Objective:
Organize a strategic collaboration between McDonald's and Ninety One by localizing the brand's global advertising campaign and adapting it to the Kazakhstani audience.
Background:
Previously, McDonald's successfully collaborated with Western artists such as J Balvin and Travis Scott, but their campaigns were focused only on the US market. In 2021, the brand launched its first global partnership with BTS, covering dozens of countries, including Kazakhstan.
This case opened the door for local adaptations: McDonald's began to look for opportunities to collaborate with Kazakhstani artists. Even then, company representatives considered Ninety One as ideal candidates for localizing the advertising campaign.
Our role in the project:
- Conducted negotiations between McDonald's and Ninety One, ensuring that the terms met the interests of both parties.
- Discussed adapting McDonald's international approach to the local market, while maintaining the authenticity and style of the group.
- Ensured that the campaign organically fits into the positioning of both McDonald's and Ninety One, making the collaboration natural.
Results:
- McDonald's used local artists for its advertising campaign in Kazakhstan for the first time, which strengthened the brand's connection with the youth audience.
- Large-scale coverage through outdoor advertising - the faces of the band members appeared on billboards across the country.
- Positive audience response, support for the campaign by Ninety One fans on social networks.
- Strengthening the position of the Kazakh language in advertising communications of global brands, which became an important step in localizing marketing strategies in Kazakhstan.
Conclusion:
This case showed how international corporations can adapt to the local market using musical collaborations and the cultural identity of the country. McDonald's x Ninety One is an example of how a global brand can "speak" the language of the local audience, becoming closer to consumers.