Case Study for McDonald's Corporation

I. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s largest chain of fast-food restaurants with over 32,000 restaurants in 118 countries, primarily selling hamburgers, chicken, French fries, milkshakes, and soft drinks.

McDonald's, fortunately, is not one of those companies who have a hard time with brand recognition. The strength and power of a brand is an essential part of brand equity. McDonald's is a perfect example of a brand that is able to survive through changing markets and customers. The company and brand are almost 70 years old, and yet, remains a popular brand with brand recognition that continues to increase.

This case study aims to describe brand building strategies applied by McDonald’s and to understand why having a strong brand is important for the company through the scrutiny of the following queries:

1. What are McDonald’s core brand values? Have these changed over the years?

2. McDonald’s did very well during the recession in the late 2000s. With the economy turning around for the better, should McDonald’s change its strategy? Why or why not?

3. What risks do you feel McDonald’s will face going forward?

II. DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS

MCDONALD’S CORE BRAND VALUES

As reflected in their official global corporate website, it states that “McDonald’s is one of the world’s most universal/global, democratic brands. We welcome customers of every culture, age and background, and we proudly invest in all the people our success rests on – our crew, our suppliers and our community.” This means that McDonald’s build its strong brand equity by listening to their customers on how they feel about the brand and responding to the level of perception of their customers. With their main focus on establishing brand resonance or the “emotional connection,” the customer's experience in going to their restaurants and the topmost is for their customers to have that certain engagement or brand loyalty.

McDonald's focuses on building strong brand equity through a smart choice of brand elements and holistic marketing activities. They have an amazing job at creating recognizable images. “The golden arches of McDonald's are said to be the most recognizable symbol in the world”. The “I’m Lovin’ It” concept among many others, they also utilized branding and co-branding with well-known companies like Coca-Cola and has branches/stalls in all Walmart stores. The Happy Meal toys, numerous advertising campaigns, and reaching out to communities only show that indeed McDonald’s is seriously focused on building a good band image which until now they consistently keep up with their