How McDonald's & Regular Hoops are similar
And i'm lovin' it
On Thursday, Dr. Marcus Collins hosted Jennifer (“JJ”) Healan as a guest speaker at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
JJ shared (1) the lessons she learned on her journey and (2) some of her work as Vice President of U.S. Marketing, Brand Content and Engagement at McDonald's.
Her insights on McDonald’s “fan truth” strategy resonated the most and aligned with my vision for Regular Hoops.
In this post, I describe the similarities—but also a major difference—between the McDonald’s and Regular Hoops brand strategies.
Some topics include:
🤝 “Fan Truth” Strategy
🍔 MCU (McDonald’s Culinary Universe)
🚪 Going “door-to-door” in the digital world
This event was recorded, but it has not been made public. To avoid sharing information meant to stay in the room, everything I quote and discuss is public knowledge and can be found in other publications.
Fan Truths
The “fan truth” strategy (1) embraces what customers love about McDonald’s and (2) builds cultural moments around that love.
Part I: McDonald’s Targets Everyone
This strategy does not segment customers based on age, race, location, and other demographic factors because…
“Everyone has a McDonald's order—it doesn't matter how big or famous you are” - Jennifer Healan (WARC)
McDonald’s first embodied this fan truth in its 2020 Super Bowl commercial, highlighting the orders of celebrities, athletes, and imaginary characters.
This sparked McDonald’s next idea called “Famous Orders,” which allowed customers to order a celebrity-branded meal, but more importantly, caused them to think “what’s my order?”
Some celebrities with a McDonald’s meal include Travis Scott, BTS, Cardi B & Offset, and Saweetie. And the branding of these meals was perfectly executed.
For example, McDonald’s renamed its sweet-and-sour sauce as “Saweetie 'N Sour” in the Saweetie meal.
Part II: The MCU (McDonald’s Culinary Universe)
If you are not familiar with this acronym, it is a play on words of the “Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
The McDonald’s Culinary Universe is a term I coined while reflecting on this next part of the “fan truth” strategy—authenticity.
McDonald’s stays authentic by (1) listening to how customers are engaging with the brand and (2) understanding its position in culture. This leads to uncovering fan truths like…
Coca-Cola and Sprite taste better at McDonald’s
Ice cream machines are always broken
Secret menu items
These truths are easter eggs in the McDonald’s Culinary Universe. So customers get excited when the company recognizes their experience.
For instance, when McDonald’s added popular menu hacks that trended on TikTok to its main menu in early 2022,
“This campaign shows that it has never been ‘our menu’—the menu belongs to our fans” - Jennifer Healan (Kanas City Star)
It’s important to note the authenticity of McDonald’s brand voice was not present until the company started working with Wieden+Kennedy in 2019.
JJ mentioned that before the “fan truth” strategy, the company’s brand voice was…
“coming from McDonald's, the corporation, versus seeing the brand through the eyes of a fan” - Jennifer Healan (WARC)
This proves that it’s never too late to change a brand voice, even for companies that have been around for 50+ years.
How this relates to Regular Hoops
Part I: Everyone is a Regular Hooper
Similar to how every McDonald’s customer has a go-to order, everyone who plays pickup basketball is a Regular Hooper.
And it doesn't matter how big or famous you are.
Students are Regular Hoopers. Corporate executives are Regular Hoopers. Celebrities are Regular Hoopers.
This Adam Sandler basketball mixtape is a perfect example. He might be a world-class actor/comedian. But he’s also a Regular Hooper—just like me and you :)
Part II: The BCU (Basketball Culture Universe)
And similar to fan truths in the McDonald’s Culinary Universe, there are fan truths in basketball culture that Regular Hoopers experience when playing pickup basketball. Some include…
Airballing a shot & saying “that’s a pass” if your teammate rebounds it
Dealing with the “politics” of calling next (everyone says they got next 😭)
Playing against someone with “Black Air Force” energy
I feature these basketball culture easter eggs when producing Regular Hoops content. Check out the video below to see an example (it’s my favorite thus far)!
I want people to (1) feel seen and (2) bond over the shared experience of a regular pickup basketball game—similar to McDonald’s connecting with their customers over the shared experience of eating & ordering at the restaurant.
How McDonald’s and Regular Hoops are Different
While there are many similarities between the McDonald’s and Regular Hoops brand strategies, there are also significant differences.
Part I: Some quick differences
McDonald’s builds around its own culture, while Regular Hoops builds around the existing basketball culture
McDonald’s is a 67-year-old household name (billions recognize it), while Regular Hoops is a 6-month-old media company (<10k followers)
Part II: Going Door-to-Door
Rather than feeling intimated by those differences, the small scale of Regular Hoops enables me to build personal relationships with followers.
When I spoke with Marcus Collins about this after JJ’s presentation, he explained it as going “door-to-door” in the digital world.
This looks like engaging with people who interact with your content. For example, if someone follows your account, go like and comment on their posts. It humanizes the brand and signals there is a person behind the screen.
Going door-to-door is as simple as commenting an emoji. And sometimes it leads to receiving heartfelt responses like…
There is no downside to going door-to-door. Every engagement matters and increases your odds of connecting with someone like the example above.
Side note: The kid in the example posts clips of himself playing basketball. I think he’s in elementary or middle school, which reminded me of myself at that age. Let’s blow up his video!
Closing Thoughts
If you got this far, thank you!
Everything you read would not have been possible without Marcus Collins.
I leave his events inspired every 👏 single 👏 time 👏
He curates an environment that promotes curiosity and rewards passion, which shaped me into the marketer I am today.
If you’re interested in hearing Marcus interview business leaders, check out his podcast Open Office Hours.
Or if you’re interested in his thoughts on culture, pre-order his book, For The Culture, which hits bookshelves on May 2, 2023.
PS—Comment your McDonald’s order below. And if you enjoyed this, you might also like reading how Overtime Elite (OTE) Arena inspired me.
Can I get uhhhh... two McChickens and some Medium Fries 🍟