LAUNCHING the Mccafe Brand
McDonald’s decided to be get into the premium coffee game, and bring its internationally successful McCafe brand to the US market. Introducing this premium coffee brand required more than just an addition to the menu, but also included a redesign of the front counter, coordination with operations, a marketing campaign, and in-store branding.
I was the lead designer on the McCafe launch, and involved in the design and implementation every step of the way.
Testing designs
The adaptation of McCafe to the US market involved testing different formats of the experience, designing a variety of service models, merchandising, and coffee cues.
As part of the early concepting, designs were tested in select markets across the US, and customer insights along with operations research guided the results.
National Rollout
Standard design guidelines were developed for rollout of McCafe, include a variety of graphic options and color palettes to coordinate with the 14000 locations across the US. McCafe was rolled out to all locations within 2 years of initial development.
NY fashion week pop-ups
As part of the McCafe launch campaign, McCafe sponsored pop up lounges at several high profile events, including two season of NY Fashion Week and Sundance Film Festival.
NY FASHION WEEK spring 2010
NY Fashion Week Fall 2010
MCcafe lounge at sundance film festival
Graphics by Struck Axiom
McCafe launch in New York City
The urban locations in New York City posed a particular design challenge for the branding of McCafe, due to unique and small footprints. As lead designer of McCafe, I spent 6 months in New York City, visiting the over 200 unique locations across Manhattan and the five Burroughs, working with operations, contractors, and franchisees, and fabricators, designing layout and graphics site by site, and overseeing installation.
me; circa 2009