Say What You Want

I had a friend tell me that we’re so used to convenience that it’s not enough to have “fast food.” We want them to cut a hole in the wall and shove it out the window to us. Why? So we can get home quickly and blog about cafe-shaped conversations.

You’re right. Social media is rarely a one-size-fits-all realm, if it fits at all. You bring excellent ideas and conversations to the table while acknowledging these realities. Great article.

I had a friend tell me that we’re so used to convenience that it’s not enough to have “fast food.” We want them to cut a hole in the wall and shove it out the window to us. Why? So we can get home quickly and blog about cafe-shaped conversations.

You’re right. Social media is rarely a one-size-fits-all realm, if it fits at all. You bring excellent ideas and conversations to the table while acknowledging these realities. Great article.

Great article. Everything is about marketing, whether going for the mass market, or a specialized market.Thanks for the food for thought, and an idea for my next blog post.

A timely post because I was just thinking about this yesterday when I was there. Here’s what McDonalds does right in my opinion. I have little-to-no experience entertaining young children for long periods of time. However, yesterday I was tasked with entertaining my 8 and 5 year old nephews for an afternoon.

McDonalds for lunch was the obvious choice. Why? Well it’s like they made the place for people like me who have limited skills at child wrangling. They get you up to the counter and fast, don’t give you a million options to choose from, get you to the table quickly with toys in hand, then they give you a place for the kids to run around in and burn off the calories they just consumed. Plus, my nephews don’t get to eat there very often so it’s a big treat for them and I look like the superstar Aunt.

Win win win.

Although I’d argue that there is a community of sorts going on there – as evidenced by the small conversations I was able to strike up with other parents while the kids were off battling dragons in the Playland.

A timely post because I was just thinking about this yesterday when I was there. Here’s what McDonalds does right in my opinion. I have little-to-no experience entertaining young children for long periods of time. However, yesterday I was tasked with entertaining my 8 and 5 year old nephews for an afternoon.

McDonalds for lunch was the obvious choice. Why? Well it’s like they made the place for people like me who have limited skills at child wrangling. They get you up to the counter and fast, don’t give you a million options to choose from, get you to the table quickly with toys in hand, then they give you a place for the kids to run around in and burn off the calories they just consumed. Plus, my nephews don’t get to eat there very often so it’s a big treat for them and I look like the superstar Aunt.

Win win win.

Although I’d argue that there is a community of sorts going on there – as evidenced by the small conversations I was able to strike up with other parents while the kids were off battling dragons in the Playland.

As much as I’d never eat there due to the fact that I’m a health-freak, you have a great point Chris, and I agree. Plus they are literally EVERYWHERE. I took a 4 hour drive somewhere yesterday and I must have seen 50 locations if not more. They literally blanket the landscape.

I think that it is their ability to serve the same product consistently regardless of location or time. It is relatively the same restaurant and taste since I was 5 years old. It is amazing that they have been able to keep dominating for so long. They are definitely doing something right and I expect will continue to do it right in the future.

I think that it is their ability to serve the same product consistently regardless of location or time. It is relatively the same restaurant and taste since I was 5 years old. It is amazing that they have been able to keep dominating for so long. They are definitely doing something right and I expect will continue to do it right in the future.

Although they haven’t much for me anymore (recently turned vego) – I do like that here in the UK the maccas outlets tend to have a seated space away from the floor that you walk into where the counter exists, an up/downstairs area that is a little less McDonalds and more cafe-esque… and, I guess in a bid to somewhat compete with what cafe’s & coffee houses are offering, McDonalds here has free wifi. They give the people what they want.

Ever since I worked as a hostess at McD when I was 16 (my first job!), I’ve been fascinated by how the whole franchise is run. Ray Kroc (person who bought out the McDonalds brothers in the 1950s and turned McD into what it is today) wrote a book entitled ‘Grinding It Out’ – lots of great business ideas are hidden within it.

Ever since I worked as a hostess at McD when I was 16 (my first job!), I’ve been fascinated by how the whole franchise is run. Ray Kroc (person who bought out the McDonalds brothers in the 1950s and turned McD into what it is today) wrote a book entitled ‘Grinding It Out’ – lots of great business ideas are hidden within it.

for a “rapid delivery” company, the latte I ordered at a McCafe once sure took forever. But I’ll admit it was decent.

I’ll bet you all the McD horror stories come out in the comments here.

One of the keys to McDonalds success has been their ability to consistently deliver consistent food. You don’t have to open your bag to check what a Big-Mac is going to be like, you know already, there’s no doubt. A soggy fry, is not a McDonald’s fry.

So, they key, in your product or service is to consistently produce good quality. You market will let you know whether your good, is good enough.

One of the keys to McDonalds success has been their ability to consistently deliver consistent food. You don’t have to open your bag to check what a Big-Mac is going to be like, you know already, there’s no doubt. A soggy fry, is not a McDonald’s fry.

So, they key, in your product or service is to consistently produce good quality. You market will let you know whether your good, is good enough.

Coffee is the best in the business and they work at giving customer benefits-and teaching kids how to develop a work ethic-Their Latte’s rival any European Coffee shop-and you don’t have to hock a kidney to buy one HEH
heh 221 up, 79 down
Coversational putty, used mainly on IRC to smoothen the flow of chat. Can be used to acknowledge another person’s speech, while not actually responding to it. Can also be used as an equivalent of throat-clearing, indicating that you have something to say which will follow afterward.

I have yet to see a disparaging word about McD’s in this comment section. Even the folks who said they’re vegetarians were complimentary.
That goes to show you that they’ve been successful in doing what they do best, marketing — creating an everlasting image of their brand in every household.
I would love to see a truthful comment here where someone from any country says that they’ve never seen a McDonald’s ad or building.

I have yet to see a disparaging word about McD’s in this comment section. Even the folks who said they’re vegetarians were complimentary.
That goes to show you that they’ve been successful in doing what they do best, marketing — creating an everlasting image of their brand in every household.
I would love to see a truthful comment here where someone from any country says that they’ve never seen a McDonald’s ad or building.

Don’t forget: McDonald’s wasn’t always a massive corporation. When they first started out, they were doing something novel — the fast food hamburger, which was rare 60 years ago — and so it got people talking.

The key here isn’t “how McDonald’s ignores the tenets of being remarkable,” but “how McDonald’s built being remarkable into a massive global empire.”

Chris:

McDonald’s is more than smart. McDonald’s knows what they are about as an organization. They don’t need a “corporate mission statement” because everyone who works there is on the same page. The have a culture that supports their business and success.

McDonald’s is about operational excellence and value. And everything they do supports those two things. Long ago, I worked with McDonald’s as a food ingredient supplier, and I can tell you that their standards for suppliers are the toughest in the business. You have to be very good to do business with them.

Personally I am an un-apologetic McDonald’s fan and think a well made Quarter Pounder with Cheese is about as close to perfection as it gets with quick food.

(I don’t work there or have any investment stake!)

@tomob

Chris:

McDonald’s is more than smart. McDonald’s knows what they are about as an organization. They don’t need a “corporate mission statement” because everyone who works there is on the same page. The have a culture that supports their business and success.

McDonald’s is about operational excellence and value. And everything they do supports those two things. Long ago, I worked with McDonald’s as a food ingredient supplier, and I can tell you that their standards for suppliers are the toughest in the business. You have to be very good to do business with them.

Personally I am an un-apologetic McDonald’s fan and think a well made Quarter Pounder with Cheese is about as close to perfection as it gets with quick food.

(I don’t work there or have any investment stake!)

@tomob

I’m a health conscious enviro-loving vegan, so i’ll try to keep this objective ;)

Great post, and a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: are there some brands that simply won’t benefit from social media, even if they do it perfectly? I don’t think McD’s is one of them though, and I think of them in the same line as I think of Wal-Mart.; ie, they’ll do fine and make billions of dollars no matter what they do (and maybe even benefit from a down economy), but there are definitely ways they can improve their situation with a well thought out interactive campaign. There are so many things McD’s could do that I really can’t imagine something happening in the near future!

One more thing – did you know that McD has an internal socnet for their employees? And a few crew members have been “picked” out of their jobs to be full time bloggers.

@tomob

One more thing – did you know that McD has an internal socnet for their employees? And a few crew members have been “picked” out of their jobs to be full time bloggers.

@tomob

Here’s a slightly different point of view. I don’t eat fast food so places like McDonalds just aren’t on my radar. I couldn’t tell you where one is, or how many there are in our town. I have no idea what they’re menu is like these days. I do know they serve coffee and are competing with Starbucks because there were news articles about it several months ago. So while they are master marketers I guess once you opt out you just don’t notice.