How Big Idea Thinking Is Helping McDonald’s Profit in the Recession (and How It Can Help You Too!) Published in Dimensions Magazine April, 2009 By Willis Turner willis@huntsinger-jeffer.com

“Ad campaigns used to begin with a strategy and then move to the advertising. Now, ads start with ideas and then move on to creating ways to express those ideas.”
Cliff Sorah
Creative Director, The Martin Agency

The United States has weathered nineteen major recessions since its founding. By most accounts this one is the second worst ever. Yet not everyone is losing their shirt. Some companies are doing fine, maybe even making a little profit.

Let’s see if we fundraisers can learn anything from them.

Consider McDonald’s. Even in the depths of this recession, CNBC says, “McDonald’s restaurant sales have shown resiliency during these tough times, (and) so has its stock. In fact, McDonald’s is the only Dow component that is up since this time last year.”

Sure cheap food is part of it. But plenty of people in the cheap food business are not doing so well. Far more central to McDonald’s success is its Big Idea.

Think about this: If you ask most people what business McDonald’s is in, what would they say? Hamburgers? Fast food? They’d be wrong. McDonald’s is in the franchise business.

Ray Kroc’s legendary idea wasn’t to make the world’s best hamburger (if it were, I think we’d all judge him a failure!). No, Kroc’s Big Idea was to franchise uniformity, simplicity and value. And that’s the reason people go there. They know that, no matter what, they’ll get the same cheap burger at the same cheap price. Especially now, in a frightening and unpredictable world, McDonald’s offers the comfort of affordability and predictability. That’s Big Idea marketing.

So, what’s your Big Idea? When people hear your name, what’s their immediate, emotional response?

Well, last year’s buzzword, Branding, is part an important part of it. As you know, American consumers are exposed to as many as 3,000 advertising messages every day. Every day. That’s a lot to take in.

In the midst of all that clutter a strong brand can help you stand out and take a unique place in people’s minds. This is especially important when you realize that most donors, even your most loyal, are typically giving to as many as seven or eight other organizations in addition to yours.

So if the time comes that they have to choose among which organizations to support, will you have a powerful presence in their minds or will you be just another group doing good work? A lot depends on the strength of your brand.

A strong brand can help you weather the unexpected too. Back in 1901, for example, Bayer was forced to abandon one of its most profitable pain relievers…when the government outlawed heroin! Yet the brand survived and today is one of the world’s most respected companies.

But what do you do if you’re not McDonald’s or Bayer? That’s where the Big Idea comes in. Your brand may drive your identity, but your Big Idea drives your brand.

Actually, unless you’re just starting up, your Big Idea is probably already there. Hidden between the lines of your mission statement. Laying the quiet foundation for all your programs. In the thousand unspoken thoughts that underlie the parts of your work you care about most.

Think of it as your organization’s subconscious.

But to tap into its potential, you need to get in touch with it. Draw it into the light where you’ll recognize it and say “Aha! Yes, that perfectly crystallizes what we’re all about!” It’s there. And it’s worth looking for. Here are three ways to start digging.

1. Brainstorm
Get together a group of your key stakeholders and start applying the Socratic Method to the most basic tenets of your organization. Ask:

• What do we do?
• Why do we do it?
• Who cares?
• Who should care?
• What need are we meeting on the community?
• More importantly from a fundraising perspective, what emotional need are we meeting in our donors?

2. Try letting creative drive the strategy.
In most campaigns, the process goes something like this: you look at the budget, make some projections, set some goals for results, maybe analyze past results, and then, after all that, start considering creative ideas.

It’s a perfectly good strategy but, as the saying goes, “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”

That’s why more and more Madison Avenue types are turning that formula upside down. That’s what Cliff Sorah of the Martin Agency (the group that creates those unforgettable ads for GEICO, UPS and others) is talking about in the quote above at the top of this article.

When you start with a powerful creative concept, and allow that to guide your strategy, it’s more likely that your campaign will accurately reflect your organization’s deepest sense of purpose. It’s an unusual approach, but worth trying on for size in pursuit of your Big Idea.

3. Be patient and persistent.
Apple computer is a true Big Idea company. They conceive, design, and build about 80 products for every one they actually bring to market.

It takes time and energy. Yet since the 1980s virtually every major product they’ve launched – from the first personal computer to the iPhone – has become iconic. As a result, the rest of the tech world spends much of its life playing either catch-up or copycat to Apple’s consumer-pleasing designs.

Now, there’s a goal to strive for. Become so driven by your own Big Idea, so unique in your branding, that you become the standard by which your peer organizations measure their success.

Defining your organization’s Big Idea can clarify who you are, why you exist, and most importantly, what makes you different from the other seven organizations your donor supports.

And in these days of tough decisions, being able to articulate that difference can be the difference between keeping a donor and losing her to someone else.