How to Save McDonalds – The business of fast food
McDonalds are in trouble. World on the street is that the fast food giant is crumbling and this particular rumor is literally coming from the franchisees themselves.
But what is making the fast food giant fail? I think the problem is in two parts. Firstly, it seems MackyD’s has been trying really hard to modernise itself, with new healthy options that no one wants and iPads that kids smear with ketchup and boogers!
Have you ever seen anyone actually buy the healthy options? I visit the Golden Arches from time to time and I have never heard anyone order anything vaguely healthy… though I once saw a rather big woman get asked “the usual?” when she got to the counter.
So if no one wants the healthy options and the customers are going for the burgers and nuggets like always, have McDonalds lost touch with their customers? Now more than ever there’s so many options for burger joints and the ones that are growing and really succeeding are not the ones that are going meek and mild, they are supersizing.
FIVE GUYS – GBK – DIP N FLIP – PATTY & BUN – BYRON… these are just a few of the big hitters that are giving the customers the burgers they want. Bigger, tastier, doubled-up, choosing the toppings, building your own, maxed out…. even the drinks are optimised and however you want at FIVE GUYS. And that’s how fast food should be… over the top… BAD and so so good …. and it seems McDonalds has totally forgotten this.
The Second issue, is that Macdonalds business model changed a long time ago from being about selling you food. Not that they publicise this to the franchisees or to anyone else, but McDonalds core business is nothing to do with what goes on in the restaurants, it’s actually to do with something far far bigger and smarter. McDonalds is in the business of property. With franchisees paying the bills and renting the property from McDonalds HQ, who own the site, whilst obviously having to buy the food, also from HQ, there is a steady income stream, with the property value going up in value constantly.
Has this disparity between HQ’s focus on it’s property portfolio and advertising partnerships been the undoing of the giant? Or is it just that they totally misinterpreted the changing more health conscious market and forgot about the core market that really just love a dirty burger.
These days – everything is about excess !
Our advice to McDonalds would be to return to it’s roots. In a time of pure excess, where we want bigger, tastier, more exotic and more delicious EVERYTHING, McDonalds has gone the other way. It’s gone mild… become a limp lettuce. If McDonalds wants to stay on top or even to survive at all, it needs to embrace the fat, the excess, of all things embrace the taste, and it needs to really supersize and go BIG and FUN. It needs to remember where it came from, where it was successful. It’s so easy to do a good burger and they wouldn’t have to stop doing anything they already are… but they could add a couple of BIG ONES… a couple of SLOPPY TASTY MESSY outrageous burgers. There’s a huge contingent (and yes some of them are actually huge) of people that love challenge burgers, love the fun of ordering the Big One… this is where they could really take back a major share of the market.
Will they do it? Come on Mac….. what are you waiting for? Make a McChange before it’s too late.
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