MBA Project Study on Branding Strategy of a Burger As Truly Indian

Hardcastle Restaurant Pvt Ltd is a Mcdonald’s franchise with rights to own and operate Mcdonald’s Restaurants in Southern and West’s market in India. Hardcastle Restaurant Pvt Ltd is a franchise of Mcdonald’s since beginning during 1996. The company serves about 250 million customers annually through its 300 plus restaurants at 45 cities across the aforementioned regions of India. The company’s branding strategy has made it a leader in the Country as Truly Indian Burger. So, detailed study as part of MBA Project work needs to be carried out to know the real approach of branding as Truly Indian Burger. 

Customers’ perception on Mcdonald’s 

McDonald’s is perceived today as the quintessential Western brand. It’s an aspirational brand for many. So, for several customers who want to try ‘western fast food,’ McDonald’s is the first brand choice. It has the highest levels of trust among consumers today in the Indian context. From a larger perspective, the company is undertaking a lot of initiatives to build it into a very modern and futuristic brand. Introducing a lot of digital technologies in the stores and improving consumer experience, like self-operating screens, so that people don’t have to stand in line at the counter. Also introduced table service at many of our restaurants. The new initiatives of the brand need to be studied in the MBA project work.

Focus on Indian Connect as Brand’s strategy & its Marketing Mix

The company have been implementing many local innovations for the Indian markets, like the famous ‘aloo tikki burger’, and ‘aloo naan’. Yet consumers don’t make the connection of how their most favourite McDonald’s products are Indian in origin. There is a lot that McDonald’s has done over the past as far as ‘farm to fork’ is concerned in the local markets. So the popular products in fact all have a local origin. Local ingredients, like the potatoes are from Gujarat, the lettuce is from the Nilgiris, tomatoes from various local farms, jalapenos are from Karnataka, and coffee is from Chikmagalur. Marketing mix is mainly on Digital and the company is pretty clear about that as most of the consumers are digital natives, which explains the investment there. Apart from digital, they also do a lot of in-store story-telling, through activations. Marketing mix of Mcdonald’s can also be studied in the MBA project work.

The competitive strategy

Though World over we have seen Burger King and McDonald’s as huge rivals, the company in India is truly focused on the consumers and not anything else. They are focused on the consumer opportunity and doing what it takes to introduce the brand to them. And that remains the sole focus. The company has been consistently focused on value, providing differentiated experiences at the restaurants. And that has worked very well for the company, separating it from the competition out there. Marketing strategy of all other players in the QSR industry as part of the MBA Project will be an eye opener.

Challenges being faced in India

There are many market challenges today and it took 22 years for the company to make its first profit. Despite all challenges, the company has adopted a multifaceted approach for McDonald’s and leveraging all consumer opportunities like coffee, breakfast, and investing in digital strength and providing a differentiated experience at the restaurants. It has built a great brand reputation and has become a familiar brand for consumers in these years. There are a large number of customers who are waiting to experiment with Western fast food on a daily basis. For brands like Mcdonald’s, this is not as much a challenge, as it is a wonderful opportunity to introduce Western fast food to Indian consumers at large. So the great market penetration opportunity should also be studied in the MBA project.

Conclusion

McDonald’s has never been an offer-led restaurant as the brand realized over time is that it’s all about providing great value to the consumer, and offering value is much more, it goes beyond offers. Thus Mcdonald’s strategy of providing value to the consumers should be studied in detail as part of MBA Project work on Brand’s strategy so that findings of the study can be followed by other players in the QSR industry. Dedicated faculty of Madembaezy can help a student during the MBA Project study and to find a subject, select a topic, find an organisation for the MBA Project work and plan the MBA project and will act as a liaison between the student and the host organisation.