While a great Fourth of July was due in part to a grand fireworks display from my lake cottage pier, a letter postmarked by McDonald’s McCafe division really hit the spot. It was a note from Jessie @McCafeYourDay providing me with a free drink coupon for any McCafe beverage-- because I do enjoy a once a week binge on McDonald’s newest brand craze, and I just so happened to tweet about it.It’s really no secret that iced coffee is 2009’s hottest summer (or should I say coldest) beverage. With that being said, a number of gas shops and mini cafes, including 7 Eleven and Dunkin Donuts, are tapping into its saleable exponential potential—particularly among the teen girls and moms demographic. This report shows iced coffee has surpassed iced tea sales as a morning breakfast drink, and at 68%, iced coffee is clearly a woman’s creme de la creme.
Realizing iced coffee’s double-digit sales growth ability, McDonald’s opened up McCafe in a big way. Everyone has seen the ads tailored to different ethnic demographics, and of course, the infamous accent mark that boasts a better day being ‘possibl-ay’. Now who helped put that accent mark together?
And they’ve launched BIG on Twitter. In popular day-association fashion known to loom about Twitter and Twitter’s trending topics, McDonald’s is rolling out Free Mocha Mondays. Each Monday starting on July 13, McDonald’s will be giving away free mochas until August 3, 2009. Though, I’d think that, since a major demographic of theirs is teens and moms, they might want to extend this into the back-to-school period. Nothing says a new school day like a big iced coffee beverage to awaken the tired senses.
If you’re interested in coffee-- hot or iced-- and you’re looking for something more quaint, check out this Nashville coffee joint and their lovely aromatic tweets.
I have to say that I admire McDonald’s interest in segmenting their brand entities and getting @McCafeYourDay out there to compete with the tweeting likes of Starbucks and Caribou Coffee. McDonald’s as a global brand has underwent ‘reinvention testing’ time and time again, and once again has come out on top with the ‘I’m lovin it’ principle. And while they can’t own the Twittering coffee space entirely (that’s Brad @Starbucks), they can sure own a hefty cup of it, thanks to Jessie and the many other McD’s associates involved in the company’s social media strategy. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go pick up my free iced mocha and try to retain what's left of my manhood.