Fast-food chains’ localization strategies for growth
市场营销 As early as 1987, the fast-food giant McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in mainland China. Since then fast-food chains in the U.S···
Background
As early as 1987, the fast-food giant McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in mainland China. Since then fast-food chains in the U.S. have accelerated their pace to develop in this country. Subway, one of the largest brands in the world now has about 600 restaurants in China, according to WorldAtlas.
However, the business wasn’t always booming. There were times that these brands need to shut down hundreds of restaurants per year after some seemingly reckless expansion. Fast-food companies all faced managerial, marketing, and customer satisfaction issues along the way.
For example, in 2014, McDonald’s in China have had supply chain shocks due to food security. And Subway faced declining sales since 2017 due to its franchising policies. When the freshness of novel tastes starts to fade out, fast-food brands need to rethink their strategy in localization.
When a global fast-food chain enters a new market, there are many aspects of business decisions to be made:
- Managing their own shops, franchising, or a combination of two strategies
- Localized supply chain management
- Taste, product research and development
- Marketing
译文:背景 市场营销
早在1987年,快餐巨头麦当劳就在中国大陆开设了第一家餐厅。此后,美国的快餐连锁店加快了在该国发展的步伐。根据 WorldAtlas 的数据,赛百味是世界上最大的品牌之一,目前在中国拥有约 600 家餐厅。然而,业务并不总是蓬勃发展。有时,这些品牌在经历了一些看似鲁莽的扩张之后,每年需要关闭数百家餐厅。快餐公司在此过程中都面临管理、营销和客户满意度问题。
例如,2014年,麦当劳在中国就曾因食品安全而出现供应链冲击。由于其特许经营政策,赛百味自 2017 年以来销售额一直在下降。当新奇口味的新鲜感开始消退时,快餐品牌需要重新思考他们的本地化战略。当一家全球快餐连锁店进入一个新市场时,需要做出许多方面的商业决策:管理自己的店铺、特许经营或两种策略的结合本地化供应链管理、口味、产品研发、营销。
The cultural shock will be overwhelming for any business entity to handle.
We have witnessed that the champion of fast foods, Kentucky’s Fried Chicken, managed to develop rice-based meals for Chinese customers. But we have also seen some brands keep shipping raw materials overseas and still be successful.
While the greater China area is considered the revenue booster for global business, it is vital that as global brands to stay true to their local roots. So in our research, we want to find out what is the best strategy for localization, does franchising enabled faster growth, or the brand should own their restaurants. Does a China-born CEO understand the market better, or the company should keep its managerial structure intact? We hope that the data analyses in this project will help finding out the answers.
译文:任何商业实体都无法应对文化冲击。市场营销
我们亲眼目睹了快餐冠军肯德基为中国顾客开发了以米饭为主的餐食。 但我们也看到一些品牌不断将原材料运往海外并仍然取得成功。
虽然大中华地区被认为是全球业务的收入助推器,但作为全球品牌,忠于本地根源至关重要。 因此,在我们的研究中,我们想找出本地化的最佳策略是什么,特许经营是否能够实现更快的增长,或者品牌应该拥有自己的餐厅。 中国出生的 CEO 是更了解市场,还是公司应该保持其管理结构完整? 我们希望本项目中的数据分析有助于找到答案。