Print

 

How McDonald's Became The Leader In The Fast Food Industry

McDonald's became the leader in the fast food industry with their strong focus on customer service, response to competition, and use of marketing techniques early on in their development. Please note that we are not proposing that the tactics used by McDonald's are the right or wrong way to strategically or ethically achieve growth. This article simply outlines the tactics and history of a company that has grown significantly since its inception. We see McDonald's as an interesting case study to examine their strategies, tactics, and failures.

Create your own market winning business strategy for free. Learn more ->

 

McDonald's

  

 



What will be covered in the article:

1. McDonald's Strategy - Listen To This Podcast Episode On How To Apply McDonald's Strategy To Your Business

2. The Keys To McDonald's Success, Rapid Growth & Market Dominance

3. How McDonald's Sustains Their Competitive Advantage

4. How does McDonald's Position their Brand?

5. How does McDonald's Maintain their Leadership

6. Statistics on McDonald's Leadership

7. How McDonald's Recovers from Major Set-Backs or Losses

8. Statistics on McDonald's Marketing

9. Examples of McDonald's Marketing Material

10. Examples of McDonald's Advertisements

11. What are McDonald's Values and How Does that Impact their Leadership

12. Historic Timeline of McDonald's Major Events

13. Who Were the Main Contributors to McDonald's Development?

14. Other Interesting Information and Statistics about McDonald's

15. References

 

 

McDonald's Strategy 

McDonald's Main Business Strategy Was And Still Is Investing in Advertising & The Franchise Model

Create your own market winning business strategy for free. Learn more -> 

Listen To This Podcast Episode On How To Apply McDonald's Strategy To Your Business

 

  

Click Above to Watch McDonald's Commercial from 1967 Marketing to Children

McDonald's Advertises Towards Children & Families Producing Recognizable Icons

McDonald's Advertised Towards Children & The Family

McDonald's Created The Recognizable Icon Of The Golden Arches

mc dolands icon golden arches

 

McDonald's Created The Recognizable Icon Of Ronald McDonald

Ronald McDonald

 

image8 150x150

Original Ronald McDonald (Willard Scott) (5)

The Keys To McDonald's Success, Rapid Growth & Market Dominance

McDonald's Keys to Success is their Focus on Customer Satisfaction

McDonald's Finds Ways to Make Customer More Satisfied with Fast Service

McDonald's Finds Ways to Make Customer More Satisfied by Creating a Clean Environment

McDonald's Finds Ways to Make Customer More Satisfied with Higher Quality Products

 

Click Above to watch video on Chicken McNuggets

McDonald's Finds Ways to Make Customer More Satisfied with Affordable Prices

An Additional Item That Has Driven McDonald's Success is their Relationship with Suppliers

McDonald's Promises Loyalty in Business in Exchange for Innovation

Ray Kroc Envisioned and Implemented A Successful Franchise Model for McDonald's

McDonalds Des Plaines Ill

 

Ray Kroc

McDonald's Expansion

McDonald’s Expansion (58)

How McDonald's Sustains Their Competitive Advantage

McDonald's Sustains Their Competitive Advantage By Providing More Value To The Customer

McDonald's Sustains Their Competitive Advantage with Superior Convenience

McDonald's Sustains Their Competitive Advantage with Innovation

McDonald's Sustains Their Competitive Advantage with Optimal Business Operations

McDonald's Sustains Their Competitive Advantage with Expansion to Dominate the Market

McDonald's Sustains Their Competitive Advantage with their Brand

How does McDonald's Position their Brand?

McDonald's Utilizes Branding & Co-Branding With Major Companies To Maximize Impact And Reach

McDonald's Invests in Marketing

Teenie Beanie Babies (6) 

McDonald's Uses Catchy Phrases and Messages in their Advertisements

 

Click Above to Watch Video of Fans Hugging Charra

 

Click Above to Watch an Example of how McDonald's Uses Catchy Phrases

How does McDonald's Maintain their Leadership?

McDonald's Changes with the Market Demands of Customers

Snack Wraps

 

McDonalds Filet O Fish Sandwich

 

McLobster Ad

McLobster Advertisement (62)

McDonald's India

McDonald's All Day Breakfast

McDonald's Focuses on Improving the Restaurant's Image by Showing Transparency

 

Click Above to Watch Big Mac Recipe Video

 

Click Above to Watch McDonald's International Women's Day Video

Statistics on McDonald's Leadership

McDonald's Has The Largest Market Share in The Fast Food Industry (10% Global Share and 43% of the U.S. Fast Serve Market)

Revenue of McDonald's Corporation Worldwide

McDonald's Revnue

How McDonald's Recovers from Major Set-Backs or Losses

Investing in Real Estate - Harry Sonneborn's Solution to McDonald's Risk of Bankruptcy

McDonald's Responds to Decline in Sales on Fridays by Creating Filet-o-Fish

McDonalds Filet O Fish sandwich

McDonald's Responds to Lost Customers by Returning Back to their Roots

Statistics on McDonald's Marketing

McDonald's Focuses on Marketing Towards Children

Children in the US Fast Food Advertising

 

Click Above to Watch an Example of McDonald's Kids Advertising

Examples of McDonald's Marketing Material

McDonald's Utilizes the Four Ps of Marketing – Price – Finding the Right Price

McDonald's Utilizes the Four Ps of Marketing – Product – What the Consumer Prefers

 

Click Above to Watch a Video on McDonald's Global Strategy

McDonald's Utilizes the Four Ps of Marketing – Promotion – Contests, Coupons, and Public Relations

McDonald's Monopoly Game (7)

McDonald's Utilizes the Four Ps of Marketing – Place – Creating the Atmosphere Customers Desire

Examples of McDonald's Advertisements

McDonald's Advertises towards Children & Families

As stated earlier, McDonald's markets towards families and children and presenting the restaurant as a fun place to go with your family. Some advertisements talk about how children "always have a friend with big red shoes".

 

Click Above to Watch Advertisement "Do You Believe in Magic?"  

McDonald's advertises in a way that associates McDonald's with "good times, great taste" and with children singing with the Ronald McDonald characters.

 

Click Above to watch McDonald's Advertisement

 

McDonald's Food, Folks, and Fun Ad has children playing with their Happy Meal toys and signing with Ronald McDonald the song "food, folks, and fun"

 

Click Above to watch advertisement

 

Profitworks Only

Become The Leader In Your Market

 

 Join Our Email List For More Marketing Tips

 

"Our overall sales to new customers has improved as a result of detailed analysis, proposed solutions and successful execution.”

Read more testimonials

 

What are McDonald's Values and How Does that Impact their Leadership

McDonald's focuses on Employee Recognition and Creating a Good Place to Work

 

Click Above to Watch We Believe in Canadian Youth Advertisement

Historic Timeline of McDonald's Major Events 

McDonald's Timeline In The US (59)

McDonald's Timeline in the US

 

For a quick video summary of McDonald's Click Above to Watch McDonald's Marketing History

Who Were the Main Contributors to McDonald's Development?

Fred Turner's Training Program that Ensured Consistency with each Franchise

Ray Kroc and Fred Turner

Ray Kroc and Fred Turner (5)

Other Interesting Information and Statistics about McDonald's

 

Click Above to Watch a Video about McDonald's Strategic Analysis

References:

1. https://www.statista.com/topics/1444/mcdonalds/
2. http://www.businessinsider.com/american-children-see-253-mcdonalds-ads-every-year-2013-11
3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/13/mcdonalds-happy-meal-facts_n_4936593.html
4. http://brandongaille.com/29-important-mcdonalds-obesity-statistics/
5. http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-history-101/2015/05/why-mcdonalds-is-true-chicago-history/
6. http://www.dailyedge.ie/mcdonalds-retro-toys-2104904-May2015/
7. http://www.savingadvice.com/articles/2014/09/19/1028241_mcdonalds-monopoly-rare-game-pieces-2014.html
8. https://www.ibisworld.com/industry/default.aspx?indid=1980
9. http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/content/dam/AboutMcDonalds/Investors/2016%20Annual%20Report.pdf
10. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-03/subway-revenue-drops-as-it-closes-hundreds-of-u-s-restaurants
11. https://www.statista.com/statistics/208917/revenue-of-the-mcdonalds-corporation-since-2005/
12. https://www.statista.com/statistics/407892/brand-value-of-the-leading-global-fast-food-brands/
13. http://www.historyaccess.com/mcdonald's-histo.html
14. https://books.google.ca/books?id=DeTE6MfarLYC
15. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/570567/How-McDonald-s-became-global-phenomenon
16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgXuoL8Dsic)
17. https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=1250127513
18. http://www.mcdonalds.ca/ca/en/our_story/our_history.html
19. https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=1101984961
20. http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/fred-l-turner-mcdonalds-honorary-chairman-and-former-ceo-passes-away-nyse-mcd-1743118.htm
21. http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/schlosser-fast.html
22. http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbes/kroc.html
23. https://www.quora.com/How-did-McDonalds-end-up-becoming-the-leader-in-fast-food-hamburger-restaurants
24. https://www.coursehero.com/file/21947479/karlem-project-MacDonalddocx/
25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_McDonald%27s
26. https://gps.ucsd.edu/_files/faculty/gourevitch/gourevitch_cs_silvestri.pdf
27. http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/mcdonalds-restaurants/the-marketing-process/the-4ps.html
28. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/mcrib-seasonal-item_n_1966680.html
29. https://www.olympic.org/sponsors/mcdonalds
30. http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/content/dam/McDonaldsUK/People/Schools-and-students/mcd_marketing.pdf
31. http://news.mcdonalds.com/US/news-stories/McDonald-s-USA-Fuels-NFL-Fans%E2%80%99-Passion-with-Tailga
32.http://www.sportsnetworker.com/2012/12/04/mcdonalds-becomes-official-restaurant-sponsor-of-the-nfl-presenting-sponsor-of-2013-pro-bowl/
33. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_advertising#cite_note-16
34. http://www.latimes.com/zap-disneymcdonaldsendhappymeals-story.html
35. http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/mcdonald-s-to-use-alliance-with-oil-firms-for-expansion-108100601044_1.html
36. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/co-branding.html
37. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_McDonald%27s_ad_programs
38. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/22/weekinreview/defining-fast-food-between-55-seconds-and-30-minutes.html
39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7bivuNlbi0
40. https://www.scribd.com/doc/82448394/Operations-Management-McDonald-s-Analysis
41. corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/investors/company-overview.htm
42. https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/history-filet-o-fish
43. http://www.businessinsider.com/self-service-kiosks-are-replacing-workers-2016-5
44. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/impact-clean-restroom-business-38421.html
45. http://www.mcdonalds.ca/ca/en/food/making_informed_choices/food_safety.html
46. http://news.mcdonalds.com/Corporate/Feature-Stories-Articles/2016/How-Drive-Thru-Windows-Changed-the-Way-America-Ord
47. http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds-history.html
48. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/mcdonalds-canada-opens-first-mccafe-standalone-in-toronto/article27653086/
49. https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=1133708587
50. http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/mcdonalds-surprising-start-75-years-ago
51. https://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/
52. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/mcdonalds-the-international-market-leader-for-fast-food-marketing-essay.php
53. http://www.economist.com/node/361379
54. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-01/mcdonalds-cunning-plan-recover-millions-lost-customers-home-delivery
55. www.businessinsider.com/amazing-facts-mcdonalds-2010-12
56. https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-our-food/meet-our-food-experts/our-chefs.html
57. https://www.statista.com/statistics/219453/revenue-of-the-mcdonalds-corporation-by-geographic-region
58.http://www.franchisedirect.com/information/markettrendsfactsaboutfranchising/thesuccessofmcdonalds/8/1111/
59. http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-history-timeline-2015-9
60. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-01/mcdonalds-cunning-plan-recover-millions-lost-customers-home-delivery
61. http://www.canadianbusiness.com/companies-and-industries/mccomeback-by-the-numbers/
62. https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2013/07/25/mclobster_comes_to_ontario.html
63. http://thereformedbroker.com/2009/05/26/how-good-is-mcdonalds-theyre-selling-burgers-in-india/
64. http://www.businessinsider.com/major-changes-to-mcdonalds-menu-2016-7/#9-and-it-added-healthy-breakfast-bowls-in-southern-california-locations-featuring-ingredients-like-kale-egg-whites-and-chorizo-9
65. http://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-price-wars-2015-10
66. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/03/20/starbucks-subway-fast-food-restaurants-dining-out-eating/25083595/

 

Profitworks Only

Become The Leader In Your Market

 

Other Articles You Might Be Interested In

amazons business strategy Best Marketing Channels 3 Biggest Marketing Mistakes how become the leader in your market

 

{fastsocialshare}