Nando’s takes McDonald’s to task for ‘Nonando’ swipe

It all started with McDonald’s attempt at promoting it’s latest Portugese Chicken Burger, with an AR game ‘titled Nonando’, which was quite an obvious swipe at Nando’s.

Nando responded in brisk fashion with three Facebook posts so far.

The first post was titled “No time for fake PERi-PERi”, and it was Nando’s claim to be “the real OG (original gangster) since 1987″/

The second post was titled “#MoNando, a very obvious swipe on the ‘Nonando’ term that McDonald’s utilized for its campaign.

https://www.facebook.com/NandosMY/posts/10156044776571326:0

But perhaps Nando’s saved the best for last, with the third post titled, “Not Lovin It?”, a real savage kick aimed at the “I’m Lovin It” tagline from McDonald’s.

While both brands engaged in some friendly banter online, Domino’s Pizza Malaysia also got in on the act, with a #sospicysodrama hashtag, taking the opportunity to promote its own spicy pizza variant too.

Most of the online responses have been relatively positive, but it’s definitely been a great example of how brands can go online in a bid to create conversations with their target demographics in a fun and interactive manner.

Marketing Magazine reached out to Ms. Chai Hui Fung, Marketing Director at Nando’s Malaysia for her take on the issue.

“PERi-PERi, good flame-grilled chicken and witty banter is what Nando’s has always been about and that’s what our fans love…we’ve always had great fans who’re very outspoken for their love for Nando’s,” she explained.

When asked about how Nando’s was able to respond so quickly, and was it an agency led campaign or was it achieved after some hustling, she said that it was a combination of having a good partnership and relationship with their agency, a real collaborative effort.

Finally, marketers can really take a leaf out of how Nando’s tackled the stunt from McDonald’s.

“Our brand personality as a whole gave us an advantage in this situation…the distinct Nando’s personality and tone in our communications is something we’ve been consistently building and executing…when we respond or get involved in a conversation, it’s never been just for the sake of it – we make sure that it is relevant to Nando’s and to our consumers,” she concluded.