I don't think Maccy D's got the memo about the wellness trend.

I mean, now there app sits right next to my fitness plan I know which one I am going to being on more often than not. I guess my the summer body goals can wait another year. Sigh.

So what are some of the ways McDonald's have communicated their new mobile app?

Whacking out the recognisable brands codes that we all know and love. Mark Ritson recently wrote about the importance of brands codes (KBAs) in praise of Mastercard’s decision to drop the name from its logo. The renowned marketer spoke eloquently about codes being “sensationally important to a brand in achieving distinctiveness in the market”. He bemoaned that fact that so many agencies are reluctant to emphasis their brand codes and implored them to buck this trend by peppering all their tactical work with these symbolic and graphical devices.
Now the ones McDonald's use are not exactly trademark-able or legally ownable per say. But they are definitely synonymous with the big arches.

Check out the clever use of mobile phones to make up some of the classic yummies we buy from the brand. We recognise the food, the mobile phone and brand colourways so when we see “Mobile Ordering is here” it all makes sense and our brains love that!


No cognitive dissonance over here thank you!

I saw this from UFIT on the underground which, based on this ad, is aiming to be a healthy protein drink option for individuals who want to eat right but also enjoy life’s pleasures. So basically, every millennial in London?

Now, I don’t think there is much wrong with this insight. It’s true, we want to make healthier life choices but a combination of financial constraints, lack of time and the “foodie revolution” means we don’t always want/choose what’s good for us. We look for brands that make it easy for us to live well without compromising on taste or flavour.

But the issue I have is that all the newbies to the “easy health” space are singing from the same hymn sheet. Remember Popchips “Be A Bit Good” campaign? It also plays on the daily battle we face between good choices and bad ones and appearing to be the perfect go between (all done in a tongue-in-cheek manner). I think they were one of the first and did the best.

While I don’t think there is anything wrong with tapping into a common mindset, nowadays brands are currently leaning too heavily on this “easy on-the-go health” message and it’s getting a bit old, especially  the “We Have Protein" song.

I think brands need to sit down and ruminate on the “so what” a bit longer, and really think about what only they can offer. They forget that they are not just competing with brands in their immediate category, they are also competing with every other brand that gives you easy, fast and tasty nutrition – Innocent, Nakd, Bounce, need I go on?

Relying on this quite frankly lazy, no shit Sherlock truth ain’t going to fly anymore….not for me anyway.

Let's chat some behavioural economics (BE). Yeah, that sciencey bit in advertising that we all seem to agree with, but seldom what to use or talk about. I get it. It's not the know the sexiest or coolest thing in adland. Chatting about holograms, VR or the latest leap in automation is perhaps a little bit more in vogue but the geeky planner in me still salivates when I see BE in action.

One of the most commonly used BE techniques is “Framing” - The framing effect explains how we alter our decisions depending on how information is presented to us. We’ll react in a completely different way when the same choice is presented to us in the context of a loss or a gain.

A simple example of this is, by labelling a product bar of chocolate as “91% fat free” rather than “9% fat”, it frames it as a healthy product.

But there are even more subtle ways to use the framing effect.

Quaker's used it to market their product - “Porridge To Go”. It is essentially a flapjack, but we associate flapjacks with treats, sugar and definitely don’t see it as a healthy breakfast treat. But by calling it or “(re)framing it” as “Porridge On The Go”, what was once a no-go for brekkie is a now a permissible, nutrition breakfast because of the positive, healthy associations we have with porridge.

Pretty cool, eh?