Every two years the fun returns to Orlando in the form of McDonald’s Worldwide Convention, where over 15,000 franchisees, suppliers, crew members, employees, agency team members and more join to celebrate shared successes and plan for a bright future ahead.
2020 was an unplanned break from the regular biannual event schedule. With the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic came the cancellation of that year’s show, leaving expected attendees missing out on the chance to catch up with old acquaintances and make new connections across the McDonald’s System.
IMS’ VP, Creative and Merchandising, a long-time convention attendee, Mark Lenox, had this to say about the 2020 cancellation, and why it made the 2022 show even more special, “After four years, since the last in-person convention, you could feel the positive energy in the hall. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood and ready to tackle the future! 2020 was a challenging year for so many. Great to see this rebound in 2022!”
For 2022’s show, the IMS Smilemakers team pulled out all the stops – launching a convention-exclusive collection of apparel and souvenirs. The Smilemakers team simultaneously released the Smilemakers Spring/Summer 2022 Collection the first day of the show.
Take a look behind the scenes at the fantastic merchandise and the enthusiastic Smilemakers team we brought with us to Orlando:
Smilemakers serves McDonald’s audiences with a one-stop shop for seasonal and evergreen branded merchandise collections that support a variety of solutions, from crew care and incentives to customer promotional giveaways and rewards, to corporate events and milestone recognition. These carefully curated collections are available via a fully integrated, e-commerce website that’s connected to a best-in-class logistics solution. The site is promoted by a team of creative and digital marketing experts that drive enthusiasm and interest for McDonald’s branded merchandise assortment.
The Smilemakers site, and physical shop that travels to each McDonald’s Worldwide Convention, has become an icon within the McDonald’s community. Smilemakers is known for its on-trend, on-brand, eye-catching merchandise that consistently delivers on its name.
This year, the Smilemakers booth was designed to maximize visual impact while taking up a small footprint on the show floor. All booth graphics and booth layout were developed in-house by IMS creatives. The booth boasted an 80″ video screen with a video designed and produced by the IMS creative team highlighting Smilemakers branded merchandise as well as other services that IMS provides to McDonald’s.
In addition to booth development, IMS Smilemakers team members were also on hand throughout the show to staff the booth and interact with convention attendees. IMS’ branded merchandising experts not only helped guests shop and checkout, but they also walked guests through other Smilemakers solutions – including product customization and large program support. Daniella Saguy, VP Account Development, notes “Our team cherished connecting with our McDonald’s business leads and taking them through how we can help develop unique branded programs for marketing campaigns and events. IMS understands that crafting your perfect promotional product solution is an intensely detailed process and we loved being able to walk our clients through how we can help support their branded activation needs in person after a lengthy time away.”
After the four year hiatus, the 2022 McDonald’s Worldwide Convention was a smashing success. The IMS Smilemakers team is already starting to plan for 2024 – we cannot wait to see you there!