Wieden+Kennedy Sydney’s first work for Macca’s launches
Wieden+Kennedy Sydney has unveiled its first work for McDonald’s.
The agency won a competitive pitch earlier this year for the quick-service restaurant’s (QSR) Chicken and McCafé portfolios. It already works with McDonald’s in the US and Canada. The agency has created work for both portfolios, as new items have been added to the menu permanently: Chicken McWings, and a new McCafé blend.
Amanda Nakad, marketing director of menu and brand at Macca’s, said it’s been a while since the QSR did this, but the response during the McWings trial was clear.
The decoded OOH execution
“Chicken McWings are now claiming their spot next to other legends like the McChicken, McSpicy, McCrispy and Chicken McNuggets,” she said in a media release. “It’s the golden era of chicken at Macca’s — and we’re just getting started.”
The McWings campaign is led by “cryptic” OOH placements. A hidden message was disguised in the nostalgic ‘Wingdings’ Microsoft font on billboards, teased across the major cities, leaving Aussies trying to decode what they could mean. This week, the message was revealed to say ‘Peak Chicken Is Upon Us’.
Now, the campaign is being continued with supplementary films, as well as additional OOH, social, and radio content. Macca’s has even compared this to “other” historic moments, like the Cleopatra era, the Renaissance, and when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Meanwhile for the McCafé portfolio, Wieden+Kennedy has created two hero spots catered to coffee lovers, to show off a new coffee blend. It aims to help Macca’s fans “start their mornings right”. The films are supported by radio, social, influencer, and OOH executions.
Wieden+Kennedy’s group creative directors, Roy Leibowitz and Chris Wilson, said Macca’s has been “awesome forever”, and these additional items makes the QSR “even more awesome”.
“A new era has arrived, and we couldn’t be more excited to be part of it,” the creative duo said in the release.
Matt Owen, the agency’s local managing director, said it’s been a great kick off to the partnership. He said the agency village — mainly DDB, OMD, Akcelo, and Mango Comms — has helped get Wieden+Kennedy “up to speed” by “sharing their learnings on the brand”.
“They’ve also given us the space and permission to bring fresh eyes and that excitement that only comes from being the newest kid on the block,” he said.
Following the account win, Wieden+Kennedy revealed its first local hires for the Sydney office, announcing the appointments of Leibowitz and Wilson, as well as Jack Elliot and Lochie Newham as senior creatives. Owen has been with the agency for 13 years, having relocated to Sydney from London.
However, it quickly received backlash for the initial all-male lineup, with many pointing out the agency failed to ‘read the room’ of the Australian creative landscape, notably after last year’s Campaign Brief controversy.
Wieden+Kennedy responded to the backlash, standing by its hiring decisions. It told Mumbrella the initial announcement was not the whole picture.
“To give you a sense of the larger picture in this case, we’re still at the beginning of the process and have just begun working in this market as of January 2025. The hires we’ve made so far are only a few of a larger team we’re building out to work on Macca’s in Sydney,” a spokesperson told Mumbrella in February.
“In terms of our continued hiring practices, again we will always prioritize creating a diverse workplace as we grow. This has been a commitment since our founding, and it’s reflected very clearly within our global and office-level leadership, as well as across our employee network.”
Other assets:
Chicken McWings – ‘A Great Legacy’
McCafé new blend – ‘Coffee First’
Credits:
Peak Chicken:
Client: Macca’s
Agency: W+K Sydney
Director: Kyra Bartley
Prod Company – Film: Finch
Photographer: Bonnie Combe
Prod Company – Stills: Photoplay Photography
Sound House: Rumble
Media Agency: OMD
In Store Agency: Akcelo
Digital Agency: Digitas
PR Agency: Mango Communications
McCafé New Blend:
Client: Macca’s
Agency: W+K Sydney
Director: Jakob Marky
Prod Company – Film: The Sweetshop Films
Photographer: Bonnie Combe
Prod Company – Stills: Photoplay Photography
Sound House: Rumble
Media Agency: OMD
In Store Agency: Akcelo
Digital Agency: Digitas
PR Agency: Mango Communications
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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topics
Amanda Nakad
Chicken McWings
Chris Wilson
Macca's
Matt Owen
McCafe
McDonald's
Roy Leibowitz
W+K
Wieden+Kennedy
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