Professor Super Savings is an amusing character with thick brim glasses and a black hat developed by Tribal DDB Shanghai. This cool geek’s mission is to investigate other ways of getting the best value out of just 6 Renminbi (RMB): the price of a McDonald’s Super Savings menu. His adventures are captured in entertaining mini films which are broadcast throughout the internet, on popular video portals such as tudou.com or social networking sites like QQ.com. One film shows people pilling into a taxi (in the trunk and on the roof too) in order to cut the cost of a taxi fare to the airport. Professor Super Savings always comes out victorious – a McDonald’s Super Saving menu is definitely the most profitable way of spending 6RMB.

We aim to provide fun whilst educating the consumers’ perception of McDonald’s Value meals. The Professor’s unusual quirky character gives consumers a different perspective of what 6RMB is worth. Using a digital platform and leveraging on the popularity of blogs, video websites and social forums enables us to give the Professor as much exposure as possible.

Consumers can submit their ideas to the Professor online. The person who submits the best proposal for how to optimize the use of 6RMB will win the chance to direct the next mini commercial. Professor Supers Savings is quite a personality; his nerdy yet cool manner has already earned him a huge fanbase. He even has his own blog as well as conducting interviews about his personal life. Visitors can also download special discount coupons to use at McDonald’s.

IN THE MEDIA

McDonald’s drives value
by Arun Sudhaman Media Asia 
Media Asia 21-Mar-07, 05:24

SHANGHAI – McDonald’s has created a new fictional ‘geek’ that challenges consumers to find better value than the brand’s Value Menu in China.

The Professor Super Savings character, billed as a ‘value expert’ who checks, compares and runs tests on McDonald’s value menu proposition, is being rolled out via a new digital campaign developed by McDonald’s China digital AOR, Tribal DDB.

The first phase of the drive includes a series of web-only TVCs that are being broadcast on mainland social networking sites, along with a Professor Super Savings blog and interviews.

A media partnership with QQ.com, meanwhile, asks Chinese consumers to challenge the Professor on where they can find better value for  six renminbi (US$0.75) – the price of McDonald’s Value Menu. Consumers are also able to download vouchers.

“It’s really all about having fun with consumers and showing what you can do for six renminbi,” said McDonald’s China chief marketing and corporate affairs officer Gary Rosen.

“We are asking consumers for stories on how they save, and actually our website has already slowed down because of the overwhelming response.”

The next phase of the campaign, meanwhile, will feature the Professor asking consumers to submit their own Value Menu TVCs, which sees McDonald’s tapping into the current craze for user-generated content.

“People like to interact with the McDonald’s brand, and we find it is a good seeding strategy,” said Tribal DDB Asia-Pacific president Adam Good. “If we get something interesting into that online market, it just explodes, and we want to give Professor Super Savings some sort of longevity.”

The campaign targets a slightly younger demographic of university students and young adults. “These are people who don’t always have a lot of money in their wallets,” explained Good. “It’s more like developing a TV programme, but one thing is that consumers are getting the value message.”