Agencies and strategists know the challenge well: reaching consumers at the exact moment they are ready to act. For McDonald’s in Ontario, this meant turning passive awareness into measurable store visits, especially in smaller communities where traditional advertising underperformed.

The Challenge

McDonald’s needed to increase foot traffic to select Ontario restaurants. With in-store visits lagging, the brand required a strategy that could connect with consumers in motion, not just in media silos.

The Approach

Adapt Media activated DOOH posters in convenience store environments near McDonald’s restaurants. This positioned the brand in real-world, high-traffic community touchpoints. To extend the impact, mobile retargeting reached exposed devices with reinforcement ads, nudging consumers to take action.

Key to the strategy was attribution. By measuring store visits through device data, Adapt provided McDonald’s with clear, accountable campaign results.

The Results

The campaign delivered outcomes that demonstrate why combining OOH with mobile is so effective:

  • 42,000+ total visits to participating restaurants
  • 23% of exposed devices visited a McDonald’s location
  • 2.6 days average from last ad exposure to store visit
  • 2.5x average visits per person

These metrics prove the value of DOOH and mobile retargeting in driving repeat visits and rapid action.

Why It Worked

  1. National scale, local relevance – Adapt’s network of more than 12,000 locations across Canada allowed McDonald’s to run a neighbourhood-level strategy within a national framework.
  2. Contextual placements – Ads appeared in everyday environments, where consumers make quick, purchase-driven decisions.
  3. Mobile attribution – Data verification showed clear cause-and-effect between exposure and store visits, addressing agency concerns about ROI.
  4. Industry proof – Canadians are paying attention to OOH: 78% report noticing OOH ads. And it’s not passive awareness, 66% of smartphone users took action on their device after seeing an OOH ad. These stats underscore why OOH remains one of the most trusted and action-driving formats in advertising.

What Agencies Can Learn

This campaign highlights best practices that apply to many categories:

  • Pair DOOH with mobile retargeting to reinforce messaging and convert exposure into measurable action. Campaigns that combine OOH and mobile deliver stronger recall and higher engagement.
  • Leverage convenience retail environments to capture audiences in everyday purchase moments. With more than 12,000 convenience store touchpoints nationally, these are natural decision-making spaces for quick-service restaurants.
  • Use attribution tools to prove campaign impact. The McDonald’s campaign shows that OOH does more than raise awareness, it drives store visits, repeat actions, and measurable ROI.

Final Takeaway

For McDonald’s, the formula of DOOH + mobile + neighbourhood relevance delivered measurable success. For agencies, this case study shows how a data-informed OOH strategy can drive foot traffic, reinforce brand loyalty, and prove campaign value across both large and small Canadian communities.

Want to see how DOOH and mobile can deliver measurable store visits for your clients? Contact Adapt Media to plan your next campaign.