McDonald's Corporation is in the fast food industry and
operates more than 24,000 restaurants in 111 countries worldwide. In the United States, it has 12,450 US outlets, most of them in stand-alone locations that generate a 42% share of the nation's fast-food hamburger business. Corporate communications states that a new McDonald's restaurant opens every 8 hours (McDonald's 1999).
Although traditionally quiet about its marketing strategy, the British web site, Biz Ed managed to get the company to address several critical issues. One of the issues concerned their marketing strategy. After stating that the first step in developing a marketing strategy is understanding the customers, enabling reaction to their changing needs and the changing dynamics of the market.
To this end the company conducts "several stages of in-depth customer research and audits of the McDonald's brand. The research involving both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This research tells us a lot about how McDonald's is perceived and about trends that are taking place in the market" (Biz Ed Online, 1999).
The company also conducts research into the local areas of the restaurants, into the general market environment, and into specific areas of our business, "children for example. We also have to have a thorough understanding of our competition" (Biz Ed Online, 1999).
The company considers its competition to be in three broad and basic areas:
* Total Eating Out Market that include all restaurants, hotels, pubs, and any other outlet where people eat.
* Quick Service Restaurant that includes all the obvious competition and also fish and chip shops, and sandwich shops - any outlet where food is served quickly
* Burger House Sector that comprises restaurants serving hamburgers including Burger King, Wimpy, Wendy's and all independent burger bars.
McDonald's studies its competition thoroughly, and does all of its res...