishmallows Autumn Happy Meal® campaign!
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Christmas comes early with McDonald’s ‘Festive Wins’!
tms is proud to announce McDonald’s ‘Festive Wins’ campaign, launching exclusively in the UK November 1. Through the month, McDonald’s UK will transform their app into a festive experience to get customers in the holiday spirit, revealing feel-good offers, over a million prizes, and 30 chances to win per day!
I am delighted that Christmas has come early for McDonald’s customers with our brilliant new promotion ‘Festive Wins’. I am so proud to see this campaign come to life, a digital first for McDonald’s UK, with 30 days of discounted food, prizes and very merry merchandise in our app serving as a festive treat for millions of our customers.
During the week, players will receive a guaranteed food offer, like 99 pence Big Macs, and on the weekends, participants can win exclusive merchandise and cash giveaways. Prizes include cinema tickets, gift cards, movie rentals, festive gloves and jumpers, £1,000 cash prizes, and more! To play, customers must engage with that day’s reveal in the app, and they can then participate once per day for a chance to win. Winners can then come back and claim their prize anytime during the promotion!
Festive Wins’ cleverly leans into the spirit of the festive season through a fun, interactive and magical in-app experience. As customers look to the brands they love for generosity, McDonald’s is bringing it for an entire month in this unique 30-day celebration.
As the lead agency of the campaign, tms conceptualized ‘Festive Wins’ visual identity which is composed of festive motifs and animations to bring a burst of holiday cheer on the app. tms also developed the in-app and digital experience, along with the gaming mechanic, creating a game that uplifts customer spirits by rewarding them with prizes from their favorite brands.
Download the McDonald’s app to participate in ‘Festive Wins’ and have a chance at winning over a million prizes!
Click the links below to read the full coverage:
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tms doubles the fun in McDonald’s Coast to Coast MONOPOLY game with Double Play
McDonald’s Coast to Coast MONOPOLY game is back with a twist that promises to double the fun and number of chances to play for epic prizes. The all-new Double Play game has returned at participating McDonald’s restaurants in Canada for five weeks from October 3 through November 6.
Customers have always loved the on-pack peel, and this year, Double Play gives them more of what they love by seamlessly extending the game into the McDonald’s app — with additional chances to win, this year’s Coast to Coast is bigger and better than ever.
Coast to Coast MONOPOLY has become a firm favorite among McDonald’s customers. Research shows customers love the thrill of the peel and the anticipation of winning, which releases an instant hit of feel-good dopamine, so doubling up with Double Play allows customers to get double the peel feel, first on pack and then again in the app. They get double the playtime with the digital gameplay experience and double the fun with more ways to win in the app with fantastic prizes from an additional prize pool, including cash, a VIP experience, free groceries for a year and millions of Mcdonald’s Food and MyMcDonald’s rewards points prizes.
tms worked closely with McDonald’s to build and execute the game strategy and experience, from sourcing the big brands offering fantastic prizes to the guest journey from the restaurant to the personalized in-app Double Play experience — a true partnership to give guests more of what they love.
McDonald’s Coast to Coast MONOPOLY is supported by an Out-of-Home campaign, traditional TV and radio, as well as online and social media activity created by Cossette. All media strategy has been devised and executed by OMD.
The McDonald’s Coast to Coast MONOPOLY game has been a huge hit with McDonald’s guests who love the thrill of the game. Each year, we look for ways to keep up the momentum, which is why we’re excited about the new Double Play feature, a personalized, seamless in-app experience that offers more prizes, more ways to win and more of the thrills they love!
*No purch. rqd. Open to residents of Canada. Game Pieces avail. Oct. 3 – Nov. 6/23 or while supplies last; deadline to enter Game Stamp Code for prize claims/digital play in McD’s App is 11:59:59 p.m. local time Nov 27/23. Must be MyMcDonald’s Rewards member 14 yrs+ with compatible iOS/Android device & McD’s App to play for/claim prizes other than instant win food prizes. Correct answer to skill-testing question rqd. Entry/prize/odds/claim date details in Official Rules in McD’s App and at participating McDonald’s restaurants in Canada. Prizes diminish and chances of winning change as prizes claimed. Game Piece Prizes: 1 in 5 chances to win at outset, mostly food prizes. McD’s App Prizes: Chances of winning based on time of Code entry
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McDonald’s Boo Buckets are back!
McDonald’s Boo Buckets are back in the US and better than ever this Halloween season! The Boo Bucket Happy Meal® campaign will exclusively run for two weeks, or while supplies last, starting on October 17. As the spooky season creeps around the corner, this campaign will give customers a taste of just how thrilling Halloween at McDonald’s can be! Instead of a traditional box, each Happy Meal® will be packaged inside a Boo Bucket. A nostalgic fan-favorite and also a practical, collectible item that all families can enjoy, this promotion is perfect for consumers of all ages. Customers can then use the festive Boo Buckets to trick or treat, as decoration, or to store their leftover candy!
The newest Boo Bucket pays homage to the past by bringing back the purple bucket seen in their original Halloween lineup with a new vampire character! The green, white, and orange buckets from last year will also be available with new spooky characters to enjoy.
It is so much fun working on such an iconic program. We are all really excited to see the fans’ reactions to the 4 newest members of the Boo Buckets crew!
tms and Boxer Brand Design were involved with all aspects of the campaign, from the production of the buckets to the in-store marketing. We worked with US vendors to manufacture, color, and print the buckets. tms also designed all retail posters, digital menu boards, drive-thru signage, and digital app elements.
Make sure to head on over to your nearest McDonald’s to join in on the latest tricks and treats!
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tms evolves Australia and New Zealand McDonald’s MONOPOLY with Digital Ticket gameplay
McDonald’s MONOPOLY returned to Australia and New Zealand on September 6th and will continue for seven weeks. The game offers customers a chance to win prizes by peeling from selected McDonald’s items bought in restaurant. The peel reveals instant prizes and properties corresponding with the MONOPOLY board. Collecting a complete set of properties on the MONOPOLY board offers the chance to win fantastic prizes such as two ISUZU MU-X vehicles, $100,000 worth of eftpos e-gift cards, fuel for a year from Ampol, and up to 10 nights on a Pacific Islands P&O cruise.
This year, McDonald’s, tms and partner agencies are introducing Double Play, where eligible items will receive an additional chance to win upon scanning the physical code on their ticket. After peeling off the sticker from their food item, customers can scan a code on the voucher with the McDonald’s app using their mobile phone which allows them an extra digital peel — revealing prizes or properties.
We’re offering customers our great Macca’s value and so much more, with a chance to win cars, cash, travel and fashion gift cards, free Macca’s for a year and more. With a one in four chance to win, download the MyMacca’s app and get playing before it’s too late.
While most promotions are solely about winning prizes, McDonald’s, tms and partner agencies have created a truly enjoyable game that customers adore year after year. Customers love the thrill of the peel, so now with Double Play, we can allow customers with eligible game pieces to get double the peeling feeling, first on pack and then again in the app with the digital gameplay experience enabling more ways to win.
This is the eighth year of partnership between tms and McDonald’s Australia & New Zealand, utilizing tms’s iWin proprietary game engine technology, which delivers secure and scalable engaging customer experiences like the new MONOPOLY Double Play game mechanic.
McDonald’s MONOPOLY Double Play is supported by a front-end experience developed by Akcelo, an above-the-line campaign developed by DDB, media planning and buying by OMD, emails and push notifications from CRM agency Digitas, and PR from Mango.
The campaign will run in restaurants until Tuesday, October 24, 2023.
Every year we look for ways to raise the bar on this promotion, and this year is no exception. With Double Play, players will win more of their prizes through a secure, seamless digital experience, bringing them even more delight. The approach also brings McDonald’s more data insights needed to enable a more customized customer experience now and in the future.
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tms brings McDonald’s ROI MONOPOLY to its app for the 1st time!
McDonald’s MONOPOLY ROI is back for its 7th year! We’re excited to launch the first fully digital McDonald’s MONOPOLY game played via the GMAL app.
Launched on 6th September for six weeks, Irish consumers playing the all-new MONOPOLY will be directed from their physical peel straight to the App experience to be in with a chance to win! A single or double play will reveal after entering the code and completing a skill-testing question, depending on the product purchased. They will then be awarded with an Instant Win Prize or a Property they can collect on a virtual gameboard.
Top Collect to Win prizes include €20k, a €2k TUI Holiday and €500 Curry’s Spend and Instant Win an exciting pool of prizes from cash to McDonald’s Gold Card to Polaroid bundles and more!
We look forward to seeing how this reinvigorated game experience unleashes more feel-good moments for our Irish customers.
The campaign will run in restaurants until Tuesday 16th October.
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Driving digital transformation with the UK’s most successful prize program
September 19, 2023
Approach
Customers have always loved the on-pack peel, however this year, instead of peeling to reveal a potential loss, Double Peel extended the game in the McDonald’s app – transforming customers’ phones into a MONOPOLY® gameboard. It was essential and that we created a collection mechanic that felt fun not clinical with an exciting moment of theatre for the peel reveal. Every transition between taps, sound and animation was carefully considered to delight customers throughout the gaming experience. Furthermore, we wanted the app to be as inclusive as possible and created a game that was easy to use from an accessibility standpoint.
Outcome
We designed a platform that transforms customers’ phones into a MONOPOLY® game board, allowing them to collect their properties digitally. The prize mechanic is powered by our proprietary iWin technology and integrates with McDonald’s technology stack to ensure prizes won are easily redeemable and customers can seamlessly access their data. Through the new gaming platform, we ensured ‘double peel’ was the most successful MONOPOLY® to date, with thousands more users drawn in by the exciting digital element of the program.
By extending our popular MONOPOLY promotion at McDonald’s into a more immersive app experience, we’ve not only given customers additional ways to play, we’ve also built a wider, longer-term engagement in the game over the 6-week period – along with more ways to win. Doubling the fun for everyone.
Results
4.2
million
Unique players playing 77 million times!
+39%
YOY
Unique Players
+191%
YOY
Valid codes entered
99%
Digital peel rate
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