2003-01-06 16:22:31braveheart
Will New Plate (Plan) Work?
Last month, McDonald’s Taiwan debuted its new products--- rice plates. The company announced that the new combos would bring more customers into McDonald’s. McDonald’s Taiwan, which was established in 1984, was the first franchise of McDonald’s to spread the rice related products around its market. Considering of enlarging the market share, they wanted to touch the big amount of out-eating customers. For diversifying the menus, they developed more different foods for local customers.
Will this strategy work? I really doubt about it! First, McDonald’s is a worldwide brand restaurant famous with its American fast food. On restaurant environment/atmosphere, fast, clean, and happy are its public images. On food, hamburgers, fries, coke are its core competitive advantages. Now, they don’t try to create a new value of the food that they claimed to be good as people’s nutrition resource on their website; instead, they start to sell Japanese style combos with soda water in the American fast food restaurants. What I can see is what a mess it is! The brand spirit has been heavily hurt. Second, the prices of the rice sets are really expensive. People who usually eat outside will reconsider to spend double money going into McDonald’s to eat something like “Bian Dang”(lunch box). Sometimes the higher price will uplift the product’s value, but for Taiwan’s smart consumers, how can they endure again McDonald’s high price products under nowadays economy situations? The reasonable supposition for those sets’ prices is: the company has set a space for next promotion campaign. Let’s just wait to eat 30%-off rice plates in McDonald’s! Third, after developing some different senses from traditional restaurants’, like trying to build a café atmosphere in some chain stores, McDonald’s restart to act as a cook, to serve more foods to satisfy customers’ mouths, not the hearts. This company’s growth strategies are really diversification now.
If there were a famous Italian restaurant decided to sell Taiwan’s stinked dofu, what would you think? What comes in my mind is: the boss must be from Taiwan. Localization is important for a worldwide enterprise, but the ways they choose have to include both the original inspiration of the brand and the innovation, or it in vain. Sometimes, the wrong diversification could also succeed, but it’s a wave, not a classic. Food industry is a competitive field, but all I can figure out about the debut of Japanese rice combos in McDonald’s is “for surviving!”
Will this strategy work? I really doubt about it! First, McDonald’s is a worldwide brand restaurant famous with its American fast food. On restaurant environment/atmosphere, fast, clean, and happy are its public images. On food, hamburgers, fries, coke are its core competitive advantages. Now, they don’t try to create a new value of the food that they claimed to be good as people’s nutrition resource on their website; instead, they start to sell Japanese style combos with soda water in the American fast food restaurants. What I can see is what a mess it is! The brand spirit has been heavily hurt. Second, the prices of the rice sets are really expensive. People who usually eat outside will reconsider to spend double money going into McDonald’s to eat something like “Bian Dang”(lunch box). Sometimes the higher price will uplift the product’s value, but for Taiwan’s smart consumers, how can they endure again McDonald’s high price products under nowadays economy situations? The reasonable supposition for those sets’ prices is: the company has set a space for next promotion campaign. Let’s just wait to eat 30%-off rice plates in McDonald’s! Third, after developing some different senses from traditional restaurants’, like trying to build a café atmosphere in some chain stores, McDonald’s restart to act as a cook, to serve more foods to satisfy customers’ mouths, not the hearts. This company’s growth strategies are really diversification now.
If there were a famous Italian restaurant decided to sell Taiwan’s stinked dofu, what would you think? What comes in my mind is: the boss must be from Taiwan. Localization is important for a worldwide enterprise, but the ways they choose have to include both the original inspiration of the brand and the innovation, or it in vain. Sometimes, the wrong diversification could also succeed, but it’s a wave, not a classic. Food industry is a competitive field, but all I can figure out about the debut of Japanese rice combos in McDonald’s is “for surviving!”