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In 1954, he visited a restaurant in San Bernardino, California that had purchased several Multimixers. There he found a small but successful restaurant run by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, and was stunned by the effectiveness of their operation. They produced a limited menu, concentrating on just a few items – burgers, fries and beverages – which allowed them to focus on quality and quick service.

They were looking for a new agent and Kroc saw an opportunity. In 1955, he founded McDonald’s System, Inc., a predecessor of the McDonald’s Corporation, and six years later bought the exclusive rights to the McDonald’s name. By 1958, McDonald’s had sold its 100 millionth hamburger (McDonalds, 2017)

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Ray Kroc in 1955 offered to begin a franchise program for the Mcdonalds brothers and opened the first Franchise Mcdonalds in Des Plaines, Illinois.
After Kroc had bought out the McDonald Brothers in 1961, the number of restaurants topped 1,000 before the end of 1970, the company then began stock trading publicly in 1965.

The public mascot of McDonalds was created in 1963 with 'Ronald McDonald' the clown, and the Big 'M' symbol became McDonalds most iconic logo for the business, other products such as the 'Big Mac' (1968) and Happy Meals (1979) also defined the Mcdonalds brand.

Continuing to expand internationally and locally, McDonald extended to Canada in 1967, reaching a total of 10,000 restaurants by 1988, growth was so fast that in 1990's it was said that a McDonald opened every 5 hours in the world.

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http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds-history.html

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Kiosks -  In recent years McDonalds have implemented in-store kiosks. The kiosks aim is to provide a speedy, efficient service which increases the efficiency of the 'guest cycle' as payments can be made quicker. Peterson (2017) suggests that this gives customers more control. This is true to some extent as customers can choose exactly what they want and there is less opportunity for errors. However, it's also arguable because communicating with a human cashier has many more possible dimensions, for example special requests and human intuition.

Implementing kiosks was a form of revenue management for McDonald's. McDonald's claimed the kiosks were not intended to replace staff members, but allow them to be allocated to different areas of the store to provide a better customer experience (Reuters, 2016).

Since installing the kiosks, McDonald's have reached an all-time shares high ($182 from $142), suggesting that their restaurants have become more profitable through this change.

One method of revenue management Mcdonald's openly publicise is their ethos on equipment. McDonald's often replace older, less efficient equipment when newer ones become available. As a result, they have saved around $14.2 million in energy costs in 2014 alone by using more efficient equipment (Corporate.McDonalds, 2017).

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Click n Collect App - McDonald's ordering services allow customers to order and collect food from a McDonald's branch via a smartphone application (app). The app provides a personal and convenient experience for the customer but also allows McDonald's to develop a database of customer profiles. The more information they can learn about their customer, the easier it will be to tailor their services and generate more sales.

McDonald's already offer savings and in-app offers for app users, as well as an interactive social media. For example, A campaign on McDonald's social media involved matching meals to customer's star sign. This makes the customer feel more involved and creates a more personalised service. However, by the end of 2017 they plan to implement 'customer tracking' to analyse spending habits, and encourage customers to re-purchase (Forbes, 2017).

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In late 20th Century, McDonald's started to move beyond the fast food business, by acquiring Chipotle Mexican Grill (1998) and Boston Market (2000) in the United States, and in United Kingdom Purchased Aroma Cafe in 1999 and Pret a Manger (2001), By late 2008 McDonalds had no stake or interest in any of those companies and instead focused on their own brand.

Because of the Massive Success McDonald's saw led to more criticism, majority of which concerned its association with global increase in obesity, Recently in 2017 Mcdonald's added healthy items to its menu in 2017 and began a vegan burger test, it also cut its supersized portions, In the U.S and Canada Franchises stopped using trans-fat oils in certain items, however these 'efforts' did little for the health concerns.

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Table Service - McDonald's is a fast food restaurant, and so currently the only contact customers have with employees is when they are ordering food. McDonalds lis currently in the process of rolling out table service in its restaurants to engage better with its customers. The chief executive Steve Easterbrook states "There is nothing more powerful than one-on-one customer experience" (Forbes, 2016). Whilst it is fair to suggest customers benefit from one-on-one interaction, this initiative by McDonalds directly conflicts with their aim to increase efficiency through installing kiosks, highlighting some lack of coherence.

Uber Eats - Delivery services were introduced in 2017 through the Uber Eats service provided by Uber. It allows McDonalds to get their products directly to their customers with minimal customer effort. This contributes positively to service which is evident as '10 per cent' of McDonald's sales came from its delivery service in June 2017, despite only 270 of its 1,250 sites trialing the service (Telegraph, 2017). Whilst clearly profitable for McDonalds, there is a recurrent issue that McDonalds have conflicting methods of improving the customer and guest cycle.

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McDonald's work constantly to improve the service they provide. The guest cycle offers more than most fast food services do, with  technology being a major part and the inclusion of table service.  However, they stay strong to their fast food identity.
issie- The Customer life cycle is what keeps McDonald's service moving forward, with international data being taken, the team at McDonald's are always looking for an area to improve.

As one of the oldest fast-food outlets, McDonalds are at risk of falling behind in terms of CRM. The incorporation of social media in their promotional strategies are efforts to stay relevant and visible to the digitally connected demographic. Collaborating with popular app developers showcases their need to stay significant and a part of the evolving digital culture.

Without Ray kroc the Mcdonalds brothers wouldnt of been able to expand and franchise their business to its global operation it is today, the ethic of mac and dick McDonald with Kroc's business side made the business is what it is today and expanded at such a fast rate it became an empire hiring and feeding millions of people a year.

In conclusion, McDonalds are currently succeeding in their efforts to improve their customer experience, and ultimately increase their revenue. With the given recommendations McDonalds can streamline their business model and make even greater successes.

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Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). McDonald’s | History & Facts. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/McDonalds [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].

CCW Digital - Call Center, Customer Service & Customer Relationship Management. (2018). McDonald's Improves Customer Experience By Improving Employee Experience. [online] Available at: https://www.customercontactweekdigital.com/agent-engagement/articles/mcdonalds-improves-customer-experience-by [Accessed 9 Jan. 2018].

Corporate.mcdonalds.com. (2018). History of McDonald’s :: McDonald’s. [online] Available at: http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds-history.html [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].

Dudovskiy , J. (2016) McDonalds Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. [Online] Available at: https://research-methodology.net/mcdonalds-segmentation-targeting-and-positioning/ [Accessed 13 December 2017].

HuffPost. (2018). How Bad Is McDonald's Food?. [online] Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robbins/how-bad-is-mcdonalds-food_b_754814.html [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].

Lakshminarayanan, S. (2018). Role of IT in Customer Retention and Customer Life cycle Management Processes By Suresh Lakshminarayanan, Director - Finance & IT, McDonald's India West & South. [online] Available at: https://business-process-management.cioreviewindia.com/cioviewpoint/role-of-it-in-customer-retention-and-customer-life-cycle-management-processes-nid-1589-cid-1.html [Accessed 11 Jan. 2018].

Lutz, A. (2018). McDonald's Has A 3-Step Plan To Get Customers Back. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-plan-to-get-customers-back-2014-1?IR=T [Accessed 15 Jan. 2018].

Mccoy, J (2015) The Big Mac Lifestyle: How McDonalds is Marketing To Their Target Audience. [Online] Available at: http://www.sitepronews.com/2015/07/30/the-big-mac-lifestyle-how-mcdonalds-is-marketing-to-their-target-audience/ [Accessed 19 January 2018].

McDonalds. (2018).  Click & Collect | McDonald's UK. [online] Available at: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/good-to-know/in-our-restaurants/click-and-collect.html [Accessed 18 Jan. 2018].

McDonalds. (2018). McCafé Loyalty Card | McDonald's UK. [online] Available at: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/deals/mccafe-loyalty-card.html [Accessed 17 Jan. 2018].

McDonalds. (2018).  How does McDonald's attract and retain its customers?. [online] Available at: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/whatmakesmcdonalds/questions/running-the-business/customer-service/how-does-mcdonalds-attract-and-retain-its-customers.html [Accessed 17 Jan. 2018].

McDonalds (2018). What makes McDonald's. [Online]. Available at: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/whatmakesmcdonalds/questions/work-with-us/employee-diversity/how-many-mcdonalds-restaurants-operate-in-uk-and-worldwide.html [Accessed 13 December 2017].

MoneySavingExpert. (2018). McDonald’s Monopoly 2017 – how to max your chances of a win - MoneySavingExpert.com Deals Hunter. [online] Available at: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/deals-hunter/2017/03/17/mcdonalds-monopoly/ [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].

Peterson, H. (2018). McDonald's just dealt another blow to Starbucks' troubled loyalty program. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-to-launch-loyalty-program-2016-3 [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].

Sands, K. (2018). This is what the new table service at McDonald's is like. [online] walesonline. Available at: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/tried-new-table-service-mcdonalds-11490205 [Accessed 11 Jan. 2018].

Smith, R. (2017) McDonald's gets #ReindeerReady with social Christmas campaign. (online) Available at: https://wwwcampaignlivecouk/article/mcdonalds-gets-reindeerready-social-christmas-campaign/1450390#PYF1McXDC8RXcqdX99 [Accessed 19 January 2018].

McDonalds (2017) Energy Efficiency Improvements in Kitchen Equipment [Online] Available at: http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/sustainability/planet/climate-and-energy/equipment.html (Accessed: 30 November 2017).

Peterson, H. (2017) McDonalds Shoots Down Fears It Is Planning to Replace Cashiers with Kiosks [Online] Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/what-self-serve-kiosks-at-mcdonalds-mean-for-cashiers-2017-6 (Accessed: 03 December 2017).

Kim, T. (2017) McDonalds Hits All-Time High as Wall Street Cheers Replacement of Cashiers with Kiosks [Online] Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/mcdonalds-hits-all-time-high-as-wall-street-cheers-replacement-of-cashiers-with-kiosks.html (Accessed: 05 December 2017).

Reuters (2016) McDonalds Is Rolling Out Table Service Across the U.S [Online] Available at: http://fortune.com/2016/11/17/mcdonalds-table-service-smart-menu/ (Accessed: 05 December 2017).

Gerrard, B. (2017) McDonalds Hails New Delivery Service Just Months After Launch [Online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/10/24/mcdonalds-hails-new-delivery-service-just-months-launch/ (Accessed: 05 December 2017).

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The potential pathways that a McDonald customer can take are varied, which can depend on the location they go to, the number of customers in the store, and what experience the customer is then after.

Pre arrival; The customer, whether looking for a place to eat, or in particular a McDonalds, can first be greeted with street promotions which indict the distance to the nearest store. Furthermore, they could be on public transport, specifically a bus, and see an advertisement at the stop. When the customer is then closer to the location, the smell is known to lure and be the final decider if they are to walk inside.

Arrival; The customer can then decide how they would like to order, whether that be the use of the customer service tills, the self service, and then the app- ‘Click and Collect’ allows for the customer to order whilst in the store, or to have pre-ordered and it to be ready once in the store- https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/good-to-know/in-our-restaurants/click-and-collect.html If the customer then wanted an alternative to the fast order and collection, they can now take advantage of the ‘table service’ that they provide. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/tried-new-table-service-mcdonalds-11490205

In-house; Once in McDonalds, the customer can then make full use of their free Wi-Fi, which can be used on the tablets they install on the tables. (Sands, 2018)

Departure; When leaving the store, they will have either eaten in store, or will have their food ready to eat.

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This case study shows how McDonalds are interacting with the local community to encourage customer engagement.
https://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/teachers/business-ethics-challenge

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/04/13/why-mcdonalds-is-looking-to-track-customer-data/#4f03bcdd35fb

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Targeting

McDonald’s target group are aged 8-45 years old (Dudovskiy, 2016). Even though the majority of their promotion is aimed at the general public, specialised promotions are created for younger consumers and children. Their income demographic is classed as lower to middle income individuals (Dudovskiy, 2016).

Most profitable segments:

·      Students

·      Young professionals

·      Children

·      Families

Segmentation strategy

McDonald’s promotes their products through traditional and new media. Promotion through social media appeals specifically to young adults and professionals. Their TV promotions are family-friendly, with specific adverts tailored to young children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-SPaH1P0BI

Happy Meals cater to children from 1- preteens (Calvert, 2012). These meals typically include a burger, fries and a drink. With the rise in health conscious consumers Happy meals now contain alternatives such as fruits and juices. The trademark of the Happy Meal is a toy always accompanies it. The toys are always in collaboration with popular television shows, movies or toy brands.

McDonalds is convenient for students as it is readily available, cheap and convenient. In collaboration with student discount site Unidays, McDonald’s offers students a free burger on presentation of their student card. These promotions are pushed through social media applications such as Facebook and Instagram.

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McDonald's   Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

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Uploaded by AtlantisUniversity on 2014-04-24.

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When looking further into  the Guest Cycle, McDonald's, could act more on loyalty schemes, as apart from the short annual Monopoly scheme, and apart from the app, there isn't a more simple way for returning customers to gain points.
Furthermore, when In-house, those using the table service, could benefit from the use of a bottomless soft drink vendor.

The Customer cycle is constantly  changing to improve the guest cycle, however in order to improve further, the use of more customer feedback could be beneficial.

Continuing to develop strategies that encourage consumers to provide feedback will greatly assist CRM. Continuing to pursue digital avenues to connect with consumers will ensure they stay relevant.

With general health concerns with the fast food industry, Mcdonald's need to start promoting a permanent range of healthier alternatives aswell as cutting down on sugary drinks that children consume at a young age which can contribute to unhealthy lifestyles and child obesity which is an alarming concern for the NHS in United Kingdom. i think Mcdonalds also need to disassociate the encouragement of young children eating Happy meals as it causes them to prefer fast food over regular home cooked food.

In regards to improving the customer and guest cycle through the use of hardware, software, people and procedures, McDonalds needs to gain a clear focus. Their incoherent initiatives on how to do so could negatively impact their operations. On assessment of their financial success, they should focus on speeding up the service, like they have done with the kiosks and delivery rather than table service.

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Acquisition

With over 30,000 locations worldwide, McDonald's is easily accessible (McDonalds, 2018). Tailoring menus in different countries to cater to local markets is McDonald’s recipe for success (Mccoy, 2015). The use of local ingredients and flavour profiles ensures products appeal to the local market.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpGe-6VvyzA

Retention

McDonald’s increase customer retention by providing customers with special offers such as Meal Deals and the Super Saver Menu. They run seasonal campaigns with limited edition deals to drive up consumer sales and interaction with the brand.

Feedback voucher - The McDonalds receipt offers consumers an opportunity to purchase a Super Saver Meal for 1.99. Conducting an online survey and filing in the receipt number will get you a meal voucher – this not only ensures that customers come back, it provides them with feedback on their current services.

Reindeer Ready campaign – in December 2017, McDonald’s collaborated with mobile app Snapchat. It encouraged consumers to follow McDonald’s on the Snapchat platform and use it’s holiday games and features over the holiday season (Smith, 2017). The campaign and advert promoted carrot sticks as a healthy alternative for children and the reindeer.

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Expansion

Prime targets for expansion are the youth and young professionals. Digital promotion and initiatives such as the loyalty rewards program encourages customers to make repeat purchases with the promise of free products. Along with the launch of their mobile app, certain promotions are done solely through the app (Peterson, 2016). This encourages consumers to stay digitally connected with the brand.

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In the latest episode of Digital Decoded, we test McDonald's mobile ordering app and speak to the brand's digital director about the next stage of its digital transformation.

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How do they acquire new customers?
- Use of advertising and marketing for new products, promotions and collaborations. (McDonald, 2011)
- Incfease the use of technology available to the customers to ease purchase.(Lakshminarayanan.S, 2018)
- Widen product range, like increasing types of coffee and breakfast smoothies. (Lutz, 2018)

How do they make existing customers experience enhanced?
-  By increasing their employee satisfaction by training and increase in wages, results in better customer service, and therefore customer satisfaction rises, making the want to return. (CCW Digital, 2018)
- New table service, which increases the relaxing vibe that McDonald's aim for. This also includes use of the tablets on the tables for customers to search the internet. (Sands,2018)
- Use of 'Click and Collect' app, which allows for pre-orders, then remembers orders for further purchase and sends notifications if there was an extended time without a visit. (McDonalds, 2018)

How does McDonald's retain customers?
- McDonald's Monopoly- collect monopoly places to earn free McDonald products, or even add them up to win a car! (MoneySavingExpert, 2018)
-To add further with the 'Click and Collect' app, the app will also reward customers with 'deals base on the number of visits they make to McDonald's every month'  Peterson, 2018, online)
- Coffee loyalty scheme, whereby after 6 drinks, you get one free. (McDonalds, 2018)