How McDonald's Markets Its Products in England

McDonald's is an international restaurant business, with franchises and owner-operated stores throughout the world. There are over 15,000 locations in 79 countries and a new McDonald's restaurant opens every 13 hours. 85% of the restaurants are independently owned and operated, with company-run stores making up the other 15%. Stock increased by 16% in 1994, and 25% of all McDonald's stock is owned by employees, licensees, and suppliers (McDonald's, 1997).

Determining relative data on the marketing of McDonald's products throughout England became a somewhat challenging and daunting task, inasmuch as there is a large amount of material available both in printed form and on the Worldwide Web. Not only is the amount of data enormous, much of it is split into several camps: pronouncements from McDonald's corporate headquarters in London; pronouncements from the press (both tabloid and legitimate); broadleafs and pamphlets from anti-McDonald's consumer groups (like Greenpeace) and anti-anti-McDonald's consumer groups. Then there are the die-hard British fans who have taken to expressing their love of the Big Macs to the Internet who postulate both data and opinion and fact and fancy.

After immersion in MacData and Macfacts, the next step was to hit the streets in search of the answers from the end-line users and providers. A series of informal interviews were to be held with customers coming out of and going into McDo

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ey already have about 190 stores in the United Kingdom and expect to add more (Franchising the top..., 1995). Though fast food companies have paved the way into the British market, family-type restaurant chains such as Denny's, Big Boy, and International House of Pancakes are following. Casual dinner house restaurants such as TGI Friday's and grill buffets like Sizzler, Golden Corral, and Ponderosa are also expanding into Britain. The Price The price of a Big Mac (the benchmark price structure) will vary from area to area to a minor degree due to local prices for land, taxes, ownership, promotion expenses, franchise agreements and so on. For example, there are "downtown" and "suburb" price menus in London. In the city it ranges from BP 1.79 to BP 1.94 while in Manchester it ranges from BP 1.24 to BP 2.14. Pricing philosophy within the McDonald's operation is extremely market-driven and usually is tied in to one or another of dozens of simultaneous promotions and bundling programmes (McDonald's, 1997). Placement: How is the Product Sold McDonald's products are sold in the UK through a combination of 731 franchised outlets and company-owned stores and the corporation itself has a total investment in property of GB 1 billion.

Category: Business - H