Building Customer Loyalty Starts Early

November 2022 – Meeting Your Audience Where They Are Based on Where They’ve Been

McDonald’s and YouTube influencers (aka YouTubers) are showcasing how brands today can reach their audience on a more intimate level than ever before. From adult Happy Meals that create the “warm fuzzies” for adults to landing perfectly in the laps of millions of click-hungry followers, these two households are putting on a MasterClass in emotional branding.

Audio: Listen to this article.

1. McDonald’s Adult Happy Meal Capitalizes on “Window of Loyalty” From Childhood
2. What Your Company Can Learn From YouTube's Highest-Grossing YouTuber
3. 60-Second Close: Creating Emotional Connections Requires Emotional Intelligence

1. McDonald’s Adult Happy Meal Capitalizes on “Window of Loyalty” From Childhood

• McDonald’s launched a new “adult Happy Meal” through a collaboration with popular apparel brand, The Cactus Flea Market. The now sold-out meals came with adult-size portions of all the elements in the original Happy Meal (including a toy, which is now being listed for as much as $300,000 on eBay) and capitalize on a growing trend in marketing today — the “window of loyalty.”
  
  
• The window of loyalty is a concept from the sports world in which fans who are established early in childhood remain so for life. Other fast food giants like Yum! Brands’ KFC has launched similar marketing “stunts” that target adults with nostalgic favorites.
  
  
• Tying your brand to fond childhood memories takes a long-term strategy. I’ve previously touched on how KFC is capitalizing on the “window of loyalty” and targeting Gen Z with its first-ever nugget meals

2. What Your Company Can Learn From YouTube's Highest-Grossing YouTuber

• 82% of marketers today report actively using content marketing in their overall strategy. With web traffic being one of the gold standards for measuring success, content marketing must think strategically when generating content, sharing content online, stimulating interest, and inspiring the audience to act in some way.
  
  
• Top YouTube influencers, known proudly as YouTubers, collect millions of dollars mainly in ad revenue from posting on the platform. The highest-grossing YouTuber, Mr. Beast aka Jimmy Donaldson, just revealed a simple hack that’s helped him make over $54 million annually from posting on YouTube.
  
  
• Mr. Beast’s ad revenue strategy hinges on the humble thumbnail image of each video. Mr. Beast is famous for his wild antics but he inspires engagement with a well-conceived, strategic image for the thumbnail. For more on this, see our latest article in The Business Journals.

3. 60-Second Close: Sailing Through Uncharted Waters Takes Grit

• Established brands have the benefit of being well-known and recognized. However, big or small, established companies and startups alike can all benefit from emotional branding. McDonald’s adult Happy Meal is just one example of tapping into emotion (warm, fuzzy childhood memories) to deeply connect with its customers. 
  
  
• YouTubers like Mr. Beast are cracking the code on how social media platforms inspire engagement. Using elements like making creative thumbnails can be a game-changer for your content marketing strategy going forward.     

At Axia, we’re PR professionals who understand content marketing takes many forms and is only one part of the overall mix. Not sure how to connect with your audience to create those unforgettable brand moments? Just ask me how we can help get you there.

Clients love Jason’s passion, candor, and commitment as well as the team he has formed at Axia Public Relations. He's advised some of America’s most admired brands, including American Airlines, Dave & Buster’s, Hilton, HP, Pizza Hut, and Verizon. He is an Emmy Award-winning, accredited public relations practitioner, speaker, author, and entrepreneur and earned his certification in inbound marketing. He founded the PR firm in July 2002. Learn more about Jason.