Move Update. The open source project.
McDonald’s
Issue 38 | March 2016
Agency
DDB & Tribal Warsaw
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Marcin Mroszczak Executive Creative Director Zuzanna Duchniewska-Sobczak Executive Creative Director Maciej Waligóra Art Director Mariusz Sepek Copywriter Krzysztof Mielcarek Designer, Motion Designer Daniel Marciniak CTO, Head of Creative Technology Szymon Peplinski Account Executive Katarzyna Szczesna Creative Solutions Producer Elzbieta Mielcuch Happy Endians Mobile Developer Robert Grabowski
Production Team
Happy Endians Head of Digital Production Sebastian Gill CUTCUT Producer Iza Sokolowska CUTCUT Editor Maciej Kozlowski
Date
May 2015
Background
On average teenagers spent over 20 hours a week playing games on their devices. That was another 20 hours with no physical activity. As a developer of branded games, McDonalds wanted to inspire a shift in the gaming industry.
Idea
Move Update was the world's first environment turning real life data collected by fitness apps into mobile games bonuses. All players had to do was connect the game with their fit apps. The first games it worked with included RunKeeper, Fit Bit and Strava. From then on, the more gamers moved in real life, the more powerful, faster and stronger they became in the games.
Existing McDonalds games were updated, while new ones were designed for future launch with this feature already included.
Move Update was an idea that went beyond branded content to behaviour change. It was available for free as an open source project on GitHub platform so all game developers could implement the code in their own games.
Results
Updated games were installed on more than 200,000 mobile devices in the opening weeks of the initiative. Move Update was being developed into commercial mobile games including: 'Xyber Mech' from One2Tribe, 'Omnomster' from MadeItApp and mobile blockbuster 'Godfire: Rise of Prometheus' by Platige Image and Vivid Games.
Our Thoughts
You're a brand under attack for being part of the increasing problem of obesity in the young. Elsewhere, you're under attack for your new packaging and design because if you really think it is "modern and progressive" you are deluded. So, what do you do? You do this. It's a brilliant judo throw. You take the problem of kids sitting on their bottoms playing computer games but rather than wag a finger at them, what you do is feed the obsession (if you'll excuse the pun). If you really want to get to Level 7, you're going to have to walk around a bit. If you want to get onto the leader board, you might even have to go for a run. It gives kids an incentive to get off their behinds.
This is one of those 'phygital' ideas (horrible word) we are seeing more of as the boundaries between real and virtual dissolve.