McDonalds - The History and Story.

Branding 

McDonalds - How did they do it? 

The History of McDonalds 

Dick and Mac McDonald opened their first McDonalds branch in 1940. This first store was located on 14th and E Street, in San Bernardino, California. It was a typical drive through restaurant with a large menu with lots of variety. Shortly after this opened Mac and Dick realised the demand was high but shut their restaurant down to make improvements and altercations. Their self service, drive in restaurants then re-opened in December with a more concentrated menu consisting of nine items - Hand-burger, Cheese burger, Soft Drinks, Coffee, potato chips and pie. In 1949, the potato chips were replaced with ‘the worlds best french fries’, and the thick milkshakes made their debut also. In 1954, Multi-mixer salesman Ray Kroc visited the McDonalds restaurant intending to sell the brothers more multi-mixers however was so impressed with the operation that he got on board and started helping the brothers with supplies etc. In 1956 Kroc hired Fred Turner to work as the counterman, Turner then became the head of operations and did things like quality checks, services and cleanliness. In 1958, McDonalds sold its 100 Millionth hand burger and in 1959 their 100th McDonalds branch opened in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. In 1962, the McDonalds in Denver became the first food and beverage outlet with indoor seating and in 1963 McDonalds opened their 500th restaurant in Toledo, Ohio, which mean many branches where set up through the whole of the USA. In 1965, McDonald celebrated their 10th birthday by offering shares in the company, the first public stock offering was $22.50 per share. In 1966, Ronald McDonald appeared in their first TV commercial which included him on a flying hamburger. 1967 was a big year of the brand, McDonalds went international and at this time has branches open in more that 119 countries around the world. McDonalds continued to expand and add more and more branches and more variety to the menu, in 1975 McDonalds introduced the breakfast menu, including the famous Egg McMuffin. in 1978 McDonalds opened it 5000th restaurant in Japan. In 1979, Happy meals made their debut which helped satisfy the young end of the target audience. 1980 was the year of McDonalds 25th Anniversary. On January 14th, 1984, Roy Kroc unfortunately passed away. In 1987, McDonalds began to receive some negative coverage for being unhealthy, so this year a salad was added to the menu as a healthier option. In 1996, McDonalds launched their online website as a means of up-to-date communication with consumers. In 2005, McDonalds celebrated its 50th Anniversary. In 2007, the packaging was updated to something nicer and fresher. In 2009, the McCafé goes viral, and it is marketed very well to spread awareness. 

Clientele 

McDonald's aims to offer a friendly, fun environment for everyone to enjoy. They seek to appeal to a wide range of people, from families who love our Happy Meal, to workers grabbing breakfast on-the-go or eating in to enjoy our freshly ground coffee and free WiFi. Because their target market is so large and varied and they pretty much target everyone, they alter each meal to a different sub market. For example the happy meal is ideal for kids, the coffee etc for older sociable people, and thing like chicken nuggets share box for large groups of teen agers etc. 

Effective Marketing Methods 

Most of the best things McDonalds have done is read trends and patterns in the market effectively and acted to provide the certain products they feel they need. For example they noticed that their image was for people to nip in and out and quickly grab food, so the way they have been advertising recently is to have people sit down and spend some time there socialising with their buddy’s. They have marketed effectively to try an adapt this image which I think consumers are catching on to. 

McDonalds have also been very effective with their ‘Im Loving it’ slogan along with the well know whistling theme song. They have made it very recognisable, with a friendly, inviting vibe. 

Future Plans 

McDonalds plans to continue to stay up to date with trends and introduce more and more to the menu, this will help ensure they are meeting their consumers needs. They will also continue to work on producing products that are healthier and have less fat in them, to make McDonalds an option for healthy eaters also.