marketing officer, explained that the goal is to “create unique personalities forour menu items by telling a story about each one.” Through the years, McDonald’s has created a number of successful marketing campaigns and sloganssuch as “You Deserve a Break Today,” “It’s a Good Timefor the Great Taste of McDonald’s,” and “Food, Folks,and Fun.” Its current campaign, “I’m Lovin’ It,” seems ontrack to join the others by helping the company reachrecord sales and growth despite difficult economictimes. Questions1. What are McDonald’s core brand values? Have thesechanged over the years?2. McDonald’s did very well during the recession in thelate 2000s. With the economy turning around for thebetter, should McDonald’s change its strategy? Whyor why not?3. What risks do you feel McDonald’s will face goingforward ? McDonald's is the world's leading hamburger fast-food chain,with over 32,000 restaurants in 118 countries. More than 75percent of McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated byfranchisees, which decreases the risk associated with expansionand ensures longterm tenants for the company. McDonald'sserves 58 million people each day and promises a simple, easy,and enjoyable food experience for its customers. The history ofthe McDonald's Corporation dates back to 1955 when Ray Kroc,a multimixer salesman, franchised a hamburger restaurant fromthe McDonald brothers, named it McDonald's, and offeredsimple foods such as the famous 15 cent hamburger. Krochelped design the building, which featured red and white sidesand a single golden arch to attract local attention. Ten yearslater, 700 McDonald's restaurants existed around the country,and the brand was on its way to becoming a household name.During the 1960s and 1970s, Kroc led McDonald's growthdomestically and internationally while pushing the importanceof quality, service, cleanliness, and value. The menu expandedto include the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Happy Meal, Filet-O-Fish, and breakfast items like the Egg McMuffin. Kroc alsounderstood early on that his core audience consisted of childrenand families. Therefore, he focused McDonald's advertisingefforts at these groups and introduced Ronald McDonald in1965 during a 60-second commercial. Soon, characters such asGrimace, the Hamburgler, and Mayor McCheese made theirdebut in McDonald's advertising campaigns and helped lurechildren into its restaurants for simple, good-tasting food, and afun experience. It was also during this time that McDonald'screated the Ronald McDonald House, which opened in 1974 tohelp children with leukemia. Since then, it has expanded into aglobal charity effort called Ronald McDonald House Charitiesthat strives to improve children's lives, health, and well-beingthrough three major programs: Ronald McDonald House,Ronald McDonald Family Room, and Ronald McDonald CareMobile. McDonald's aggressively expanded overseas throughoutthe 1980s by adding locations throughout Europe, Asia, thePhilippines, and Malaysia. This rapid expansion, however, led tomany struggles during the 1990s and early 2000s. The companylost focus and direction, expanding by as many as 2,000 newrestaurants a year. New employees weren't trained fast or wellenough, all of which led to poor customer service and dirtierrestaurants. New competitors popped up and the companyacquired nonburger companies, Chipotle and Boston Market(which were eventually sold in 2006 and 2007). Consumer tasteschanged, and new products like pizza, the Arch Deluxe, and delisandwiches failed to connect with consumers, as did tweaks tothe current menu including multiple changes to the Big Mac special sauce. Jim Skinner, McDonald's chief executiveexplained, "We got distracted from the most important thing:hot, high-quality food at a great value at the speed andconvenience of McDonald's." In 2003, McDonald'simplemented a strategic effort called the "Plan to Win." Theframework, which still exists today, helped McDonald'srestaurants refocus on offering a better, higher-quality consumerexperience rather than a quick and cheap fast-food option. ThePlan to Win "playbook" provided strategic insight on how toimprove on the company's 5 Ps people, products, promotions,price, and place-yet allowed local restaurants to adapt todifferent environments and cules. For example, McDonald'sintroduced a Bacon Roll breakfast sandwich in the UnitedKingdom, a premium M burger in France, and an egg, tomato,and pepper McPuff in China. Prices also varied slightly acrossthe United States to better reflect different tastes in differentregions. Some food changes that helped turn the companyaround included offering more chicken options as beefconsumption started to decline, selling milk in a bottle instead ofa carton, and removing "Super Size" options after thedocumentary Super Size Me targeted McDonald's and its link toobesity. McDonald's responded to health trends and beganoffering premium salads as well as apple slices instead of Frenchfries in Happy Meals as well as all-white-meat McNuggets.While many of the healthier options targeted moms and held apremium price, McDonald's introduced the $1 menu at the sametime, which targeted the lower-income bracket and teenagers.Other responses included improving drive-thru servicesince 60percent of McDonald's U.S. business came from drive-thrus,introducing more snack options, and refurbishing restaurantswith leather seats, warmer paint colors, and flat-screen TVs.Initial results were staggering; from 2003 to 2006, the stockprice increased 170 percent. Sales continued to increase throughthe late 2000s and topped $23.5 billion in 2008, makingMcDonald's one of only two companies in the Dow JonesIndustrial Average whose share price rose in 2008. McDonald'scontinued to flourish in 2009, led by its premium Angus burgersand its McCafé coffee line, which directly targeted competitorslike Starbucks with less expensive specialty coffee drinks.McDonald's also launched a worldwide repackaging effort as aresult of intense consumer research. The new packaging aimedto accomplish several tasks, including teaching consumers aboutMcDonald's health consciousness and building awareness of itsuse of locally grown produce. It included bold text and full-colorphotographs of real ingredients like potatoes on French frypackaging and vegetables, cheese, and cooking utensils onhamburger packaging. Mary Dillon, McDonald's global chief

Question

marketing officer, explained that the goal is to “create unique personalities forour menu items by telling a story about each one.” Through the years, McDonald’s has created a number of successful marketing campaigns and sloganssuch as “You Deserve a Break Today,” “It’s a Good Timefor the Great Taste of McDonald’s,” and “Food, Folks,and Fun.” Its current campaign, “I’m Lovin’ It,” seems ontrack to join the others by helping the company reachrecord sales and growth despite difficult economictimes. Questions1. What are McDonald’s core brand values? Have thesechanged over the years?2. McDonald’s did very well during the recession in thelate 2000s. With the economy turning around for thebetter, should McDonald’s change its strategy? Whyor why not?3. What risks do you feel McDonald’s will face goingforward ? McDonald's is the world's leading hamburger fast-food chain,with over 32,000 restaurants in 118 countries. More than 75percent of McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated byfranchisees, which decreases the risk associated with expansionand ensures longterm tenants for the company. McDonald'sserves 58 million people each day and promises a simple, easy,and enjoyable food experience for its customers. The history ofthe McDonald's Corporation dates back to 1955 when Ray Kroc,a multimixer salesman, franchised a hamburger restaurant fromthe McDonald brothers, named it McDonald's, and offeredsimple foods such as the famous 15 cent hamburger. Krochelped design the building, which featured red and white sidesand a single golden arch to attract local attention. Ten yearslater, 700 McDonald's restaurants existed around the country,and the brand was on its way to becoming a household name.During the 1960s and 1970s, Kroc led McDonald's growthdomestically and internationally while pushing the importanceof quality, service, cleanliness, and value. The menu expandedto include the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Happy Meal, Filet-O-Fish, and breakfast items like the Egg McMuffin. Kroc alsounderstood early on that his core audience consisted of childrenand families. Therefore, he focused McDonald's advertisingefforts at these groups and introduced Ronald McDonald in1965 during a 60-second commercial. Soon, characters such asGrimace, the Hamburgler, and Mayor McCheese made theirdebut in McDonald's advertising campaigns and helped lurechildren into its restaurants for simple, good-tasting food, and afun experience. It was also during this time that McDonald'screated the Ronald McDonald House, which opened in 1974 tohelp children with leukemia. Since then, it has expanded into aglobal charity effort called Ronald McDonald House Charitiesthat strives to improve children's lives, health, and well-beingthrough three major programs: Ronald McDonald House,Ronald McDonald Family Room, and Ronald McDonald CareMobile. McDonald's aggressively expanded overseas throughoutthe 1980s by adding locations throughout Europe, Asia, thePhilippines, and Malaysia. This rapid expansion, however, led tomany struggles during the 1990s and early 2000s. The companylost focus and direction, expanding by as many as 2,000 newrestaurants a year. New employees weren't trained fast or wellenough, all of which led to poor customer service and dirtierrestaurants. New competitors popped up and the companyacquired nonburger companies, Chipotle and Boston Market(which were eventually sold in 2006 and 2007). Consumer tasteschanged, and new products like pizza, the Arch Deluxe, and delisandwiches failed to connect with consumers, as did tweaks tothe current menu including multiple changes to the Big Mac special sauce. Jim Skinner, McDonald's chief executiveexplained, &#34;We got distracted from the most important thing:hot, high-quality food at a great value at the speed andconvenience of McDonald's.&#34; In 2003, McDonald'simplemented a strategic effort called the &#34;Plan to Win.&#34; Theframework, which still exists today, helped McDonald'srestaurants refocus on offering a better, higher-quality consumerexperience rather than a quick and cheap fast-food option. ThePlan to Win &#34;playbook&#34; provided strategic insight on how toimprove on the company's 5 Ps people, products, promotions,price, and place-yet allowed local restaurants to adapt todifferent environments and cules. For example, McDonald'sintroduced a Bacon Roll breakfast sandwich in the UnitedKingdom, a premium M burger in France, and an egg, tomato,and pepper McPuff in China. Prices also varied slightly acrossthe United States to better reflect different tastes in differentregions. Some food changes that helped turn the companyaround included offering more chicken options as beefconsumption started to decline, selling milk in a bottle instead ofa carton, and removing &#34;Super Size&#34; options after thedocumentary Super Size Me targeted McDonald's and its link toobesity. McDonald's responded to health trends and beganoffering premium salads as well as apple slices instead of Frenchfries in Happy Meals as well as all-white-meat McNuggets.While many of the healthier options targeted moms and held apremium price, McDonald's introduced the $1 menu at the sametime, which targeted the lower-income bracket and teenagers.Other responses included improving drive-thru servicesince 60percent of McDonald's U.S. business came from drive-thrus,introducing more snack options, and refurbishing restaurantswith leather seats, warmer paint colors, and flat-screen TVs.Initial results were staggering; from 2003 to 2006, the stockprice increased 170 percent. Sales continued to increase throughthe late 2000s and topped $23.5 billion in 2008, makingMcDonald's one of only two companies in the Dow JonesIndustrial Average whose share price rose in 2008. McDonald'scontinued to flourish in 2009, led by its premium Angus burgersand its McCafé coffee line, which directly targeted competitorslike Starbucks with less expensive specialty coffee drinks.McDonald's also launched a worldwide repackaging effort as aresult of intense consumer research. The new packaging aimedto accomplish several tasks, including teaching consumers aboutMcDonald's health consciousness and building awareness of itsuse of locally grown produce. It included bold text and full-colorphotographs of real ingredients like potatoes on French frypackaging and vegetables, cheese, and cooking utensils onhamburger packaging. Mary Dillon, McDonald's global chief

Accepted Answer

A brand is a name, logo, or tagline, that the company tries to associate with. It can be the…