Ray KrocPROBLEM STATEMENT :In order for McDonald’s to reach its goal of “par excellence”, it mustuse the full meaning and definition of marketing. Marketing is giving the targetmarket what they want, when and where they want it, at a price they are willingto pay for it. REFLECTION / OPINIONFor McDonald’s to achieve its “par excellence”, they must focus on thefact that there is an ever changing market and that the wants and needs ofconsumers are constantly changing. Since McDonald’s has been around for forty-one years, it is safe to say that they are the father of the fast food industryand that they have set an example for others to follow. When Ray Kroc bought the first McDonald’s in 1955, he focused on whatpeople wanted.
With this focus came the utilization of Mr. Kroc’s theory of QSC( quality, service, and cleanliness ). QSC successfully got McDonald’s off the ground, but as times changed,the company saw many more market segments and opportunities. In the 1970’s and1980’s once again McDonald’s lead the way in the fast food industry. The changeswe saw included, for example, the fact that women were now a major part of thework force and dual income families were becoming a more common occurrence.
McDonald’s became a mastermind of marketing toward specific markets bypioneering ideas such as breakfast menus, healthier choices and alternatives,and “adult” foods. McDonald’s has truly evolved into a world power by payingattention to the needs and wants of the changing market and adjusting to theseneeds. LINKING THEORY :Ray Kroc saw early on what needed to be done. He changed what was at onetime a product orientation, into a marketing orientation. Back in 1955, this wasstill a new type of management.
From the beginning, Kroc was already in theforefront of marketing. Marketing orientation focuses on the customer and what they want in aproduct, rather than product orientation which focuses on the product itself. McDonald’s has taken every aspect of marketing orientation and utilized thephilosophy to its fullest. McDonald’s has focused in on the customer needs andwants, sometimes even putting the ideas into the consumer’s mind before theyeven knew what they wanted or expected. McDonald’s could deliver! They have doneextensive market analysis and product development based on this analysis. Theyhave packaged their food and priced it exactly to the market segment which theyhave targeted.
Showing McDonald’s innovations in marketing even further, is its earlyadaptation of societal marketing. Societal marketing takes into account theoverall concerns of the target market, the environment, for example. McDonald’sgot rid of their one time innovative styrofoam packaging and replaced it withmore environmentally sound paper packaging. They stress the fact that they areenvironmentally aware, by reminding us not to litter, etc. , on their variousforms of packaging.
Another example if societal marketing is the RonaldMcDonald House. This is probably McDonald’s largest community service project. It demonstrates the way that McDonald’s is willing to give something back to thevery communities that support the company. These examples as well as the variousevents that McDonald’s promotes, such as the Olympic Games, puts their nameworldwide. This makes it difficult for us ever to forget of the existence ofMcDonald’s. McDonald’s also uses a theory referred to as relationship marketing.
Relationship marketing is defined as marketing to protect the customer base. Thecustomer is viewed as an asset and the company’s marketing goal is to attract,maintain, and enhance customer relationships. There are five main criteria that must be met for a successfulrelationship marketing strategy and they are as follows :1) There needs to be an ongoing and periodic desire for the product orservice by the customer. 2) The service customer controls the selection of the service supplier.
3) There are alternative suppliers of the service. 4) Customer loyalty is weak and switching is common and easy. 5) Word of mouth is an especially potent form of communication aboutthe product. All of these criteria are met by the fast food industry, and McDonald’s hasgenerally had a very successful relationship marketing strategy, especiallythrough the implementation of the QSC program. McDonald’s has definitely exceeded the definition of success.
How manyother businesses can say they have served billions and billions? McDonald’s hasdone an incredible job taking an intangible product and virtually dissipatingany perception of risk associated with service products. Whether someone ordersa burger, McNuggets, or a fish fillet, they know that their
