What can a boneless barbeque-pork sandwich teach you about marketing? More than you might think. McDonald’s announced Monday that its elusive McRib sandwich is back on its menu, available at all U.S. locations until November 14. (For a limited time only!) Since it was introduced in 1982, the McRib has been a fleeting menu item, irking customers by never settling in one location for too long. (Hurry, get it while it lasts!) And in the last decade, McDonald’s has begun using the McRib’s alleged eternal disappearance (One last chance!) and miraculous comeback (Wait, there’s more!) as quirky promotional events. Does all that hype sound familiar? While McDonald’s playing hard-to-get with the McRib certainly baffles most customers, from a business perspective, it has proven to be a wildly effective marketing strategy. The McRib’s marketing strategy bundles the appeal of exclusivity, scarcity, and seasonality into one savory package. And it’s become a strategy so successful that McDonald’s is making the promotion perennial. Proof? How about a Facebook fan page that has more than 7,000 “Likes,” or the obsessive unofficial McRib Locator website, which attempts to identify McRib hot zones by cobbling together user-submitted “confirmed” and “possible” sightings of the McRib across the United States, (according to the site, the Northeastern states and Southern California currently boast the most confirmed sightings). The McRib has even found a place in the pop-cultural zeitgeist: It was immortalized in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons in which Homer became addicted to the “Krusty Burger RibWich.” “Bringing it back every so often adds to the excitement,” Marta Fearon, marketing director of McDonald’s, told the Associated Press. She taunted that it is “too early to speculate” whether the McRib will return next year. Want a piece of the marketing magic? Here’s what you can learn from the McRib’s comeback—again and again—and how you can add some more special sauce to your own limited-time-only campaigns. read more
McDonald’s brought back the McRib this week, but once again just for a limited time. Cruel and unusual? Maybe. It’s also brilliant marketing. Here’s what you can learn from the country’s most in-demand pork sandwich.By Nicole Carter | Oct 25, 2011
