Burger Day Marketing and Promotion Team

Burger Day XII A Great Success

Strategic Goal

• Increase attendance and awareness for Burger Day
• Create school spirit and community feel in benefiting a good cause

The Burger Day Marketing and Promotion Team, consisting of students from Glenbrook North High School, headed by Jason Spector, ran the most attended Burger Day in the last four years with nearly 200 high school students from both Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High School attending the event.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from the event went towards benefiting Ronald McDonald Charities in the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana areas as well as Ronald McDonald House.

Burger Day began as a prank by a group of GBS and GBN athletes who attended middle school together. "One day, after a cross country meet, they decided to come to this (Plaza Del Prado) McDonald's and buy out all of the burgers." The owner then came and asked if they can make this “prank” into an event that raises money for charities.

To raise awareness for the event, our team hung up posters, and posted flyers all around the school. These were placed in areas around the school where many students hang out so it can increase the likelihood of being seen. Morning announcements were made every day the week before the event so everyone in the school can hear the event. Team members also sold Burger Day t-shirts in the ticket booth for $10 each during their lunch and free periods. Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South were able to raise nearly $2500 from t-shirts alone.  Awareness was spread evenly, from upper classmen through SRTs and advocacy classes, to freshmen in peer groups.

One way we marketed for Burger Day was through social media sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter. We thought social media was an effective way to reach a lot of high school students while not spending any money. The first way we advertised on social media was by creating a pump-up video/commercial on Youtube. Then we transitioned into advertising on facebook by sharing this video on youtube. Finally, about a week before the event we created a Burger Day event on Facebook which not only advertised by sending invites to a ton of people on Facebook, but it also helped give us a head count on how many people are going to show at the even. Overall, social media was a huge factor in marketing for Burger Day.

The Management and Leadership team attempted to reach out to underclassmen because, according to the research, underclassmen knew the least about what Burger Day is. The team found that a good way to reach out to underclassmen was through peer group and advocacy classes. Flyers and posters were hung up in the peer group hallway and peer group leaders talked about the event to freshmen. A team member also talked to advo classes to advertise to sophomores. Although outreach was attempted, only a few underclassmen were seen at the event.

Burger Day took place on April 19, 2015 at McDonalds at Plaza Del Prado and lasted from 12:00 p.m. - 4:00p.m. The community event brought children, adults, and students from the two schools and the surrounding community.

This year’s Burger Day event event raised $35,000, all of which went to benefit Ronald McDonald’s House Charities.

Link to action plan/proposal: here