Mcdonald’s: Behind the Golden Arches

McDonalds was founded in 1943, and 1967 British Colombia was its first international expansion, advertising to middle and upper class. McDonalds decided to expand internationally, due to the enormous success in America. There was heavy research involved in the expansion. Through globalization and internationalization, McDonalds were able to develop marketing strategies according to cultural needs, to serve specific target markets. McDonalds enter India’s foreign market and 1996 and is a tough foreign market to enter, but with McDonald’s success they were able to earn high revenue in India. The success strategy is researching and the development of food. McDonalds thoroughly analyzed the preferred taste, especially to not offend locals. Their key to success is to “think global, act local.”

First, Schlosser and Wilson describe the history of fast food. Everything started with a fifteen-year-old boy named Charlie Nagreen at a county fair squishing a meatball between two slices of bread, creating the hamburger. The authors then go on to talk about how McDonald’s was the first restaurant to introduce a quick system for customers to get their food. After seeing the success of the McDonald brothers, a businessman named Ray Kroc made a deal with them to travel the country, spreading the chain. Later, Ray Kroc would buy McDonald’s from the McDonald brothers. When other restaurants, such as Wendy’s and Burger King, saw the success of McDonald’s, they began to do the same thing, having a chain of identical restaurants across the United States. Not only did restaurants adopt this idea of complete sameness, but so did other companies such as

McDonald’s has been a staple in the restaurant business for as long as most of us can remember. It has achieve around the globe, but not without overcoming a fair amount of challenges in its pursuit of the title “King of Fast Food”.

Due to economic downturn the strength of the buyers’ power has increased as the industry looks to gain consumers with pricing strategies much like those of McDonald’s “Value Menu” and combination meals even though the cost of commodities have gone up (James, 2010). Customers of QSRs are looking for quality food without high costs. While Chipotle does not have a value menu or offer any type of combination meal much of their success is due to the fact that the customers are willing to pay a higher cost for higher-quality (Chipotle, 2010).

I, Tayneata M. Starr, decided to discuss McDonald’s for this strategy report. McDonald’s began in the 1940’s as a “mom & pop” bar-b-que diner in San Bernardino, California by Dick and Mac McDonald (“McDonald’s History,” n.d.). In December of 1948, McDonald’s was rebranded as a self-serve drive-in restaurant (“McDonald’s History,” n.d.). The original menu was comprised of nine items, with the staple product being the “15-cent hamburger” (“McDonald’s History,” n.d.). Today, McDonald’s is a publicly traded organization that operates in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, and Latin America (“MCD Profile,” n.d.). As of December 2015, McDonald’s has 36, 525 restaurants in operation, offering products such as soft drinks, hamburgers,

The content of this document begin by introducing McDonalds’ and also explains the company’s dollar menu. The document also contains a description of my selected product; ‘the dollar menu’ in terms of the four utilities of customer value, mainly possession, time, place and form. The document also identifies the product’s target market in the US as well as in China, the competition of the product category in both home and foreign markets, it contains an explanation of how I would apply the segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) approach to market the product in the foreign market; it discusses the major environmental facts and trends in the foreign markets that might affect sales of the product, it explains how I would develop,

McDonald’s is operating in Informal Eating Out (IEO) segment (restaurant industry) and though it is the top brand in the world, year 2014 was difficult for the company. The global sales of the company dropped by 1% and operating income decreased by 4% (McDonald’s, Annual report, 2014). Company’s brand image was negatively reported for unhealthy food and obesity among its consumers. Company is taking initiatives to improvise its menu, quality of food and the source of it. In a way, company is also targeting different market segments and consumer age groups by ads and promotions and creating an emotional bonding with the brand. Company is taking initiatives to improvise its menu, quality of food and the source of it. In a way, company is also targeting different market segments and consumer age groups by ads and promotions and creating an emotional bonding with the brand.

Founded in the year 1940 in San Bernardino, California, McDonald’s Corporation, the industry pioneers of fast food restaurant chains, grew to become the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, with a worldwide client base of more than 58 million daily customers. Through the introduction of their “Speedee Service System” in 1948, the principles of modern fast-food restaurants arose, and saw the establishment of the present McDonald’s corporation that dates back to April 15th, 1955 with the opening of a franchise restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois. It was Kroc, who then purchased equity in the company and led to the worldwide expansion of the corporation.

Food is an important cultural element. Globalization has led to a spread of such cultural elements all around the world. Fast food chains like McDonald’s have spread to different countries like India, Pakistan, China etc. McDonaldization has taken place. This paper rhetorically critiques different advertisements and the official website of McDonald’s in India and USA. It also talks about the differences and similarities in the approach taken by McDonald’s in these two countries. India and USA are two very different cultures. Introduction of McDonald’s in a country like India was a challenge that McDonald’s successfully completed. They changed their marketing strategies, menus, websites and restaurants according to the region in which they were situated.

McDonald’s is the largest and best known global food services retailer with more than 30,000 restaurants in 121 countries. Our outstanding brand recognition, experienced management, high-quality food, site development expertise, advanced operational systems and unique global infrastructure ensure a position that enables us to capitalize on global opportunities. We plan to expand our leadership position through great tasting food, superior service, everyday value and convenience.

McDonald’s reputation as a marketing genius precedes itself. When Ray Kroc in 1948 took over the creation of McDonald’s, he shifted the focus of the business from producing outstanding product to producing an outstanding image. In 2010 alone, McDonald’s spent $687 million in

McDonald’s was founded in 1948 after Dick and Mac McDonald shut down the Bar-B-Que restaurant. Three months after shutting it down in December it reopens as a self-service drive in restaurant known as McDonald’s. In 1961 Ray Kroc purchases the interests of the McDonald brothers along with the rights to the McDonald’s name for $2.7 million. McDonald’s had continued to grow from a small restaurant in California into the world’s most recognized fast food chain. McDonald’s operates in over 119 countries with more than 30,000 restaurants. For right around 60 years, McDonald’s has defined the fast food industry while etching its golden arch logos, Ronald McDonalds, and the big mac sandwich. Millions of people have worked at McDonald’s as their very first job. McDonald’s introduced us to concepts like drive-thru window and the Happy Meal for kids allowing them to provide fast, affordable, dining while on the go.

If McDonalds wants to be successful in going global then these are just a few of the points that need to be looked at and dealt with.

McDonald has been a well-known and valuable brand for over half a century. The company’s mission and vision is striving to be the world’s best quick service restaurant and formalizing their beliefs into “People, Vision, and People Promise”. “Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value” also became the company’s motto. The company’s first McDonald store was built “in 1940 by the original McDonald brothers, Dick and Mac. Later in 1954, Ray Kroc became the first official franchisee appointed by Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California” (Chandiramani, Ravi). Soon after, Mr. Kroc opened his first restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, and the McDonald’s corporation was created. The new franchise began to grow rapidly as a result of its

Since McDonald’s is the most well know fast food chain in the world with a market cap of 69.35 billion, brand recognition is their biggest strength. The secret of McDonald’s success is its willingness to innovate and maintain consistency in the operation of its many outlets. In recent years McDonald’s has introduced Premium Salads, Snack Wraps, fresh Apple Dippers in the United States, and Corn Cups in China. Also, McDonald 's products are priced so low that economic conditions are almost insignificant.