Smartphone apps now account for more than 50% of our digital media usage, according to a Comscore study last year. Yet we typically use less than a third of the apps on our phones. The world of apps is a cluttered one. In the Middle East, McDonald’s faced growing competition from rival food delivery apps like Ubereats and Zomato. How could it boost the attractiveness of McDelivery without redesigning the app altogether?
With the aid of TBWA/RAAD in Dubai, the fast food giant turned its app icon into a medium. In fact, the icon became a promotional tool: each week, the icon showed a different McDonald’s product. And when the app’s users ordered that particular product, they got it for free. Fries, a Big Mac, and many more. Needless to say, users were now watching the icon like hawks so they could pounce on the next meal deal. The mutating icon has won awards at the Loeries, the Cristal Festival and most recently the Dubai Lynx.