Know-How Exchange : Branding

Hi Amandac,

It looks like Larry Light, McDonald Corp.'s chief marketing officer, has dubbed the marketing technique "brand journalism."

Speaking at the AdWatch: Outlook 2004 conference Mr. Light described the concept as one marking "the end of brand positioning as we know it." He went on to say that effective marketing should use many stories rather than employing one message to reach everyone. In effect, he declared that McDonald's was abandoning the universal message concept.

"Any single ad, commercial or promotion is not a summary of our strategy. It's not representative of the brand message," he said. "We don't need one big execution of a big idea. We need one big idea that can be used in a multidimensional, multilayered and multifaceted way."

You can read more here:

https://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=40804

I hope that helps!

As an aside, it's ironic to see McD's CMO championing a "Big Idea" as a bit of a revolution - and then to see the article below - all in the same week.

"The Big Idea Dies A Slow Death"
https://www.adrants.com/2004/06/big-idea-dies-slow-death.php