Paying with lovin' may not seem to appealing to an introvert or someone who is anxious and wants to indulge their palette with any one of McDonald's tasty menu items. Though there has been talk of McDonald's failing with their Pay With Lovin' Campaign, McDonald's is really winning, even if there is a level of discomfort associated with getting people to participate, when asked to do so by an employee.

If we keep in mind that campaigns are created for different reasons, we can easily realize the real benefits of such an undertaking.  Here are a few things to think about before you evaluate a campaigns success.

To revive/reinvent a product/image/service

If a product/service is not performing as well as it has in the past, a campaign can help create fresh and new perspectives/feelings and reconnect consumers to the brand while also drawing in a new target market groups who may not be familiar with the brand. Emotional connections can be strong, especially if they involve people or things we love. For example, your favorite menu item, the one item you purchase everytime you dine at McDonalds or your first date happens at McDonald's. An emotional connection is created in those instances.

Increasing talk/brand awareness

Positive and negative talk creates brand awaweness. Talking is one of the things that helps to bring back the old school type of marketing that made salesmen so popular in the past, word of mouth and face to face interaction. Some Public Relations Representatives will agree, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

In the case food, people talk when it is delicious and they also talk when they have food aversions which may warrant a taste test for curious consumers, wanting to formulate their own opinions.

Encouraging Sales

Encouraging sales is one of the most obvious reasons for campaign creations. According to Advertising Genius, Lee Clow, everything a brand does is an advertisement. Brand Manufacturers will want those actions to result in some type of monetary value.  If a video is created or information about a brand is shared, the next step is working to turn those actions into a sale.

Getting Consumers And Fans Engaged

Social Media, like commenting on Blogs/Websites, encourages engagement. That is one reason why The Pay With Lovin' Campaign may be a success after all. No matter how many individuals/employees participated, talked about it, commented using social media, or just came into McDonald's with curious eyes, they were all engaged!

That is why when Rohit Bhargava sort of declared that McDonalds had failed in creating a message of love, I knew I did not really agree. The complication and awkwardness, surrounding the reward of attaining a cheaper meal, is not enough to determine how effective and well Pay with lovin' performed. I also knew what I believed to be true. The campagin had succeeded in doing at least one of the fore mentioned items.

After all, Rohit Bhargava did himself write about the Pay With Lovin' Campaign, sharing it with his readers. Finally, if the commercial views are any indication of how engaged we all really are with The Pay With Lovin Campaign, then the fact that the commercial, uploaded by McDonalds, has been viewed over 15 million times, confirms its effectiveness and says more than a mouthful.  The Superbowl may be over but we are still talking.  Kudo's to McDonalds for helping us keep the conversation going.

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