For years, the African American Consumer Market (AACM) McDonald’s restaurant group in St. Louis was lagging behind the market average. To address the issue, the agency developed a long-term program that reached far beyond media advertising, and aimed to make the McDonald’s brand more relevant to the young adult target in the African American market.

Once the basics of delivering the appropriate levels of GRPs to the segment were covered, we set out to demonstrate to the target that McDonald’s is a vital part of the community. Agency efforts, lead by Miqua Alvarez, resulted in new and unique programs including the McDonald’s Academic Excellence scholarship program with local boys and girls clubs, a local version of American Idol we call McDonald’s R&B Soul Search, the River Wars All-Star basketball show down, the Annie Malone Blues Fest, and a regular schedule of smaller community events. Most of these efforts are promoted in the restaurants, online and in African American targeted media.