Tribal Worldwide Hong Kong sends a smile in a pie for McDonald’s 24-hour campaign on Pi Day

In celebration of Pi Day on 14 March, an annual worldwide celebration of the mathematical symbol π or 3.14, Tribal Worldwide Hong Kong put all hands on deck for a 24-hour campaign titled ‘Send a smile in a pie’, for McDonald’s.

The annual celebration, which coincides with Albert Einstein’s birthday, is little known in Hong Kong. McDonald’s took the opportunity to turn its popular range of pies into an opportunity for fans to send heartfelt messages to loved ones.

“Given that pies are among our most iconic products, we set out to own Pi Day by turning the niche festival, popular within the scientific community, into a special day that our customers would embrace and celebrate,” said Esther Chung, Marketing Director, Digital Lead at McDonald’s Hong Kong.

Starting at 4am on 14 March, each pie purchased at a celebratory price of HK$3.14 included a sticker carrying a unique QR code. Scanning the code, customers were directed to a mini-site where they could customise and save a selection of pie messages for every occasion, including ‘thank you’, ‘sorry’, ‘fun’ and ‘friendship’, plus a set of messages exclusively written by celebrity lyricists in the city, using local slang and catchy graphics.

After saving the message, customers were encouraged to affix the sticker to the pie box and create a loving gift – a heartwarming treat with a personalised message hidden in the QR code.

Leading up to Pi Day, the campaign was promoted online on Facebook and via key online influencers, to drive awareness and mobilise McDonald’s fans in support of the celebration.

On the day, over 8,400 pie messages were generated, and average pie sales soared by 963%.

“We worked closely with McDonald’s Hong Kong to create a campaign that would not only drive business results and brand awareness, but also connect people in a meaningful way,” said Leo Tsui, Head of Tribal Worldwide Hong Kong.

Credits –

Account Executive: Rachel Fong