could someone help me please?

[fairbrother20]

i am currently doing a business studies a-level from home and im a little stuck on my 2nd assignment:
i need to examine the likely marketing objectives behind the promotions used to celebrate its 25th anniversary of McDonalds in the uk.
could anyone help me?

i know its abit strange, me putting this topic on a forum for actual businesses not students! but i thought i could get some good advice on people who are actually doing it.

thanks for your time!!

[ebonybailey]

Im not sure I understand, can you explain what you would need from us?

[Jayne]

I didn't know they had been in business for 25yrs, so their marketing cannot have been that good. Need to know a bit more about what you have to do.

Best Wishes

Jayne

[americatelefon.com]

I would help you if I actually understood what kind of help do you need

[Juvanescence]

Hi.

You may want to check out some of their past Press Releases. (http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/news/2003.html)

There should be plenty of information on what their marketing is "trying" to achieve.

I don't know if that helps but I tried. :D

[kyber]

Tell you what, fairbro', why don't you put up a strawman of what you think their objectives might be and then we can comment on it and have a proper discussion

In your studies you will have already covered the primary objectives of marketing for any firm. A little bit of extropolation based on the nature of the beast and the recent challenges on health and capitalism should let you put together a reasonably starter.

The discussion then may well prove to be of some value on this forum.

You have to do some of the work first to get things rolling.

Stuart
PS. Welcome to the forum

[ebonybailey]

We should stop replying to this, the guy does not seem to have responded at any point.

[kyber]

He posted less than 24 hours ago, I think we can give him a bit more time to respond :-)

[ebonybailey]

true. just having a funny half hour don't listen to me

[Cornish Steve]

Dear Fairbrother,

I searched Google in an attempt to find details of the McDonald's celebratory campaign. Other than learning that the 25th anniversary was in October last year, and that many protest groups spent a fortune objecting to junk food on that date, I drew a blank.

A lot can be learned, however, by visiting the McDonald's UK website: www.McDonalds.co.uk . The main audience is obvious - people just like yourself. The tabs at the home page relate to nutrition and exercise; clearly, the company is trying to overcome consistent bad press about its food.

Perhap the most illuminating phrase from that site, however, is the following: "McDonald's restaurants are, by their nature, sociable places."

This is consistent with the McDonald's strategy in the US, which has been very successful. One of the company's principal competitors, Burger King, stressed the taste of "flame-broiled" burgers. During the same period, McDonald's ensured that the toilets in their restaurants were spotlessly clean. With brilliant insight, McDonald's realised early on that people don't visit their restaurants because of the food; they visit because of the convenience.

From their website, I would say that McDonald's have developed that idea further and are now positioning their restaurants as social meeting places for young people.

Good luck with your A-level assignment and for having the guts to ask for help at this business forum. You demonstrated a lot of initiative. If I was your teacher, I'd give you an 'A' for that alone!

[fastfences]

Well how come then, their 'conveniences' are of the same 'quality' as the food? Small, smelly and with ample 'spillage!'

[Cornish Steve]

They're pretty good around here. Maybe their standards are slipping or you are frequenting a rogue franchise.

I certainly don't want to be viewed as a defender of Mickey D's. I tend to visit them only when travelling overseas. In St. Petersburg, for example, there's a certain comfort level associated with eating at McDonald's - an island of familiarity in a sea of unknown eateries.

[LittleAcorn]

Interesting. I only visit McDonalds while travelling too, but not normally to eat. (although, I must admit the 'McVege Surprise' in Mumbai was quite good)

Over here they have introduced lots of salads to their menu, and most of their TV ads are aimed at middle aged women in gyms.

Good luck with your assigment. As usual, Steve has provided some excellent advice.

[Marina Stone]

A bit more free publicity for McDonalds! I agree it is not the same abroad as in the UK. The kids meal come with a healthy yogurt, nice orange juice and proper chicken (well, as proper as fast food chicken gets!!)

Good luck with assignment.