ST.

JOSEPH’S COLLEGE OF COMMERCE

(AUTONOMOUS)

BRIGADE ROAD, BANGALORE, 560047

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
MARKETING RESEARCH ACTIVITY

SUBMITTED BY
ANU S VARGHESE
MCOM IB
20SJCCMIB006
Q1) McDonald’s is a strong global brand, does their variety of food throughout the world
help to strengthen or weaken their positioning and brand image? Justify your thoughts

 The variety of Food throughout the world helps to strengthen their positioning since the
menu at McDonalds changes as per the culture of that particular country. Hence it helps
build the brand in the minds of the local customers by catering to their taste and
preferences.

 It respects the differences between cultures and adheres to the country's policy when they
develop additional items for their menu.

Q2)From a cost and logistics perspective, would McDonald’s prefer a standardized or

localized menu across the world? Why?

 When costs and logistics are considered, McDonald's would prefer both a localized and a
standardized menu. This is because when it maintains international menu, some
ingredients might not be available in all countries and hence needs to be imported as it is
very difficult and costly to do so. A localized menu would thereby mean that the
ingredients can be easily obtained without much cost. Hence a localized menu is
preferred.
 As McDonald’s has franchises all over the world, standardization strategy is a good mean
to implement. When the menu is standardized, it requires large scale of manufacturing. It
results in low cost, which in turn results in high profit margin. Standardization means that
the company has applied standard approaches in its marketing, branding, and product
strategy. This helps company to save a lot of time. Besides, the quality of the products is
higher compared to localization.

Q3) What are the risks inherent in McDonald’s trying to compete in local markets against
local “experts”? (For example, an Indian menu item in India?)

 The biggest problem McDonald faced was during the launch of its product in India
was the public image it was carrying as an International food chain and not matching
Indian standards.
  Major problem for McDonalds to enter the Indian market was Indian diversity,
religious and cultural constraints, environmental and animal activists which opposed
the entry of fast food chains, health concerns of the people, perception that
McDonalds was for rich people, poor transportation and storage infrastructure and
lower quality agricultural products. Presence of a fierce competitive fast food market
with huge players like KFC, Pizza Hut etc and the most important problem was the
ban on beef in India and the majority population being vegetarian.

Q4) Is this approach (of localized menu items) likely to deliver more or less innovation
across all of McDonald’s operations (worldwide)?

 In addition to developing new products for local markets, McDonald's will also use
an adaptation strategy whereby they take a product and modify it to fit local tastes.
Adaptation strategy may also be used to align cultural norms or regulations. In
India, for instance, the Big Mac has been modified into the Maharaja Mac which
contains no beef, in keeping with local diets. In Greece, the Big Mac has been
adapted to use pita bread instead of a bun. Even the McLobster has been adapted to
the McCrab in some U.S. markets where crab is a common food or lobster prices
are too high.

Q5) what other product/menu ideas do you think that McDonald’s could introduce? Give
Two Product or Menu ideas. Specify the reason why you choose the product/menu ideas.

 McDonalds can look at introducing low fat and high nutrition food menu since most
of McDonalds food like French Fries have a lot of oil and fat in them.

 One option that Indian McDonalds should learn from their US counterpart is to
incorporate healthier options. McDonald's US provides a whole range of salads with
sides like yogurt parfaits and apple slices, the Indian menu is primarily fast food with
no healthy options at all.

Q6) Attach one impressive advertisement of McDonalds (worldwide) and give your review
summary about the advertisement.
The launch ad, ‘Laughter’, takes a simple format – doing away with words in favor of a focus on
laughter as the thread that unites the various groups of people featured in the spot. It aims to
show how an invitation to get a McDonald’s is not just an invitation to enjoy the food, but to let
go of life’s pressures and enjoy the company of friends and loved ones.