Description

Context & Challenge
After the exit of McDonald’s from Kazakhstan market, we operated almost a year without an official name or logo. With the market watching us closely and constant comparisons to a global brand, we needed to keep our guests loyal, run our operations smoothly, and create a brand of our own.

Objectives
1. Create a distinct, locally relevant identity with strong emotional resonance.
2. Maintain Top-of-Mind awareness amid prolonged uncertainty.
3. Sustain and grow sales, proving the viability of the new brand.
4. Turn the public conversation about transformation into a positive, shared experience.

Insight
When a familiar brand disappears, what truly matters stays the same — people and their experience. A brand is more than a logo on a building; it’s the taste, the emotion, the service, and the community of guests.

Idea (Creative Platform)
We asked the market an open question: “Who am I?”
The answer emerged together with our audience: I am flavor. I am emotion. I am energy. I am people. I am you.
We put people at the center and turned the rebrand into a collective journey.

Strategy & Execution (Experience & Activation)
• Naming as co-creation: we carefully considered 300+ options from local and international agencies; searched for a palette and tone of voice; tested for simplicity and closeness.
• Dialogue over monologue: we explained the transformation through product and service — taste, emotion, and energy — and invited the audience to join the conversation about ‘who we are now.’ We held a major brand presentation that brought together leading international partners and media representatives, sharing real stories from our staff and guests.
• PR as a shared forum: transparent stance in media, open interviews and commentary; reframed the rebrand as a public conversation, not a closed “sign change.”
• Social as the stage for support: facilitated UGC and comments, quick moderation and feedback; built content around a composition of “I am…” statements.
• Offline touchpoints: restaurants as a living media channel — service behavior and quality standards proved the new identity every day.

Creative Elements
• “I am…” manifesto culminating in “I am you / Я — это вы!”
• A visual system built around energy, simplicity, and closeness.
• A narrative where people = brand — from everyday stories to major news hooks.

Results
• ≈400 stories in leading media, 83% positive.
• On social, 88% of reactions supported the transformation.
• #2 in Top-of-Mind awareness — even after a year without a name (held the #2 spot).
• In 2024, sales surpassed McDonald’s peak results by +7%.

Why It Deserves an Award
We turned a constraint into brand experience, where people are not an audience but co-authors. The project proved that a brand is stronger than a logo when it’s built on real experience and shared identity.
Case formula: open question → collective answer → measurable business outcome.
Final line: I am you / Я — это вы!

Credits

I’M team:

Managing Director Asset Mashanov
Marketing Director Evgenia Emelianova
Brand Manager Kozubskaya Yelena
Brand Manager Dmitriy Avteikin
CBI Analyst Liliya Duisebayeva

Creative team:

SEED
Head of strategy Dmitry Larionov
Junior strategist Zhibek Kulatayeva
Creative director Nail Muratov
Art Director Valdimir Niy
Art Director Sergey Aleksanin
Business development director Artur Karabajak
Creative Group Head Rasul Abidov
Senior designer Anastasiya Velikodnaya
Motion Designer Vyacheslav Ligai
Designer Ernest Toleutayev
Copywriter Roman Shahbalayev

Media team:

Optimum Media Group
Client Service Director Valeriya Reshetnyak
Head of Media Group Nastya Politova
Senior Media Manager Daniil Pecherskih
Head of digital media department Sandugash Shaimerdenova
Digital Group Head Timur Zhalilov
Director of TV and Radio department Svetlana Zhemchuzhnikova
TV Group Head Karina Popovich
Director of OOH department Elena Baraxanova
OOH media manager Tatyana Bayeva

PR team:

Grey Cardinals
Managing Partners Olga Kalenchuk and Alexander Kerimov

Creative Support Partner:

TBWA\CAC
Inna Plavskaya - Creative Director
Dana Raushanova - Client Service Directo