What can the McDonald's - Travis Scott partnership tell us for implementing celebrity partnerships moving forward.

What can the McDonald's - Travis Scott partnership tell us for implementing celebrity partnerships moving forward. 

In the beginning of September McDonald's launched a partnership with well known artist, Travis Scott. The idea is simple. Make available nationwide a unique menu item on behalf of a celebrity and co-promote to draw fans of both McDonald's and Travis Scott to purchase. In this case, the unique menu item is claimed to be Scott's "go-to-order" and includes a burger, fires, sprite and a side a BBQ sauce.  This is certainty not the first time brands have partnered with major celebrities, in fact, it happens every day. However, it is rare to see a major brand design products around a key celebrity. It has been nearly 30 years since McDonald's has done anything similar and that was with Michael Jordon and on a very limited scale. About three weeks into the promotion it is clear to say it has been a major success. Engagement and awareness across the internet is huge, McDonald's has reported material shortages and associated merchandise is out of stock.  So what has made this so successful and how can brands replicate it? 

1. It starts with the right partnership. Prior to the partnership, Scott was well known for his affinity for McDonald's and openly promoted the brand on his social accounts. This makes for a genuine relationship between the celebrity and brand that consumers appreciate. 
2. Unique product offering. It is one thing to pay a celebrity to use your brand, it is another to work in partnership on a specific product. This often happens with apparel but is rare in the food industry. Designing a meal in conjunction with Scott give a very specific reason for consumers to engage with the promotion. 
3. Omni-channel approach. This is 21st century marketing 101 and McDonald's has executed extremely well across many channels. They have merchandise available in addition to a robust social campaign to drive awareness and excitement. Not to mention the social power a figure like Scott can have with every personal post. 

In retrospect, a partnership like this seems to be a no brainier. Nevertheless, there are many reasons brands shy away. It can be difficult to find a genuine connection between a celebrity and a brand. McDonald's is fortunate here. And even if there is a connection, many brand managers are nervous in tying their brand to any living human, with all of our follies and opportunity to damage the brand image through a single action. Over the next year, expect to see many more partnerships like this. Some will do great, other with flop, but if brands focus on finding the right partnership, designing a unique product offering and executing in an Omni-channel approach, success is likely.