Professional Documents
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Mcdonald'S PR: A Project On
Mcdonald'S PR: A Project On
Mcdonald'S PR: A Project On
McDonald’s
Group Involved
PR
Dhaval Shah
49
Sohil Jevani
41
Group members
Dhaval Shah 49
Sohil Jeevani 41
Murtuza 37
Index
Introduction to McDonald
Its beginning and formula of success
Indian expansions and planning
McDonald’s PR
Committed to the well-being of our customers
Making people a priority
McDonald’s Corporate Responsibility = Values in Practice
Our Road Map for a Sustainable Supply Chain
McDonald’s PR Disasters
Indian Beef Case
Conclusions
All izz (not) well still PR /Luck/ public support / lord known’s how?
Bibliography
Introduction to McDonald
Its beginning and formula of success
Year Events
1955 Ray Kroc opens his first restaurant. McDonald’s Corporation is created
1957 Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value (QSC & V) becomes company
motto
1963 Ronald McDonald makes debut
1965 The company goes public
1968 Big Mac is introduced`
1974 Happy Meal is launched
1996 McDonald’s opens in India, the 95th country
Business Model
Franchise Model
Only 15% of the total number of restaurants is owned by the Company. The remaining 85%
is operated by franchisees. The company follows a comprehensive framework of training
and monitoring of its franchises to ensure that they adhere to the Quality, Service,
Cleanliness and Value propositions offered by the company to its customers.
Product Consistency
McDonald’s has continually adapted to the customer’s tastes, value systems, lifestyle, language
and perception. Globally McDonald’s was known for its hamburgers, beef and pork burgers.
Most Indians are barred by religion not to consume beef or pork. To survive, the company had
to be responsive to the Indian sensitivities. So McDonald’s came up with chicken, lamb and fish
burgers to suite the Indian palate.
India has a huge population of vegetarians. To cater to this customer segment, the company
came up with a completely new line of vegetarian items like McVeggie burger and McAlooTikki.
The separation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections is maintained throughout the various
stages.
McDonald’s uses demographic segmentation strategy with age as the parameter. The main
target segments are children, youth and the young urban family.
Kids reign supreme in FMCG purchase related to food products. So to attract children
McDonalds has Happy Meal with which toys ranging from hot wheels to various Walt Disney
characters are given (the latest in this range is the toys of the movie Madagascar)*. For this,
they have a tie-up with Walt Disney. At several outlets, it also provides special facilities like
‘Play Place’ where children can play arcade games, air hockey, etc. This strategy is aimed at
making McDonald’s a fun place to eat. This also helps McDonald’s to attract the young urban
families wanting to spend some quality time while their children have fun at the outlet. To
target the teenagers, McDonald’s has priced several products aggressively, keeping in mind the
price sensitivity of this target customer. In addition, facilities like Wi-Fi are also provided to
attract students to the outlets like the one at Vile Parle in Mumbai.
“I am loving it” projects McDonald’s as a place for the whole family to enjoy. When McDonald’s
entered in India it was mainly perceived as targeting the urban upper class people. Today it
positions itself as an affordable place to eat without compromising on the quality of food,
service and hygiene. The outlet ambience and mild background music highlight the comfort
that maintains a positive relationship with the customers.
Customers expect it to be an ambient, hygienic and a little sophisticated brand that respects
their values. The customer’s expect the brand to enhance their self-image. Customer responses
obtained at the Vile Parle, Mumbai outlet confirmed the fact that they connect strongly with
the brand. However, fulfilling some of the customer expectations like a broader product variety
provide McDonald’s a great scope for improvement.
McDonald’s understands the value of both its employees and its customers. It understands the
fact that a happy employee can serve well and result in a happy customer.
McDonald continuously does Internal Marketing. This is important as it must precede external
marketing. This includes hiring, training and motivating able employees. This way they serve
customers well and the final result is a happy customer.
The punch line “I’m loving it” is an attempt to show that the employees are loving their work at
McDonalds and will love to serve the customers.
The McDonald’s Experience
The ultimate aim of Service Marketing is not just to become a Service Leader but to create a
Service Brand. The Service Delivery Process is the key to achieving this aim of Service
Marketing.
The French Fries have been an important part of the McDonalds menu worldwide. But now it
was in the stage of decline and was actually not generating proper return. In an attempt to
revitalize it, a new variant was introduced namely Shake Shake Fries. This is being served with
chatpata spice mix which has
resulted in increase in the sales of
French Fries and has elevated it from
to the decline stage. This is used to
delay the decline of a well
established product which has the
potential of generating further
revenue.
Competitors Analysis
McDonald’s has been a leading fast-foods, But the outlet understudy has other competitors
eating away into its market share. In addition to its traditional rivals—KFC, Dominos, Pizza Hut
—the firm encounters new challenges. Jumbo King competes using a back-to-basics approach
of quickly serving up burgers for time-pressed consumers. On the higher end, the KFC has
become potent competitor in the quick service field, taking away customers from McDonald’s.
Perhaps in the new environment, fast, convenient service is no longer enough to distinguish the
firm. At this time, a new critical success factor may be emerging: the need to create a rich,
satisfying experience for consumers. This brings us to service and experience based competition
which McDonald’s can use for competitive advantage against Jumbo King. Keeping in mind the
demographics of the area, McDonald’s has Wi-Fi enabled the outlet to cater to the student
community. It is for this overall “Food, Fun & Folks” experience that customers pay a premium
over the other competitors.
Competition also reduces product lifecycle; inducing firms to revise their products portfolios
and to revisit their product market to understand changing needs, expectations and perception
of different market segments. The new McBreakfast would be introduced between 6 to 11 am
as a pilot project. This would open up a whole new revenue stream for McDonald’s by tapping
into the student and working population by providing a healthy and wholesome breakfast. This
shows how demographic shift can affect the demand for products and services. McDonald’s has
anticipated these changes to maintain its competitive edge.
McDonald’s PR programs
McDonald considers its self a socially responsible & thus effort fully complies to its duties.
Following are the plans and polices of McDonalds: -
McDonald’s Corporate Responsibility = Values in Practice
MCDONALD’S VALUES
We place the customer experience at the core of all we do
Vision We envision a supply chain that profitably yields high-quality, safe products without
supply interruption while leveraging our leadership position to create a net benefit by
improving ethical, environmental and economic outcomes.
Ethical - We envision purchasing from suppliers that follow practices that ensure the health and
safety of their employees and the welfare and humane treatment of animals in our supply
chain.
Environmental - We envision influencing the sourcing of our materials and ensuring the design
of our products, their manufacture, distribution and use minimize lifecycle impacts on the
environment.
Respect - Create a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone feels valued and respected.
Talent Management - Attract, develop and retain the most talented people at all levels.
McDONALD'S faces a $100 million (£70 million) lawsuit after apologising to customers for failing
to admit that beef fat was used to fry its chips.
The fast-food chain had maintained for more than a decade that only vegetable oil was used in
the hope of appealing to vegetarians and religious groups who do not eat beef products.
Yesterday's apology triggered a violent protest by Hindus in India.
The American company, which has served more than 200 billion portions of french fries around
the world, confessed to a method of using beef fat to partly fry chips before they are sent to
restaurants. They are then frozen and refried on the premises using vegetable oil.
An apology to customers on the McDonald's website, said: "A small amount of natural beef
flavouring is added to our French fries during potato processing. If there was confusion, we
apologise. Because it is our policy to communicate to customers, we regret if customers felt
that the information we provided was not complete enough to meet their needs."
The company assured customers yesterday that all chips in British outlets were fried in
vegetable oil at all stages and that no beef flavourings were added. McDonald's India also
"categorically" stated that its fries "do not contain any beef or animal extracts of whatsoever
kind". However, a mob raided a restaurant near Bombay, smashing windows and tables.
The company said it made every possible attempt to conform to "all cultural or religious dietary
considerations" in countries where it has restaurants. It added that in Muslim countries all the
frying processes conformed to halal standards, which means no beef or pork flavouring in the
chips.
The legal case has been filed in America by a Hindu lawyer, Harish Bharti. He claims that the
company acted fraudulently in saying its chips were fried in vegetable oil.
It's a true David and Goliath story -- two unemployed vegetarian/environmentalists are being sued by
McDonald's Corp. in the U.K. for distributing leaflets accusing the fast-food chain of selling unhealthy
food, poisoning the minds of children with false advertising, abusing employees, ruining the rainforest,
and generally wrecking the planet.
The trial has become the longest libel case in the U.K. and a PR nightmare for the multinational company
which is normally associated with spokes character Ronald McDonald and "happy meals."
Did the giant burger chain shoot itself in the foot by the not ignoring the criticism.
Granted, libel laws in the U.K. favor the plaintiff. Thus McDonald's counted on the fact that defendants
David Morris and Helen Steel wouldn't be able to prove their allegations are true.
In the U.S., a company suing must show that what was printed is false, which is why similar critics of the
chain here either ignored or dealt with -- but has not ended up in court.
But in a PR attempt to preempt the bad publicity of the court case, McDonald's issued its own leaflet,
"Why McDonald's is Going to Court," especially calling two environmentalists liars.
The leaflet caused the " McLibel 2" to countersue. Now both sides have to defend their claims.
Media and PR pros here and abroad agree that the embarrassing court testimony -- for example, the
fact that McDonald's had been forced in the U.S. to stop using an ad campaign claiming its food is
nutritious -- and tabloidish media coverage of the trial are possibly more damaging than the allegations
themselves.
Why react?
"This is a PR disaster," says Peter Muccini, a former Associated Press reported who also worked in PR for
seven years at Carl Byoir & Associates in London. "McDonald's says it went to coaurt to clear its name,
but nobody gives a damn what two beatniks say. McDonald's shoudl have ignored them.
"Everybody's laughing at McDonald's foar taking it too seriously. Perhaps these people have touched on
a tender nerve.
Budd, like others, notes that the company could win in court and lose in public opinion. "The legal
opinion has prevailed over the PR opinion.
"More lawyers are taking the initiative in public disputes and lawayers do not concern themselves with
perception."
Besides, Budd points out that the company does not seem to have suffered financially from all the
criticism.
Indeed, McDonald's outlets in the U.K. have grown from 200 to 600 in the last decade, according to
Mike Love, who heads up the PR department at McDonald's U.K. But Love said that it's hard to quantify
the damage the leaflets have caused over the last 10 years. "The allegations have been repeated back to
us by schools and with Morris and Steel, but the company would not concede to the duo's demands: an
apology and a promise not to sue critics over similar charges.
Love said the lawsuit precludes any proactive PR by McDonald's but the company tries to correct any
inaccurate media coverage.
Outside of the U.K., however, the corporation's policy seems to be beyond "no comment."
Asked about the McLibel coordinators to publicize the case in the U.S., through literature dissemination,
demonstrations and keeping McLibel alive on the Internet, Ebling said he was not aware of any protests
in the U.S.
Members of the McLibel group even staged an anti-birthday party on McDonald's 40th anniversary on
April 15 at the first store in Des Plaines, Ill., with a cake-smashing ceremony led by Morris and Steel, who
flew in from London for the affair.
McLibel protesters also appeared in front of "Rock and Roll McDonald's" in Chicago demanding that life-
size statutes of the Beatles be removed.
"Paul McCartney is a big supporter of the McLibel campaign," says Mike Durschmid, McLibel coordinator
in Chicago. "And before he died, John Lennon made his own bread. He wouldn't have touched
McDonald's food."
Aside from The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. media have paid little attention to
the McLibel efforts either here or abroad. Durschmid thinks it's delf-censorship on the part of Chicago-
based media.
"This is McDonald's town, and McDonald's is one of the biggest advisertisers. You see the golden arches
on TV two or three times a night. The media know where it's bread is buttered," he said. "And
McDonald's is laying low hoping it will go away."
Localize story
Containing the McLibel matter as a "U.K. problem" seems to be not just a U.S. PR strategy, but a
worldwide one. Brian Lipsett, McLibel coordinator out of Pennsylvania, points to a confidential internal
McDonald's memo out of Australia.
The memo, which was sent to Love, outlines the "damage control" strategy the head of McDonald's
Australia, Peter Ritchie, should adopt for an interview with a news program.
It suggested that Ritchie decline the interview on the grounds that McLibel is a U.K. matter.
"This will not be a positive story for McDonald's Austrialia, but buy being prepared we hopefully can deal
effectively with each situation as it arises and minimize any further negative publicity," it said.
The memo also outlined a strategy for responding to follow-up media coverage of the "60 Minutes"
segment.
Foar example, it said not to talk to "any ABC radio of TV station in Australia because they have given
significant coverage to the case in a positive perspective."
The Australian "Current Affairs" type show aired the McLibel segment tin May. "Iat made McDonald's
look bad," said Dan Mills, a McLibel coordinator based in London. "It showed the cake-smashing party in
Chicago and the confidential memo."
Lipsett thinks McDonald's attempt to play down the controversy as a "U.K. problem" is futile.
"A lot of people know about this case all over the world. This is a case of how not to proceed in PR.
McDonald's assumed that Helen and Dave would back down, that they'd make mincemeat aout of them.
Now they're in a position to defend their business practice."
No win situation
Many agree that the company has put itself in a non-win situation. If it conceded to McLibel 2's
demands, McDonald's would look foolish. But by persisting in the somewhat silly court case -- fat
content of french fries under fire and the like -- its reputation has been tarnished anyway. With the
counterclaim, says Mills, "They're stuck."
The case is expected to continue through next summer -- and handling the PR of a win or loss will be
another big job for Love. "He's a good guy. We feel sorry for him," said Muccini.
"Looking with hindsight," says Mills," McDonald's should have withdrawn from the case, but they
thought they would get bad publicity from backing down."
"If McDonald's wins they should issue a gracious statement," said Budd.
Losing will be expensive, both financially and image-wise. Losing the case will give credence to the
allegations and "elevate the anarchists to stars," he said.
Liebeck's attorneys argued that McDonald's coffee was "defective", claiming that it was too hot and
more likely to cause serious injury than coffee served at any other place. Moreover, McDonald's had
refused several prior opportunities to settle for less than the $640,000 ultimately awarded. Reformers
defend the popular understanding of the case as materially accurate, note that the vast majority of
judges who consider similar cases dismiss them before they get to a jury, and argue that McDonald's
refusal to offer more than a nuisance settlement reflects the meritless nature of the suit rather than any
wrongdoing.
If McDonald's thinks selling salads constitutes social responsibility, they must figure clean
bathrooms deserve the Nobel Prize.
When asked why McDonald’s isn’t doing more about a number of issues -- including buying organically-
grown food, building more energy-efficient restaurants, paying employees better and reducing
environmental impact – the company’s answer included a perky assertion that Mickey-D’s food choices
prove its commitment to being a responsible corporation:
“Over the last three years, we have introduced many new food items that offer more choices for
everyone. The salads are terrific! New grilled premium chicken sandwiches. Apple dippers. ... we are
putting nutritional information on our packaging to help educate our customers.... So we think we are
leading our industry in offering a range of products that can fit into our customers' dietary needs and
helping them make informed choices.”
I certainly give McDonald’s big kudos for facilitating an interactive dialogue with its customers and
detractors. But answering a direct question about social and environmental concerns with a marketing
brochure defeats the purpose.
McDonald's dishes up PR entree to fast food film
Eric Schlosser in Sydney to promote his film.
Photo: Peter Rae
September 27, 2006
IT'S just a happy coincidence, according to McDonald's public relations team. The fast food
giant's nation-wide campaign encouraging consumers to ignore the negative publicity
surrounding Fast Food Nation has nothing to do with the film's release in Australia next month.
Nor does it have anything to do with the arrival in Melbourne this week of Eric Schlosser,
author of the top-selling book of the same name, which caused a stir when it was released in
2001.
McDonald's
spokeswoman Sarah
Gibbons said the
campaign had been
planned for more
than six months. It
had nothing to do
with the film, which
McDonald's dismisses
on its website as a
"fictionalised thriller"
.
But Dendy Films, distributor of Fast Food Nation, thinks otherwise. Marketing and publicity
manager Nicki Martin said the timing was revealing.
"The fact that this marketing campaign launched the very week before Eric Schlosser arrived in
Australia to promote the film is definitely no coincidence," she said. "And they did the exact
same thing for Super Size Me." The Morgan Spurlock film, Super Size Me, hit cinema screens in
2004.
Ms Martin said the star power behind Fast Food Nation - which stars Greg Kinnear, Ethan
Hawke and Patricia Arquette - would add weight to debate on the global obesity epidemic and
the place of fast food in people's diets.
She welcomed the McDonald's campaign. She said the publicity would only add to the film's
profile. "All (McDonald's) are doing is creating another situation where they are generating this
incredible exposure and awareness about a film that wouldn't necessarily get the same interest
without them bringing the public's attention to it," she said.
Choice food policy officer Clare Hughes said while the fast food chain was offering more healthy
alternatives on its menu, the "make up your own mind" campaign should be seen for what it
was.
"Our concern is that it is a PR exercise. McDonald's is wanting to dispel some of the negative
perceptions about their product, but essentially it is not licence to eat unlimited amounts of
McDonald's. It doesn't make their product any healthier or better for you."
Since Super Size Me, which sparked worldwide criticism of the hamburger giant for marketing
calorie and fat-laden food to children, McDonald's has eliminated "Super Size" portions of
French fries and soft drinks, and produced marketing and advertising material promoting
physical activity.
Next month McDonald's Australia will introduce "percentage daily intake" information on
packaging informing consumers what percentage of their total daily intake of energy and
nutrients are in products, including burgers, fries and salads.
Shameless staff and Social Media foster fast food PR disasters april
23
Filthiest McDonald\’s restaurant in world
Chris Coleson of Richmond, VA ate mostly McDonalds' salads and wraps for six months to drop his gut.
Mr. Coleson has not spoken with the fast feeder but said that people on the street ask him if he was
inspired by Subway pitchman Mr. Fogle. (He's become something of a local celebrity after a couple of
newspaper articles, including a front-page profile in the Richmond-Times Dispatch.) He said the idea was
born out of his wife's skepticism at his ability to lose weight.
"I told her I could lose weight eating anywhere," he said. "I told her I could do it eating at McDonald's."
But!
Far from signing him as its next spokesman, McDonald's avoided attaching importance to Mr. Coleson's
accomplishment. "There have been numerous success stories like this one, where consumers elected to
follow a responsible diet with adequate exercise and incorporated McDonald's food in a very positive
way," said McDonald's USA spokeswoman Danya Proud. "We continue to work on helping people
understand how to strike the right balance between diet and physical activity."
Dr. Christine Gerbstadt, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, called Mr. Coleson's plan
of 1,200 to 1,400 calories per day a "starvation diet."
Ridiculous. So what if it is a starvation diet? That shouldn't dissuade the company from sending Coleson
a fat check and sticking him in a couple of commercials. How many other huge weight losers who eat
exclusively at your restaurant do you think are going to come along, McD's? Smarten up!
Conclusion
By going through the whole project on PR of McDonalds we are in a kind of soup there is strange
behavior on both sides. People do like policy and practices quite clearly yet the business is expanding till
the extent that it receives an award for growth
ACG Chicago Honors McDonald's Corporation with Outstanding Corporate Growth Award
Chicago, IL, February 07, 2008 --(PR.com)-- The Association for Corporate Growth Chicago (ACG
Chicago) today announced that it has selected McDonald's Corporation as recipient of the Outstanding
Corporate Growth Award for 2007-2008. ACG Chicago – the premier professional organization focused
on corporate growth, corporate development and mergers and acquisitions – selected McDonald's for
its iconic status in the Chicago business community and its global resurgence.
ACG Chicago will honor McDonald's with this distinction at the Outstanding Corporate Growth Award
Luncheon on Feb. 19 at The Standard Club in Chicago. Chris Pieszko, senior vice president of finance
strategy, will accept the award on McDonald's behalf.
As this year’s winner, McDonald's join an esteemed list of past recipients, including RR Donnelley
(2006-2007), Fortune Brands, Inc., (2005-2006), Alberto Culver Company (2004-2005) and Biomet, Inc.
(2003-2004).
The projects before us have came to conclusion that PR is backbone but we can’t say the same about
McDonalds and that why we are in a soup.
Before this we had NO doubt PR is important for mere existence but after
what we have seen in McDonalds we have to consider that PR is an
exercise to keep the image clean rather that to communicate the truth.
We also want to mention that the above cases maybe nothing more than
false accession for financial gains and have cause grave damage to
company but still even after so much damage the mere existence of
company cases us to think if PR is make a image or to clean it?
Bibliography:-
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/1331625/McDonalds-admits-using-beef-fat-
for-vegetarian-french-fries.html
http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/prservices_dec95.html
Www. Wikipedia.org
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/mcdonalds-dishes-dirt-on-fast-food-
film/2006/09/26/1159036547348.html
http://prdisasters.com/shameless-staff-and-social-media-foster-fast-food-pr-disasters/
http://gawker.com/5017175/mcdonalds-shuns-miracle-weight-loss-man
ACG Chicago Honors McDonald's Corporation with Outstanding Corporate Growth Award
http://www.pr.com/press-release/71047