1. Who is their target market (think about demographic, cultural, and social factors)?
The target markets for the three (3) fast food chains are summarized in the table below, according to the demographic, cultural, and social factors:
2. What are some of the differences (if any) in the companies' target market?
There are differences in terms of customers’ preferences for healthy food alternatives for both Wendy’s and Burger King, which is observed to be an apparent weakness in McDonald’s meals. However, all of these companies’ strategies seem to focus on expanding their menu to cater to broader market segments. From the target markets, it could be viewed that McDonald’s market is widely encompassing when compared to both Wendy’s and Burger King which seemed to attract older adult groups with higher income and who are more health conscious.
3. In your opinion, what are some of the strategies implemented by each company to help them to successfully reach their target audience?
The strategies that were effective in assisting each company to successfully reach their respective target audiences include emphasizing their core competencies and strengths. For McDonald’s for instance, the company has recently published its ‘less is more’ philosophy . The philosophy signified listening to the customers’ preferences and incorporating the comments and suggestion in McDonald’s meals. As asserted, “At McDonald’s, we’re making changes based on what we’re hearing from all of you. That’s why we work hard to make tasty food with a “less is more” philosophy” .
Concurrently, Wendy’s unique selling point emphasizes ‘quality is our recipe’ statement . The company also acknowledged undergoing transformations for the purpose of addressing the needs and enhancing customer experience through “bold restaurant design to innovative food that consumers' want, to improved customer service, this exciting evolution of our brand reinforces our mission to position Wendy's as A Cut Above” . Likewise, as mentioned Wendy’s transformation included upgrading the appearances of stores, enhanced customer centric services, as well as focusing on the high quality of the food being offered.
Finally, Burger King provides ‘limited only’ meals by pricing them at promotional discounts to lure current and potential customers to purchase . Their improved online social sites also enable customers to share and interact through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and through traditional email .
References
Burger King. (2016). Offers. Retrieved from bk.com: https://www.bk.com/offers
Journalistic Inc. (2016). The QSR 50 Burger Segment. Retrieved from qsrmagazine.com: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/reports/qsr50-2015-burger-segment-breakdown
McDonald's. (2016). Our food philosophy. Retrieved from mcdonalds.com: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-our-food/our-food-philosophy.html
Morrison, M. (2012, October 29). Burger King's Broadened Audience Target Pays Off in Sales Growth. Retrieved from Advertising Age: http://adage.com/article/news/burger-king-s-broadened-audience-target-pays-sales-growth/238033/
Wendy's. (2015). Abput Wendy's. Retrieved from wendys.com: https://www.wendys.com/en-us/about-wendys/brand-transformation
Wendy's Target Audience. (2016). Retrieved from jelizabeth.wikispaces.com: https://jelizabeth.wikispaces.com/Wendy%27s+Target+Audience
