Adgully Exclusive | McDonald's universal promise but local communication!

From being recognized as a chain offering western food choices, to having developed the Indian taste bud likes and love for the same, McDonalds has overcome many challenges and emerged as a victor. McDonalds recently launched a list of breakfast options and a range of reasonably priced selections. The chain has always been kind on the customer's pockets, has offered a truly "filling" experience and served fulfillment on the food tray.

Adgully exclusively spoke to Rameet Arora, Senior Director -Marketing, McDonalds to find out the chain's excitement on the fourteenth year and the zeal that will be further replicated through its activities for the future.

Talking about McDonald's approach towards the Indian market, Arora, says, "McDonalds has taken a lot of efforts, since its entry into India, to localize the product and the communication. A lot of our communication approach has also been dedicated towards conveying our promise to the Indian customers in a way that it endears them."

"While the insights are universal, the promise is universal, the communication is local," he adds.

Elaborating on the brand value, he contends that McDonald's as a brand has an appeal that runs across various categories of consumers. The appeal at the same time has a bearing on the brand's promise, so the promise too runs across all the consumer categories. "It is true that some messages will work harder for one specific category and some messages with some other. However, the two factors that stay constant to our communications are convenience and value," Arora adds.

Moreover, McDonalds believes that the brand is actually inside the store. It is when the customer walks inside the restaurant, when the customer eats the food and when the customer experiences the good environment, fine service and hygiene, that is when the brand value come across. Furthermore this brand value thus remains the same for any person irrespective of the demographics.

When asked why the brand has concentrated more on the Out of Home (OOH) and radio platform for promotional activity, Arora says that as the consumers' lifestyles are changing, they are spending a lot of time out of home, so it's only logical to reach them through these media. "The other fact is that a visit to McDonalds is either a planned one or an extension to the consumer's activity outside the home like shopping, or for a drive etc. Thus it is just an extension of the consumer's lifestyle that we have gone ahead with OOH and radio, "he explains.

The OOH communication was initiated in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Vapi, Kolhapur etc. On the other hand McDonalds has had itself loud and clear on radio every weekend across various channels and across cities.

McDonalds has constantly tried to explore the expansion plans for its outlets from time to time, because it is the space where the brand gets delivered to its end users. Over the years the outlet has thus tried to work on the ambience and the design.

The fast food chain also has a very efficient delivery service and has an exclusive drive-through initiative, there about 15 drive-thru's now. We have also tied up with the much awaited movie Jhootha Hi Sahi, starring John Abraham and Pakhi and directed by Abbas Tyrewala. As a part of the association McDonalds will run a contest called Meet John contest, where a lucky winner will get a chance to have lunch with John Abraham.

Talking about the latest breakfast menu, Arora says, "Morning there is a lot of rush, there are a lot things to be done, so something that can make the mornings enjoyable is worthwhile. So we took that insight further and launched the breakfast menu. The campaign is right now on OOH platform; soon it will be extended on radio and digital."

Moreover, there was research undertaken before launching the new breakfast offering, and it was found that in Mumbai alone around 60% of McDonalds' customers (who are in the category of working professionals) had breakfast outside atleast once in a week.

With a well spread out network of outlets even in the smaller pockets of India, Arora adds that, "The youngsters today have a lot of exposure due to the immense spread of information; the exposure today doesn't depend on infrastructure. Thus the differentiation between the aspirations of youngsters across the country with regards to the place they belong to is disappearing."

With 14 years into the Indian market, McDonalds looks stronger, matchless and yet vibrantly young and reliable. The brand is planning new offerings, and at the same time keeping its old brand promise of "value, convenience and good food" constant. The dynamism in the market has surely prompted many a brands to stay more relevant, but McDonalds has been way ahead in this space offering localized products and communication. Thus, there is no brand which is a close competition to McDonalds' long standing brand value. | Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]