Singapore Fast Food War Essay Example

the drive-through window. Burger King’s encourages their customers to ask for whatever they want as a tagline “Have it your way. ” The brand has consistently increased the number of loyal customers and the frequency of their visits (Burger King Singapore 2010).

Burger King has conducted a taste test between the Whopper and the Big Mac in locations that have never heard of Burger King or McDonald’s in remote regions within Romania, Greenland and Thailand. Locals were asked to eat a piece of each burger and say which one they preferred. The study found that the Whopper was preferable than the Big Mac. However, there was a controversial issue regarding the results because the study was conducted by people who work for Burger King (Patrick 2008). Mos Burger Mos Burger originated in Japan.

As of March 2013, there have been 1743 branches operating in 9 countries; Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Australia and in Singapore where there are 28 branches. Mos Burger sells a wide variety of unique and original burgers and the main selling menus items are Takumi and Rice Burgers. It also offers the local specialties including vegetarian and seafood burgers. Mos Burger is continuing to expand to countries around the world (Mos Burger Singapore 2013).

COMMUNICATION

Instead of trying to sell “Americanism” to Singaporeans, McDonald's communication seeks to insert the brand into Singaporean sets of values which are national culture, education, family and the use of Mandarin (Chua Beng-Huat, 2000, 187-198). Advertisement McDonald's has launched a new campaign "Lovin' McDonald's Moments" which sought to blend together value, innovation and brand experience with its consumers.

The series of commercials features a collection of nine short stories broadcasting to capture insightful "love" moments depicting Singaporeans' inimitable connection with the brand.

The aim is to signify the special bond McDonald’s has with its customers. The campaign has been launched in phases and across various media channels to deliver the company message (Burrowes, Ben. 2009). Apart from traditional media, McDonald’s also communicates to its customers via social media such as Facebook and Twitter (McDonald’s Singapore 2013). Sales Promotion In 2009, McDonald’s Singapore launched its largest promotion for the year ‘Monopoly 2009 Game' across 110 restaurants island wide with over SGD 2 million prizes up for grabs.

The target of the monopoly campaign was to obtain repeat customers (Writer, Staff 2009). For the current promotion, McDonald’s offers free toys with the purchase of happy meals “Hot Wheel Go for It! ” for boys and “Barbie in the Pink Shoes” for girls to collect. In addition, McDonald’s also provides on going promotions such as birthday parties, gift certificate and discounted coupons for customers of all ages, which aid to support sales promotion (McDonald’s Singapore 2013).

Public Relation According to McDonald’s press releases (2013), the current public relation programs for year 2013 are “The World’s Largest Ever Breakfast Giveaway”, “Customers And Staff Gather to Bid Farewell to McDonald’s Marine Cove Restaurant”, and First “Home-Away-From-Home For Families With Sick Children Opens In Singapore. ” 2. Identify the target markets that are best suited to each of the following: McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and KFC McDonald’s

The best suited target markets for McDonald’s are people of all ages and demography such as parents with children

who visit McDonald’s to give the children a treat, kids who want to visit McDonald’s as it is a fun place to eat, a business customer who visits McDonald’s to have a quick meal and rush to go back to work and teenagers who are attracted by the sever menu they can afford and the free internet access available in restaurants (McDonald’s Corporation 2008). Pizza Hut Upon reviewing Pizza Hut advertisements in Singapore, the primary Pizza Hut national target markets are families, college students, and young professionals.

The company wants to provide dine-in places for casual celebrations among family and friends (Pizza Hut 2013). KFC A review of KFC advertisements in Singapore concluded that their target market is families, and is targeted more towards mothers. KFC claims to offer its customers high quality and great tasting food and is the leader in the chicken segment of the Singapore fast-food industry because it is simple to prepare and comes with the Colonel's secret recipe and generous portions of fresh succulent side dishes that KFC offers to its customers (KFC Singapore 2012). 3.

What type of product positioning strategy does each company use? Discuss the merits of the positioning strategy. Should it be changed or should it be remain the same. Why? Product positioning strategy is the process that marketers use to try to create an image or identity of the company and its products into the minds of the targeted audiences (Clow and Baack 2012, 112). Figure 1 and table 1 illustrate product positioning of McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza according to my understanding. [pic] Figure 1. Perceptual map of brand positioning of McDonald’s KFC

and Pizza Hut Table 1.

Positioning Strategy According to Chua (2000, 196), Singaporeans will recognize communication which touches various values of the national culture that are comprised of four elements, namely the restoration of historic landscape and conservation of architectural heritage, the importance of an individual education as the investment for social and economic mobility of an 'Asian' essentialism, family as a foundation of society as the 'shared values’ of people in the nation and the use of Mandarin for communication. ” McDonald’s

With the consistent message that McDonald’s has been sending for its customers for more than 30 years, the customers perceive its positioning as a place for everyone and blending to Singaporean culture. For example, the advertisement title “McDonald’s Chinese New Year 2013 TVC”, the ad is in Mandarin depicting the association between the brand and Singaporean culture. The company’s positioning is on the right track by linking the brand to the culture which is in harmony with the national sets of values. McDonald’s could also continue promoting the healthy menus together with the original menus so that McDonald can attract the consumers who wish to eat healthy. KFC Its positioning is to sell good quality chicken and its target markets are families.

Advertising is targeted towards family members to spend time together which is in harmony with the Asian value that the family is the important basic unit of society. KFC also offers porridge on the breakfast menu as to be more health conscious. It is good that KFC is trying to tie the brand to be family oriented. However, it should create more linkages to other parts of

society as well. KFC should position itself for teenagers by penetrating into sports or school events for young students. Pizza Hut Pizza Hut has re-invented itself from being quick-service restaurant to being the favorite casual-dining restaurant.

This included changing of the service taff uniform, which is designed to inject more vibrancy, and has refreshed its website to engage even better with customers (Juliana Lim, press release 2011). Its positioning is to provide a casual dining place for families and friends to gather for great food and great times together, with an affordable price and offers a memorable service experience that makes one want to comeback again. Pizza Hut expanded beyond its current menu to give customers more reasons to celebrate. The intensive training program was put into place to train all kitchen and service staffs in preparing the new menus to ensure that high quality food will be served to its customers.

In mid-April 2011, the company launched a series of advertisements as a comprehensive communication plan running across various mediums including television, press, outdoor MRT posters, internet entertainment and food sites, blogs and social media (Pizza Hut 2013). What Pizza Hut is doing seems to be a good strategy to compete with other quick service restaurants because consumers with busy schedules can sometimes meet up with friends or other business partners and talk business while having a meal. 4. What type of promotional strategy should each major competitors use? The other competitors such as Mos burger, Subway and Burger King could use the following promotional strategies advertising through various mediums including television, press, outdoor, posters, internet entertainment and food sites, blogs and

social media.

Or they could improve in-store selling by putting into place a training program for both kitchen and service staff to ensure the quality of food and services remains high. Another strategy is that they could engage target customers by showing willingness to help or participate in the community a launching the public relations program such as giving away food for orphans and poor people, or giving the scholarship to underprivileged students in the community. They could offer very attractive sales promotion such as discounted coupons, give away food and sampling. The companies could also use alternative marketing to promote the brand. For example, the company could use buzz marketing or guerrilla marketing to interact and communicate with consumers (Clow and Baack 2012, 278 -280). 5.

Base on the information in this chapter, how would a company like Carl’s Junior or Subway compete effectively against McDonald’s? What types of IMC components would work best? To compete against McDonald’s the companies would need a good IMC foundation, advertising tools, IMC media tools, promotional tools, and integration tools. Carl’s Junior and Subway could strengthen the corporate and brand image by infiltrating itself into the value sets of national culture. The companies would need a good understanding of buyer behaviors by identifying the motives leading to purchase and try to make the brand fall into the consumers’ evoked sets and become a top choice in customers’ mind.

This could be done by knowing who will be the companies’ target markets and understanding Singaporean shared values. The companies could study McDonald’s advertising and promotion as a case study, then adapt and create an effective communication

via advertising tools to their target audiences. In selecting media to deliver the companies message, Carl’s Junior and Subway should understand what the objectives of advertising are, then choose appropriated media channels to suit their budgets or objectives. The message that the companies send to their consumers should be consistent over time and should be integrated in all channels to avoid confusion. The best types of IMC components would be advertising and promotions.

For example, both companies could advertise via various mediums such as television, press, outdoors, posters, internet and food sites, blogs and social media so that target audiences recognize the brand. Also, the companies could provide birthday parties promotion, gift certificate and discounted coupons for their customers to increase sales volume. Additionally, the companies could engage their target consumers by introducing a good public relations campaign that aims to help or make the community a better place.

References:

• Burger King Singapore. 2010. About Burger King Singapore. Accessed on April 23, 2013 http://www. burgerking. com. sg
• Burrowes, Ben. 2009. Singapore In Love With McDonald’s. Accessed on April 22, 2013 http://www. marketing-interactive. com/news/10911
• Chua Beng-Huat, ed. 2000. Singaporean Ingesting McDonald’s” In From Consumption in Asia: lifestyles and identities. 187-198. London and NewYork: Routledge. Cow and Baack. 2012. “The IMC Planning Process. ” In Integrated Advertising Promotion, and Marketing Communications. 5th Ed. England: Pearson. Cow and Baack. 2012. “Alternative Marketing. ” In Integrated Advertising Promotion, and Marketing Communications. 5th Ed. England: Pearson. KFC Singapore. 2012. About us. Accessed on April 23, 2013 http://www. kfc. com. sg/about-us-goldstandard. php McDonald’s Singapore. 2013.
• What’s on. Accessed on April 23,
  

2013 http://www. mcdonalds. com. sg/whatson_desserts. html McDonald’s Singapore. 2013.