Solve all Questions!

Student Task In this activity, we will use a quick overview of McDonald's in order to try and identify the reasons for their success throughout the world and the contribution of marketing (if any) to their overall performance. This usll help in gaining a good sense of the scope of marketing in a large firm. ACTIVTIY/TASK Let's face it - pretty well everyone we know has eaten at McDonald's at some time or other. But why is McDonald's so successful? Particularly as many people would agree that their food is only just OK. Therefore, if it's not their core product offering driving their success, then what is? To find out, let's go back to the beginning of their success story. It was in the 1950's when Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman, got a big order from the McDonald's brother's hamburger store. They bought six machines that had the capacity to make 48 milkshakes at one time! Ray was fascinated to find out why a local hamburger store would want to make so many milkshakes. He found out that they had very efficient processes and systems that enabled them to make many hamburgers in a short period and serve many customers quickly. Obviously, Ray saw significant potential in this local hamburger store and eventually worked with the McDonald's brothers to expand store numbers. Since then, McDonald's has streamlined, fine-tuned and systematized their food production process even further. This allows them to provide great speed and consistency of product. This gives their customers the reassurance of knowing exactly what they are going to get, no matter which McDonald's store they visit. Today, McDonald's is a major owner of real estate and has stores in thousands of key locations throughout the world. This obviously provides great convenience to customers. And to make their offering even more convenient, McDonald's have added drive-thru options and extended trading hours at many of their stores They also provide a good range of facilities including easy parking, comfortable seating, playgrounds, restrooms, and sometimes even free newspapers - all within clean and modern surroundings. Despite their success, in recent years McDonald's has tried to adapt to the changing needs of the market with their broader and healthier menu. And to support this change, they have heavily promoted their new menu in order to keep their strong brand relevant with today's consumers. STUDENT QUESTIONS 1 Outline the reasons why McDonald's have been so successful throughout the world. (Use both the information in the case and your own knowledge.) 2. Which ones are the more important reasons? 3. Which of the reasons that you have identified would be considered to be part of the marketing function? 4. Therefore, in your opinion, to what extent have marketing related activities contributed to their global success? This activity is designed to help you identify the key components of what drives customer satisfaction outcomes. Listed below are a series of statements made by consumers regarding their recent interaction with a firm. Quickly review each statement and determine how satisfied each consumer is (using this simple scale; very satisfied, satisfied or dissatisfied). ACTIVITY/TASK 1. "My friends dragged me to see that new movie. I didn't want to go! I thought it was going to be a stupid movie, but it turned out to be not too bad." 2. "I got my old DVD player repaired as the picture always looked fuzzy. The firm fixed it in a few days and met their $100 quote. Now the DVD works fine." 3. "I was really excited about going to see the concert, but the seats were right up the back and we were next to a bunch of loud and noisy people." 4. "I couldn't believe that the hotel only charged $100 for the night. They could easily charge a lot more for what they offer." 5. "I was so excited when I first saw vanilla flavoured cola - I thought it would taste great, just like cola and ice-cream. But when I tasted it, it was so bad that I couldn't even finish it." 6. "I hired a floor polishing machine for the weekend. When they delivered it, we found it was too big to get through the doorway. They took it away without charge, but I was disappointed as I had previously checked with them that it would fit." 7. "I had a real problem with my bank as they kept charging a wrong fee to my account. When I went to see them they were really good about it, refunded the fee and apologized and said that it wouldn't happen again." 8. "I went to McDonald's the other day and it was a real surprise. I haven't been there in years and these days they have a good choice of food, nice coffee, and even comfortable lounge chairs to sit in." QUESTIONS . 1. How satisfied are each of the above consumers 2. What factors seem to influence their level of customer satisfaction? 3. Given these factors, to what extent is customer satisfaction controllable? 4. Do you think that delivering satisfaction is harder for large firms, because consumers expect more from them? 5. Given your answer to Q2, how valid is the clich of 'under- promise and over-deliver'? 6. Likewise, what are the implications of a firm 'over-promising' in their communications