Is it possible that McDonald"s - a brick-and-mortar burger seller - has outclassed its corporate peers in the IT sector with the most profound use of the Internet yet? Yes.
When we first stumbled upon McDonald"s I-AM-ASIAN web site, we thought it was a slightly racist, bizarre locale, promoting the central role hamburgers play in Asian culture. And how could you think anything else given the catchy text displayed on the site? Things like, "Whether we"re sipping green tea or enjoying a Big Mac® sandwich, we"re helping make the magic mix called America become even richer. And McDonald"s is right there with us, everyday!"
AM-ASIAN site is so much more than a shallow attempt to target part of a company"s customer base. It"s actually the culmination of a well-organized marketing plan - one that proves IT does matter. And, if you"re an intellectual property fan, you"ll get a kick out of McDonald"s attempt to trademark the phrase "I am Asian." Looking through the site source code, you"ll find that a company called IW Group designed the Asian-themed pages. The IW Group specializes in creating marketing campaigns that reach "the growing Asian communities in the United States." We assume they mean "growing" in population count and not in physical size as the I-AM-Asian ads show. IW Group has a rich list of clients, including AT&T Wireless, Bank of America, California Department of Consumer Affairs, Los Angeles Times, Nike and the United States Postal Service.