Sauce Quest The messiest user journey of all time

McDonald’s assigned its lead agencies, including Mango, to create hype and drive growth for its Chicken products by launching four limited-edition sauces: Cajun, Szechuan, Curry, and Mighty Hot. Chicken McNuggets have an iconic status, and many dedicated fans eagerly anticipate these special offerings, from the return of long-lost sauces to new limited-time offerings. Given the strong organic hype for the launch, the challenge was to find ways to further excite these devoted fans. For limited edition products, scalpers often disrupt the process. Thus, the strategy was to supply just enough product for genuine McNuggets superfans – those who would go to great lengths to lay their hands on them – and to make them do just that. Enter the "Sauce Quest": a digital sauce hunt with a complex user journey. Participants traversed nine digital worlds and physical stores to find sauce splatters, with each "sauce splatter" providing a clue to locate the next one. The first 40 to complete the trail claimed the grand prize: giant tubs of sauces. The goal was to distinguish true superfans from fake ones, as only the most dedicated fans would go to such great lengths to obtain the limited-edition sauces.