The McDonald’s ‘McMate’ – The Burger Created by Australia

Back in May 2014, McDonald’s Australia posted an opportunity on their Facebook page to allow fans to help create a new edition to their menu. The ‘Build Our Next Burger ‘ campaign allowed fans to select ingredients from a range provided by McDonald’s, and the most voted for ingredients/burger combination was selected. In addition to the ingredients, the name of this burger was also voted for by fans (through a Facebook poll), and the resulting ‘McMate’ burger is now available in stores across the country.

(Source: McDonald’s Australia Website)

What we’re seeing here is another prime example of co-creation – a concept well documented here on this blog.

Although on a global scale this isn’t the first time the brand has co-created with consumers (a similar campaign was launched in the UK, but it allowed fans greater freedom to select ingredients and to also name their own creations), it’s still a great example of how a brand can get their fans involved in a promotion that has the potential to create a greater sense of loyalty towards the brand. As fans are given a say in the production process of this new burger, they may consequently feel a greater level of ownership towards the brand; which has in turn been encouraged by the company through the copy on their advertisements (as seen above), and through various PR communications.

As mentioned by a spokesperson for the company, “We wanted to highlight our fans’ ownership of the burger, and felt there was no better way to demonstrate this then by flipping the restaurant on its head and letting Australians take over the kitchen and showcase the ingredients they selected for our first ever crowd sourced burger, the McMate.”



The brand, which has also been trialling a home delivery since last year, is clearly dipping its toes in new waters across Australia, so it’ll be interesting to see if they continue with this more collaborative approach in future campaigns.

To read more about their latest campaign, visit https://mcdonalds.com.au/mcmate

Salil Kumar
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School