Research Korner: Marketing Management

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Overview             The People’s Republic of China is the most populous country in the world. The country is famously known as a country of etiquette and ceremonies. China is emerging as one of the major global economies of today. Such unique character of a strong sense of pride in history ands culture is enormously incorporated in their economy and business practices.             The guanxi, mian-zi, keqi and Confucianism guided the modern Chinese economy. The guanxi concept means a network of elaborate relationships or connections to promote trust and cooperation. The mian-zi or face denotes personal pride and the basis of individual’s reputation and social status. Further, the keqi is the concept of advocating thoughtfulness, courteousness and refined behaviour. The Chinese philosophy of Confucianism placed an emphasis to the elements of responsibility and obligation and its relationship.             In Chinese business culture, possession of right guanxi minimizes the difficulties and frustrations. Praises are regarded as a form of ‘giving face’ to earn respect and loyalty to aid negotiations.  Moreover, the demonstration of humility and modesty is very crucial in dealing with Chinese business players. The philosophical beliefs of Confucius are still applied in order to preserve harmony and sustain collective good.[1] The Business the Chinese are in             Economic reforms in China uprooted from the late 1980s. Historians began the ‘sprouts of modernization” through reconstruction and understanding of the Chinese marketing structure. The national market was identified as urban, rural and regional segments. It even extended to bulking and wholesaling from retailing.  Reforms raised the issues of price formation, commercialization and property rights. The Chinese businessmen started to specialize the rights and responsibilities. Other business scholars focused on civil law, contracts and forms of business organizations.[2]             The Chinese business operations have changed over time. New perspectives include the role of the family, structure and strategy and the role of the government. The features of modern Chinese business are: small-scale with relatively simple organizational structure, close and overlapping ownership, centralized decision-making, personal and family networking and a high degree of strategic adaptability.             On the other hand, the business of China faces a lot of issues and challenges. The size and complex operations and the government involvement are seen as contributors to slower economic growth among others. The Chinese business firms are concern mainly on compartmentalization. The concept lacks vertical integration in various industries. The production and distribution are divided into different stages and units.             Other concerns are lineages, merchant guilds, joint-capital partnerships and large commercial firms. On the organizational and functional level, historians and economists listed different aspects of Chinese business concerns: flexibility of accounting, four-stage evolution of family firms, business rationality and transaction costs.[3]             Moreover, the monopolistic businessmen and commercial middlemen are integral parts of the business networks. The two concepts reflect the importance of government and business relations. They acted either as a manufacturer or financier but traders. Some economists viewed such as inappropriate.             Chinese businessmen have different interpretations of entrepreneurship. Siulun Wong studied the Shanghai entrepreneurs in Hong Kong. He discovered that there are two types of entrepreneurs in the Chinese business context: the Schumpeterian and the McClelandian types. The Schumpeterians are the risk-takers, experimenters and profit-maximizers. The McClellandian, on the other hand, works on the basis of steady rewards based on long-term competitions. [4]             The Chinese business enterprise operates according to family principles. Thus, the business history in China is a dorm of familial business institution. The common features of this enterprise are shareholding, hierarchical and centrifugally concentrated. Since, it has both advantages and disadvantages, scholars cannot identify if this system hinder or benefit the Chinese business.             The Chinese businessmen formed various organizations such as occupational groups, merchants’ guilds, native-place associations, coalitions and chamber of commerce. During the Qing dynasty, guilds played role in religious, political and economic aspects. Among these three, scholars found issues in their economic functions. The influence of the guilds ‘affected the economy in general and the market mechanism in particular’.[5]             Historiography viewed the business network of Chinese as particularistic and dysfunctional. Chinese businessmen emphasize the personal connection based on place of origin kinships and schooling. They cannot afford to sacrifice the xinyong.[6] In order to expand the business, the resort will be through institution of bao or guarantorship. A Market-focused Business Transition             A clear understanding of the past economic practices, the present market status and the future business trends are vital to initiate the transition of and within the Chinese businesses. We already have a grasp of industry approaches and practices in the past in which some are still being utilized by the industries.             Today, the China is mainly concern with manufacturing and production, consumer goods, power and utilities, automotive, financial services and infrastructure and service industries.[7] The highly-urbanised Chinese economy relies more on investment. It is increasingly becoming export-oriented and the growth is increasingly being driven by capital-intensive, technologically-sophisticated production instead of labour-intensive manufacturers.             The immediate challenge will be labour scarcity, unemployment and upward pressures on wages and inflation. [8] As such, the China business industry must strategically prioritize. In lieu with this, the China can exploit the population density and the development zones: special economic zones, new and high-technology development zones, bonded zones and export processing zones as part of economic transition.             The transition must be supported by a strategic business plan. The vision must be long-term and must have a commercial proposition that is outwardly-focused.  In addition, the main concern shall be the in-depth understanding of the market and the customers’ needs and desires. The business industry shall develop strategic intent based on prevailing market trends and deliver the benefits and not product features to customers. [9]                Since the China businesses are already familiarized with segments and units and compartments, they can divide the market-focused into different sub-groups to maximize the utilization of the financial strength. The market-driven focus in this approach will be group-specific, in effect.             The companies and organizations understanding of customer needs and the competitors will necessitate the data and input to make tactical decisions. Market focus is also concern with the overall dynamics in the marketplace and the impact of those forces in the business. [10]             The status of Chinese businesses today is internal and product-driven. They can identify improvements and opportunities for customers but they cannot afford to capitalize on opportunities.  The Chinese businessmen must divert their attention into stable, strong and consistent growth through a market-focused perspective.             Such strategic intent must be placed on the leadership level. The nature of the business structure of China is far too complex – state-owned and collective. In a collective or family-based structure the capital is inwardly concentrated and they are commonly anxious to immediately capitalize to other venture. The tendency is the market intelligence will be paternalistically-approached and the systematic market research is being sacrificed.              The Chinese businesses must think like the market leaders in developing core competencies and establishing effective management. Further, a market-driven China will need labor mobility, a dynamic private sector[11] and a service market that better reflected demand in addressing the unemployment pressures.             The fundamental considerations would be risk-management and legal compliances specifically in the tightly-guarded sectors. In sum, the transition will never focus on big profits, political structure, lousy business plans and complex internal structures of the company but rather the service marketing, distribution, inventory management and retention of good staff as the secret of strong market position.[12] The China must continuously reorder industries, revamp political and military relationships, sustain the value chain, redefine strategic interests and revive local industries.[13]       Bibliography

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Overview The People’s Republic of China is the most populous country in the world. The country is famously known as a count...

Give two different brands where you think a brand barometer would be useful. Defend your answer. "Market Research is a lot of baloney. All I do is ask my wife's opinion." How would you react to this statement?

Give two different brands where you think a brand barometer would be useful. Defend your answer. "Market Research is a lot of baloney. All I do is ask my wife's opinion." How would you react to this statement?                         Brand  Barometer is essential to marketing and the well-being and profitability of a company. A well-designed and administered brand barometer can spell a lot of difference to a company’s profitability. Brand barometers, I submit, are useful because compared to just asking a wife’s or neighbor’s opinion about a product or service that is out there in the market, brand barometers if conducted by credible market research agencies using the state-of-the-art brand barometer tool offer a more substantial and empirical data and information. The Brand BarometerSM for example highlights the following in their reports to companies: loyalty rating, service breakdowns, and priorities of improvement (Avenue ISR, n.d).  None of this can be had by just asking one’s wife.             Of course asking a wife’s opinion is convenient and cost less, but a wife or wives do not necessarily reflect the desired sample population of users of a certain brand, unless if it were a brand that only wives use, whatever brand it is, I cannot think of any. Marketing research agencies at first impression are there to stash cash from companies in the guise of conducting research but compared to merely asking opinions by convenience, marketing research agencies generally know how to select sample from a desired population so that the results at least reflect the opinion of the market.             Brand Barometers conducted by specialized marketing firms use specialized tools to organized data collection, analysis and interpretation which is then given to the company who has commissioned such study. Brand barometers usually measure the market’s response by finding out customer satisfaction, a service or product breakdown and suggested improvements as done by Brand Barometer SM. Other well-designed brand barometers such as the one advocated by North Star Destination Strategies, ask the single, most important and powerful question: Would you recommend the product or service you are using to others? This is rather too general but as you can see the interview does not stop from there as sub-questions are prepared and the interviewee have answered questions that were previously threatening. Which is better compared to asking them directly the question: How would you rate the efficacy of Brand X in terms of whitening your skin? The answer to the qualitative question, “How would you recommend?” is systematically quantified for accurate analysis and reporting. This question requires trustworthiness of the respondent and some risks of laying on the lines one’s character. These are questions, which sometimes one’s brave and nagging wife can be a very good respondent at, but, kidding aside, you cannot always be asking your wife the same question again and again for a specific period of time. Scientifically done brand barometers are conducted to give a company feedback over a specific period of time like monthly or quarterly.             Brand barometers used to measure customer satisfaction, service and product breakdown and improvement are useful in almost different types of products, in food, cosmetics, clothing, cars, cellphones, furnitures, television networks, shows and magazines. The question, “Would you recommend? And the other follow-up questions that follow the global question are applicable in any circumstances and in any brand. Let’s take one brand for example, in the line of food: Quaker Oats. And I ask the question, “Would you recommend Quaker Oats to (specify whom)? Why and why and why? This question is even applicable to toothpastes, I will ask the interviewer, “Would you recommend Colgate Total to others? Why and why?  So that a brand barometer is useful in any kind of products from needles to choppers, books, websites, even the choice of a president. The latter of which, one asks, “Would you recommend Mr. President to others? Why? What are his credentials? Previous accomplishments? Position in issues? The sub-questions are flexible and customized according to the product or service but ensuring that this does not impede the goal of objectivity of the research process.             I maintain therefore that Brand Barometer is essential that it is useful in all types of products from all types of brands. I also maintain the position that I’d rather cut a little budget from my research department and hire a credible and reliable marketing research agency than using a wife’s opinion or commissioning my own research using my own people. A study by Jenkins (2006) of the dependability and reliability of psychological brand barometers, using repeat-interview technique revealed that psychological  brand barometers have high reliability. In the end it does not only saves me time but it also gives me credible and reliable data from an expert in the area of Brand Barometer. This in the long-term translates to more customers, improved brand, better management and hence profitability. BIBLIOGRAPHY Avenue ISR, n.d. Brand BarometerSM [online] Available at: <http://avenueisr.com/solutions/?fuseaction=article&ArticleID=8755> [Accessed on 28 April 2011). Jenkins J.D., 2006. Dependability of Psychological Brand Barometers. I. The problem of reliability. Abstract only. Also published in the Journal of Applied Psychology Volume 22, Issue 1, February 1938, Pages 1-7. Available online 16b May 2007. [online] Available at: < http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WY3-4NRK6TY-1&_user=10&_coverDate=02%2F28%2F1938&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1733635543&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=05d203e3135b0d05d8e0eceec43ec29b&searchtype=a> [Accessed 28 April 2011]. Lancaster, G and Massingham L. Essential of Marketing Management. Sample page only p 379 from Google Books. [online] Available at: <http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=sULd00aYYxEC&pg=PA379&lpg=PA379&dq=brand+barometer%2Bmarketing+management&source=bl&ots=wMYsf-X7BU&sig=IDSP8b4a-Wmr32hP-L3Duqconug&hl=tl&ei=WbC4TfDxLIGcvgPa7KWiAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=brand%20barometer%2Bmarketing%20management&f=false> [Accessed 28 April 2011]. North Star Destination Strategies, 2008. Sample Brand Barometer Report. [online] Available at: <http://www.northstarideas.com/documents/SAMPLEBrandBarometerReport_001.pdf> [Accessed on 28 April 2011).

Give two different brands where you think a brand barometer would be useful. Defend your answer. "Market Research is a lot of baloney. All I do is ask my wife's opinion." How would you react to this statement?

Give two different brands where you think a brand barometer would be useful. Defend your answer. "Market Research is a lot of balon...

Give two different brands where you think a brand barometer would be useful. Defend your answer. "Market Research is a lot of baloney. All I do is ask my wife's opinion." How would you react to this statement?

Give two different brands where you think a brand barometer would be useful. Defend your answer. "Market Research is a lot of balon...

Managing Markets: Case of KFC

MANAGING MARKETS   Marketing mix modeling is a term of art for the use of statistical analysis such as multivariate regressions on sales and marketing time series data to estimate the impact of various marketing tactics on sales and then forecast the impact of various marketing tactics on sales and then forecast the impact of future sets of tactics.(1) Various companies have been using MMM or marketing mix modeling as part of their “secret formula” and most of them have been succeeding and their businesses are expanding. But one of the most notable among these companies is KFC, a leading food chain globally.  What kind of good strategies that we observe in the KFC that we don’t usually see in the other food markets?  First and foremost is, the way the marketing mix modeling is being implemented in all their branches and outlets.  Second is, the optimizing of budget by allocating spends to those activities which give the highest return on investment.  If we look closely on the first aspect, strategists have been gaining competitive advantage for KFC due to the fact that almost all corners of the world have this company which specializes in serving tasty and crunchy chicken, spaghettis and many more.  Of course, logic would tells us that if KFC is not well-received in one place, automatically its aura and salability to other places would be put into jeopardy.  But this would not be true to a company such as KFC, where the theory on how to be more competitive and uplift more its service to the people are at the forefront.  However, all these means of implementing marketing mix theory would be in vain if the strategist or marketing managers cannot and don’t know how to implement them prudently and wisely.  The time-frame and venues are of vital parts in considering the effectiveness of every business.  In the early 80’s a certain appliance  company was at the peak of its popularity and almost all people would patronize its name and bought their appliances no matter how costly they are as long as they carry with them the brands name.  Yet, and perhaps due to the marketing managers and strategists’ inability to foresee the future and the consideration of the place, the once famous company went into bankruptcy and suddenly disappeared like bubbles in the air.  Talking about venues and time-frame as great tools in safeguarding the salability and consistency of the market, KFC (most specific example is the Philippines), I should say, has been gaining advantage over the other food chain companies.  And why is this so?  Firstly, the strategists know full well that the Filipinos are grossly in love with eating fried chicken and other pastas as well.  The strategists here considered two salient points: venues and time-frame.  Venue because, Filipinos are fried-chicken loving country.  And this “addiction” cannot be separated from them.  Time frame because, eating fried chicken is something that endures for lifetime.  The second aspect hinges on these: forecast sales, simulating various scenarios, identifying the most and least efficient marketing activities, mix promotional tactics (2), have also contributed to the effectiveness of putting into practice  the theory of marketing mix.  The effectiveness of each of the marketing elements is defined in terms of its contribution to sales-volume, effectiveness, efficiency ROI (return on investment).  These insights are then utilized and acquired to adjust marketing tactics and strategies.  To optimize the marketing plan and also to visualize sales while simulating various scenarios is not just useful for reporting the established and experienced effectiveness of the activity, it also helps in visualizing the budget by identifying the most and least efficient marketing activities.  In this way, the marketing manager can reallocate this marketing budget in different proportions and see the direct impact on sales value.  At this point, the strategists or marketing managers can optimize the budget by allocating expenditure to those activities which give the highest return on investment.  In forecasting sales, the strategists employ the psychology of optimism.  Pessimistic attitude has no room in business because it does not only lowers the moral of the workforce, but it also puts the company into a false sense of security.  Being optimistic, marketing managers forecast sales so as to add more to the efficiency and contribution on sales-volume.  In identifying the least and most efficient marketing activities, the strategists can address effectively the problem.  The least efficient marketing activities can be done by checking the personnel and supervisor whether they are really doing their assigned tasks.  Secondly, by monitoring and consistently upgrading the more efficient ones, the marketing managers are doing a check and balance work which is important in raising the level of quality of the market.                The ultimate objectives of all the employed tactics and techniques in the market world revolve around the sales volume, effectiveness of the strategy , efficiency on return on investment.  And the best of these of course is, return on investment (and of course—the interest and how much you gain from your business). Footnotes: 1. Marketing mix modeling—WikiPedia                    2. Return on Investment--WikiPedia

Managing Markets: Case of KFC

MANAGING MARKETS Marketing mix modeling is a term of art for the use of statistical analysis such as multivariate regressions on s...

A Business Report on McDonald's Marketing Management

MCDONALD’S MARKETING MANAGEMENT   by   [your name]     Presented to [your professor] [class/subject]   [name of university] [states] [date]   	 	 	 	Executive Summary McDonald’s is considered as one of the most popular and well-loved brands in the world and it can be reflected on the growing size and improving financial performance of the company. The said success can be attributed to the strong brand of the company, because of the different activities and strategic movements that have been done by the management for the past 69 years. It includes the long history of the company, which enables McDonald’s to be well experienced regarding the changing environment of the business which resulted to the company to innovate and strive for continuous development.             The strong brand of McDonald’s benefited the brand owner as well as the customers. For the brand owner, it had helped to maintain the position of the company in the market because of the growing number of loyal customers, which reflect on the financial aspect. Furthermore, because of strong brand, the company enables to become a global business, which helps to increase its size. On the other hand, it had helped the customers in the process of deciding about where to eat.   	 	 	Contents  TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary. PAGEREF _Toc232423682 \h 2 Introduction.. PAGEREF _Toc232423683 \h 3 Background of the Company. PAGEREF _Toc232423684 \h 4 Strong brand and brand owners. PAGEREF _Toc232423685 \h 6 establish customer loyalty. PAGEREF _Toc232423686 \h 6 Financial Aspect and Profitability. PAGEREF _Toc232423687 \h 7 Attract quality internal customers (Employees) PAGEREF _Toc232423688 \h 8 strong brand and customer PAGEREF _Toc232423689 \h 8 How Mcdonald’s established strong brand. PAGEREF _Toc232423690 \h 9 Long History and experience. PAGEREF _Toc232423691 \h 10 Media Support and Advertisement PAGEREF _Toc232423692 \h 11 Differentiation and Innovation.. PAGEREF _Toc232423693 \h 12 Conclusions and recommendation.. PAGEREF _Toc232423694 \h 14 Bibliography. PAGEREF _Toc232423695 \h 14 Appendices. PAGEREF _Toc232423696 \h 16 Appendix A: Top 10 Most Powerful Brands. PAGEREF _Toc232423697 \h 16 Appendix B: How Strong Brands General Greater Profitability. PAGEREF _Toc232423698 \h 17   	 	 	 	Introduction As of now, the world of business is facing different challenges, particularly the increasing competition due to the changes in the lifestyles and demands of the customers. As a result, more and more business are becoming aware that applying effective marketing management will be very beneficial to the competitive advantage and position of a given product or service in the market. Brand is defined as the translation or conversion of the strategy of a business into the experience and practice of the consumers which suggests the specific behavior of the consumer (Van Gelder 2003, p. 15). It can also be considered as the promise that the level of quality people expect from a brand will turn to loyalty of the customers. Thus, the process of applying different marketing strategies to a given product, product line or brand is called brand management. In addition it can help to increase the perceived value of the product to the customers, which result to the increase in the franchise and equity of the brand (XPFLOW Software, Inc. n.d.). Therefore, it can be said that strong brand has positive impact on the performance of the company as well as the different entities or stakeholders that are directly and indirectly connected to the company.             This paper will focus on examining the different benefits of the strong brands to the business and the consumers by using the case of McDonald’s. Furthermore, it will also tackle issues that are related on the different processes that are involved in establishing strong brand.   	 	 	 	Background of the Company McDonald’s is the leading food service organization in the world. It generates more than $40 billion in terms of Systemwide sales. It operates in 31,000 restaurants in more than 120 countries over six continents in the world. The company claims that they have the benefits that are from the scale and strong financial position; the most recognized and respected brands; unparalleled global infrastructure and competencies in terms of restaurant operations, real state, retailing, marketing as well as franchising; leader in areas of social responsibility; sharing knowledge and expertise in terms of food safety; and committed in protecting the environment for future generations (Funding Universe 2003). The restaurant chain of McDonald’s of today began its humble beginnings in San Bernardino, California as a renovated barbecue car-shop restaurant by the McDonald brothers Richard and Maurice (Briggs n.d.). The business was later on developed by Ray Albert Kroc by convincing the McDonald brothers to open more restaurants under his management, which later on lead to the opening of Des Plaines, Illinois restaurant, the current McDonald’s museum. (Parris Kraus 2006). During 1960s to 1970s, the company experienced a phenomenal growth due to the dependency of Americans towards fast services (The Wall Street Journal 2003). Due to the different strategic movement, particularly with the aspect of marketing and R&D, McDonald’s had been able to maintain its position as one of the most popular and loved brands in the world, as well as in each nation where it operates. The study of BrandZ and Newsweek positioned McDonald’s as the 8th most powerful brands in the world, with the total brand value of US$49,499 million, increased by 49%, compare with the last year (see Appendix A) (BrandZ 2008).   	 	 	Strong brand and brand owners Strong brands have become a vital part of the asset value of a company. In the case of McDonald’s, its brand is one of the primary reason why it had survived on the different challenges that were encountered by the company regarding the changing lifestyles and demands of the customers, together with the different problems that are related with the economic aspect.   	 	 	establish customer loyalty             Due to the popularity of the McDonald’s, it can be said that its brand name is synonyms to fast-food, burgers, fries etc. Because of that, the company had been able to established more than 31,000 restaurants around the world, and enables to serve more than 47 million customers around the world (McDonald’s 2009). The said number can be considered as loyal customers who came from different geographic, age and economic status that became used to McDonald’s and considered the company as part of their fast-food consumption. Due to that, it can be said that one of the most important asset of the company is its brand name and image. A product or retail establishment has many aspects which combine in order to form its total impression. There are many studies which show that consumers form impressions of brands, and that these impressions later exert a major influence on the choice of products or brands, and the said impressions serve as major factors which influence on the buying behaviors of the customers (Porter & Claycomb 1997).  Furthermore, when the brand equity is high, customers are often more willing and prepared to pay a price premium for the product and more likely to engage in favorable word-of-mouth communication about the firm and its brand (Beverland 2005)                 The effort of McDonald’s in maintaining their position as one of the strongest brands in the world is considered as intensive because just like other companies, the company believe that the brand is considered as a vital aspect of the company.   	 	 	Financial Aspect and Profitability For many financial analyst, a key consideration when looking at companies with strong brands is that they present less risk. Strong brands generally remain strong, and this assumes the likelihood of a solid income steam. The said strong income stream reflects the interaction of different factors. With a strong market share, usually comes connected with higher price points, coupled with lower price elasticity compare with the competitors. As a result, it will help the company to have a better margins and a higher return on investment. Aside from that, well-known brands are much more likely to enjoy good distribution, which helps maintain high market share. These factors will result to greater profitability (see Appendix B) (Elliot & Percy 2007). In the case of McDonald’s, the fast-food industry, where it belong is experiencing problems that are connected to health issues which resulted for the said industry to lose market share against the fast casual dining restaurants (Eligon 2008). However, even though the industry is facing problem, the company still maintain its position as the most favorite fast-food chain the world. As a matter of fact, beside of the said factor, together with the ongoing problems about financial crisis, the company had been able to report 6.9% increase in sales during April 2009, and 5.1% in May of the same year (McDonald’s 2009).   	 	 	Attract quality internal customers (Employees)             According to McDonald’s one of the most important factors behind the success of the brand is the people who are working together in order to offer high quality services and products towards the customers. Organizations that have a strong brand can use its brand in order to attract and retain employees (Elliot & Percy 2007). Increasingly companies are allocating more money on the employee or employer brand, because strong employer brand can help to attracts better applicants (Slaughter & Zickar 2004). In the end, according to Ritson (2002) strong employer brand image can help to reduce the cost of employee acquisition, improve the relations between employees and employer, at the same time extend the average length of the employee retention and allow the companies to attract high-caliber staff at lower salaries than the competitors with weaker employer brands (cited in Elliot & Percy 2007).   	 	 	strong brand and customer Although strong brand primarily and immensely beneficial towards the brand owner or company, it also play a vital aspect towards the customers. Brands play a vital role in the process of the decision-making of the customers (Bendixen 2004).  Different research in psychology has shown that the name recognition alone can result in more positive feelings toward nearly everything, whether it is music, people, words and even brands.             In one study, the sample population was asked to taste each of the three samples of peanut butter. One of these samples contained an unnamed superior (preferred in blind tests 70% of the time) peanut butter. Another contained an inferior  (not preferred in taste test) peanut butter labeled with a brand name known to the respondents but neither purchased nor used by them before. The result showed that 73% of the respondents selected the brand name (inferior) as being the best-tasting peanut butter. The said result shows that the power of brand-name recognition. Mere name recognition will make people feel an inferior peanut butter tastes butter than the actually better-tasting peanut butter (Yang 2005). According to Davis (2000), the said consumer psychological reaction to brand names is called PATH or the acronym for promise, acceptance, trust and hope. A strong brand makes the intangible feelings of promise, acceptance, trust and hope tangible (cited in Yang 2005).   	 	 	How 	Mcdonald’s established strong brand             According to Aaker (1996) developing the strength of a brand is not deemed to be easy (cited in Schroeder & Salzer-Morling 2006). Different branding literature suggests that more advertising does not always create a strong brand, especially those brands that are badly positioned or connected with the inferior products or services (Schroeder & Salzer-Morling 2006). According to Aaker & Biel (1993), in order to establish a strong brand, it is important to consider the different factors which influence brand strength: Longevity, product category, quality, media support, personality and imagery, continuity, renewal and efficiency.   	 	 	Long 	History 	and 	experience             McDonald’s is already serving its customers and been in the industry for 69 years. Thus, the longevity of the brand can be considered as one of the most important aspect which enables the company to build a strong brand. It can be observe that majority of the firms that were included in the top most powerful brand have been in their respective industry for 25 – 50 years and even longer. Just like financial equity, brand equity is built up over time. Thus, those brands that have maintained a consistent presence over the years are better able to utilize the familiarity and understanding a customer has with their products in order to establish a momentum and power (Aaker & Biel, 1993).             In addition, brand loyalty cannot be built in a short period of time. It is important to connect the idea that the behavior of the customers can be affected by different factors including social factors from family, friends and society. Because, McDonald’s had been there for a long time, it had created a strong relationship with the customers, particularly with the families and group of friends, which enables them to be familiar and loyal to the brand. In addition, the company also enables to gain the trust of the customers because despite of the different challenges and hindrances towards the operations of the company, it had maintained its best performance.             The company is also focusing on the corporate social responsibility (CSR). The strength of the brand is not because of the strength of creating a difference in the perceptions of the customers but because of the meaning that brand creates (Kay 2005). Thus, brands can be powerful symbolic products, having considerable social impact and provoking considerable loyalty (Muniz & O’Guinn 2001 cited in Kay 2005).   	 	 	Media 	Support and Advertisement             The company also focuses on implementing different media and advertising activities by creating different messages that will strengthen and support brand to be connected with the customers, particularly families and young adults. In addition, the company also focuses on integrating the corporate social responsibility in marketing in order to build bonds of trust with the customers and the community where in the company performs its business. In 2003, the I’m Lovin’ it is considered as one of the most important marketing move and campaign of the company in order to target the changing behavior of the customer (Thompson & Strickland 2005, p. C-299). Visibility plays a vital role in establishing a strong brand, because it enables the customers to have a recall. Aside from advertising, McDonald’s gains visibility by strongly branded location. Furthermore, in order to come up with the current technological dependency of people, McDonald’s is one of the companies which established their presence over the Internet, and later on enables their customers to order online. The website serve as a communicating channel for the customers and stakeholders and the company by presenting news and archives about the company, at the same time, serve as a marketing tool that is used in order to entice customers (McDonald’s Are “Lovin’ It” 2005). In connection, the company had been able to show a strong message continuity by the evolution of its advertising slogans from one campaign to another, where in each theme is executed towards a range of customer targets around a single core message, where in the said message does not change radically from year to year (Aaker & Biel, 1993).             In connection, the company had been able to categorize their customers based on their demands. For instance, McDonald’s had been able to include products in the menu for those premium and price sensitive customers. Furthermore, the company also focuses on focusing on the demands of children, tweens as well as adults.   	 	 	 	Differentiation and Innovation              McDonald’s also focuses on their products by becoming responsive on the changing tastes, demands and preferences of the customers by focusing on the growing interests of the public towards wholesome food choices and other premium products in different part of the globe (Thompson & Strickland 2005, p. C-228). One of the major problems which are being faced by the company is the changing preferences of the people towards healthy diet. Because of the advocacy of different organizations towards health problems, particularly obesity, McDonald’s and its competitors are facing veto vote from mothers, tweens as well as kid. Because of that, the company focuses on food and menu innovation. One of the results is the Chicken McNugget which is made from pressed chicken that is equivalent of hamburger or different miscellaneous parts that were combined and pressed into an easily workable whole. Aside from that, the company also introduced the premium chicken nugget made with breast meat only and offers salad and replaces the shaken salad which is composed of shredded iceberg lettuce with a mixed salad that contains sixteen different lettuces. Furthermore, varieties of fruit and yogurt parfaits, new soup selections, McGriddles and other crispy-spicy options were added in the menu (Silverstein & Butman 2006, p. 177).             The said movement is important because it enables the customers to feel that the company is considering their demands and references in the process of deciding about the products and services to be offered. Aside from that, it also enables the company to change its image into healthy one, which will help to capture the hearts of those figure and health conscious people in the different parts of the globe. Thus, it helps to create a new meaning that the company will show to the current and possible customers.   	 	 	 	Conclusions 	and recommendation             Strong brand plays a very crucial role in maintaining competitive advantage of any company. In the case of McDonald’s, its strong brand had been one of its important assets, which enables the company to have a strong position in the market. The success of the brand can be attributed to the different factors including the process of marketing, R&D or innovation and human resource.             McDonald’s had been able to focus on the different factors which are influencing the behavior of their customers, and uses those information in order to offer new or improve products and services which will ensure satisfaction and loyalty from the customers. At the same time, the company also focuses on the different marketing strategies which will improve their visibility, particularly the aspect of real state, which enables the company to locate their restaurants in feasible places and the advertising activities, including online.             In order for the company to maintain the said position, it will be important to maintain the current strategic practices including the process of introducing products that will meet the needs and demands of different market segments such as premium and cheap products, and those for adults, tweens and children.             Above all, it is crucial for the company to maintain its connection with the society by the fully integrating the aspect of CSR in their entire system. This can help to maintain the brand meaning and image of McDonald’s which is considered as one of the most important marketing strategies today.   	 	 	Bibliography Aaker, D & Biel, A 1993, Brand Equity & Advertising: Advertising’s Role in Building Strong Brands, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Bendixen, M, Bukasa, K A & Abratt, R 2004, ‘Brand Equity in the Business-to-Business Market’, Industrial Market Management, vol. 33, no. 5, p. 371 – 380 Beverland, M B 2005, ‘Creating Value for Channel Partners: The Cervena Case’, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 3, pp. 127 – 135 BrandZ 2008, The 100 Most Powerful Brands08, Millward Brown Optimar, viewed 10 June 2009, <http://www.millwardbrown.com/Sites/optimor/Media/Pdfs/en/BrandZ/BrandZ-2008-Report.pdf> Briggs, M, The History of the McDonald’s Restaurant Chain, Helium, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.helium.com/items/867501-the-history-of-the-mcdonalds-restaurant-chain> Eligon, J 2008, Where to Eat? A New Restaurant Genre Offers Manhattan More Choices, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/nyregion/13casual.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=fast%20casual&st=cse> Elliot, R & Percy, L 2007, Strategic Brand Management, Oxford University Press Funding Universe, 2004, International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 63, St James Press, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/McDonalds-Corporation-Company-History.html> Kay, M 2005, ‘Strong Brands and Corporate Brands’, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 40, no. 7/8, pp. 742 – 760 McDonald’s 2009, McDonald’s is Firing On All Cylinders, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/investors.html> McDonald’s Are “Lovin’ It” 2005, Strategic Direction, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 21 – 23 Parris Krauss, C 2006, The History of McDonald’s, Associated Content (September 22), viewed 10 June 2009, < http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/61904/the_history_of_mcdonalds.html?cat=22> Porter, S & Claycomb, C 1997, ‘The Influence of Board Recognition on Retail Store Image’, Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 6, no, 6, pp. 373 – 387 Schroeder, J & Salzer-Morling, M 2006, Brand Culture, Taylor & Francis Silverstein, M & Butman, J 2006, Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Global Consumer, Portfolio Slaughter, J E,  Zickar, M J, Highhouse, S, Mohr, D C 2004, ‘Personality Trait Inferences About Organizations: Development of a Measure and Assessment of Construct Validity’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 89, pp. 85 – 102 The Wall Street Journal 2003, What was News 2003, viewed 10 June 2009, < http://online.wsj.com/documents/info-yemr03-frameset.html> Van Gelder, S 2003, Global Brand Strategy: Unlocking Brand Potential Across Countries, Cultures & Market, Kogan Page XPFLOW Software, Brand Management, viewed 10 June 2009 < http://www.xpflow.com/pdf/Articles/Brand%20Management_XPFLOW.pdf> Yang, K 2005, Design for Six Sigma for Service, McGraw-Hill Professional   	 	 	Appendices 	 	 	Appendix A: Top 10 Most Powerful Brands   	 		 		 		 		Position 		 		 		 		Brand 		 		 		 		Brand Value (US$m) 		 		 		 		Brand Value Change 	 	 		 		 		1 		 		 		Google 		 		 		86,057 		 		 		30% 	 	 		 		 		2 		 		 		GE (General 		Electric) 		 		 		71,379 		 		 		15% 	 	 		 		 		3 		 		 		Microsoft 		 		 		70,887 		 		 		29% 	 	 		 		 		4 		 		 		Coca-Cola (1) 		 		 		58,208 		 		 		17% 	 	 		 		 		5 		 		 		China Mobile 		 		 		57,225 		 		 		39% 	 	 		 		 		6 		 		 		IBM 		 		 		55,335 		 		 		65% 	 	 		 		 		7 		 		 		Apple 		 		 		55,206 		 		 		123% 	 	 		 		 		8 		 		 		McDonald’s 		 		 		49,499 		 		 		49% 	 	 		 		 		9 		 		 		Nokia 		 		 		43,975 		 		 		39% 	 	 		 		 		10 		 		 		Malboro 		 		 		37,324 		 		 		-5% 	 Source: (BrandZ 2008)   	 	 	Appendix B: How Strong Brands General Greater Profitability Source: (Elliot & Percy 2007)

A Business Report on McDonald's Marketing Management

MCDONALD’S MARKETING MANAGEMENT by [your name] Presented to [your professor] [class/subject] ...