Marketing Question Marketing Problem Mcdonald S Faces Expanding Us Mcdonald S Currently Ho Q31642093

Marketing question

Marketing: The problem McDonald’s faces while expandingin the U.S. McDonald’s currently holds the title for thebiggest fast-food company in the world. The company began itsbusiness in the mid 1950’s in the heart of Illinois. And thanks toa good recipe for success and a powerful team, McDonald’s currentlyoperates in 117 countries. The family oriented restaurant operatesas a chain which gives the opportunity for it to deliver a Big Mac(signature burger) that tastes the same in both Texas and Beijing.This is a powerful strategy for McDonald’s because it has created asolid foundation of trust for customers of all ages and in allareas of life. The fact that the franchise is family oriented is anasset considering the fact that parents will also cave to thedesires of their children. Happy Meals have been proven to besuccessful with children who frequent the restaurant. The slogan“I’m loving it” and “Forever young” attract a wave of young adultsto the restaurant as well. McDonald’s also has devoted itself tothe use of social media. Social media has played a prominent rolein the outreach for new teenagers and young adult demographics.Engaging content in the right context has proven successful in theattempt to capture the attention of a generation focused on beingmore “social”. The company is well rounded and has a strategy tosuccessfully reach and serve consumers of all ages. This result inmore frequent visits from all kinds of demographics from youngfamilies to young adults. The Problem McDonald’s FacesWhile Being the Leader McDonald’s has shown an innovativeway to create business over the years. Some of these effortsinclude setting different features on the restaurants such astelevisions, couches, and lounge chairs. The recent introduction tothe now popular McCafe threatens the giant coffee chain Starbucks.Brizek (2013) found in a study done by Reiley (2009) that manycoffee consumers are more satisfied with the taste andaffordability of the McCafe cold coffee drinks over the ones fromStarbucks. McDonald’s has stayed at the top of the food-chainpyramid by innovating and reaching out to new consumers. Thefast-food market is projected to continue its growth and with thatgrowth comes a new wave of competition for McDonald’s. Themanagement-decision problem McDonald’s is facing right now is:How can McDonald maintain and fortify its leadershipposition in the competitive fast-food chain industry? Tohelp answer the management-decision problem question, McDonald’srecently conducted a survey. The survey will help marketers moveforward in order to expand and assist the company in its efforts tostay crowned as king of all fast-food chains. Marketers need toknow more details about the McDonald’s customer demographics, theirawareness of other fast-food chains, the satisfaction responses ofconsumers in terms of family orientation, comfort, price, and soon. Another factor marketers need to consider is the consumer’spreference to eat-in or drive-through. This last piece of datamight be extremely important considering the fact that McDonald’shas already expanded beyond traditional restaurants. The companyalso has several quick service kiosk units located at airports andretail sites already open. This research survey was merelyconducted with U.S. consumers in mind. McDonald’s looks to continueto expand its franchise in the U.S. before applying some of thosestrategies oversees, especially while considering the fact that thenumber of restaurants in the U.S. has slowly begun to shrink forthe first time in over 40 years. How will the decisionproblem differ while expanding overseas? Themanagement-decision problem will not be much different whenattempting to expand overseas. McDonald’s has already successfullyexpanded into many international markets. The company has become asymbol of globalization and the American way of life. McDonald’s ismanaged as segments: U.S., Europe, Asia/Pacific, Middle East,Africa, Latin America and Canada. U.S. and Europe segments accountto over 35% of the company’s revenue alone. A small number of U.S.McDonald’s restaurants closed down due to the change in theconsumer’s attitude in certain parts of the country. Consumers wantmore choices and sometimes McDonald’s falls short to delivereverything they want. Fast-food consumers in the U.S. want morechoices in what they order, way they order and way they are served.One of the company’s most successful adopting countries is France.The company has 1,200 locations there and is investing 200 millionEuros in further expansion. Most of the consumer demographicsoverseas to some degree still holds the mentality and attitude ofthe U.S. consumer a few years back. The company has had to innovateto some degree with its menus and serving methods in order to fitinto a certain country and culture. Some of the McDonald’sinnovations overseas include France’s touch screens for customersto order faster, the special care and separation of vegetables inIndia or McDonald’s team members preparing fresh food in front ofthe customers in Australia (Nandini, 2014). None of these attemptsto innovate have changed the taste or quality of the menu. Thetaste of McDonald’s food has remained a global taste for allcountries to recognize. The company has also been enjoying a lowlevel of competition overseas. Nandini (2014) found chainrestaurants like Panda or Chipotle are not prevalent in othercountries, and this means that McDonald’s still has a few years tocontinue expanding overseas the same way it has been working in theUnited States. As the company continues to struggle with itsexpansion in the U.S. and eventually succeeds, it is very likelythat the company will only need to apply most of the samestrategies while attempting to eventually change its strategyoverseas if needed. This is mainly due to the global influence theU.S. market has on other countries through Glocalization(Globalization + Localization) (Nandini, 2014). McDonald’s hasclosed its doors in small pockets where customer attitudes arechanging and the market has become saturated with fast-food chains,but there is still a lot of room to grow in the United States. Someof the key factors in the survey that will help McDonald’s in itsdecision to expand in the U.S. might be the following:  Quality ofservice: The survey asks about the quality of service in arestaurant or multiple restaurants a person has visited. Then theperson is asked to rate the quality of service. This will beimportant for McDonald’s to evaluate where it is in comparison tocompetitors in regard to the quality of its service. McDonald’sgoal should always be to produce products that are better than thecompetition and this is an all inclusive task which is not limitedto just a good recipe of food (Rad & Akbari et al, 2014). Level of education and income: This factor is important because theinformation can be valuable to McDonald’s when beginning itsexpansion process. New ways of executing marketing campaigns allowmarketers to target consumers based on specific demographics suchas level of education and household income. Social media is justone example of a company that has adopted highly targeted ways formarketers to reach consumers and clients.  Level of a healthylifestyle: This information might be one of the most importantwhile trying to expand in the U.S. because there has been a recentgrowth of awareness about nutritional facts by the consumers. Therecent awareness is due to the heavy increase of obesity in theU.S. McDonald’s has recently become a target while attempting tolower the percentage of the obesity population which is why thecompany continues to evolve in its menu with healthier choices.Exploratory Research The marketing-decisionproblem has been clearly defined which is why McDonald’s might notneed to conduct any exploratory research just yet. The informationgathered from fast-food consumers should provide enough informationfor McDonald’s to make a decision moving forward. If needed, thenthe company should look into conducting surveys that provideexploratory information such as menu choices, preference ofservice, brand engagement as well as new technology

Questions:

1.What are some of the cases in the industry that captures theparadoxical nature of connected customers?

2. How does it plan to embrace the paradoxes?