The Institutional Affiliation
History and Growth 3
Marketing Mix 4
Marketing Strategy 6
Recommendations 7
Conclusion 8
References 9
Fast Food Restaurant Analysis/Evaluations Assignment
History and Growth
Kentucky Fried Chicken is one of the America's most famous fast food restaurants. It was founded in 1952 by Harland Sanders, a regular cook who had no idea his recipe is about to become popular across the country and abroad. The story tells that he scratched the process of preparing chicken on the door in his kitchen. No one can affirm that fact, however, there is no doubt that the restaurant has been demonstrating the finest traditions of fast food for more than half a century now.
The original recipe is still in use along with “extra crispy chicken, home style sides, buttermilk biscuits” (Kentucky Fried Chicken). Currently, the restaurant operates in 115 countries and has thousands of regular customers at each location. Perhaps, only chefs know how to make their chicken taste better than in hundreds other restaurants. Meanwhile, marketers and other experts analyze and evaluate the company's progress in the fast food market based on the known statistics.
The restaurant's growth has been extremely fast since the moment when the very first location opened in Kentucky. As a matter of fact, the main office is still in the same state, in the city of Louisville. Just a few years after Sanders came up with his famous recipe, he started selling it successfully to other restaurant owners under the terms of the franchise. The unique blend of 11 herbs and spices became a subject of earnings and a golden vein for its owner. In ten years the restaurant's chain numbered 600 locations. What's more, the chicken established a competition on the market, especially for places that sold hamburgers, the dominant fast food product in the United States until 1960's.
Naturally, Sanders realized he needs to take care of his trademark to make it will not lose the popularity and the quality it is known for in the future. The owner made an agreement with John Y. Brown Jr. and Lack S. Massey, the investors who became the guarantee of Kentucky Fried Chicken label. In turn, Harland's name remained in history as the founders along with a life-lasting salary. In 20 years the restaurant opened 3,000 outlets and expanded abroad. The label was sold a few more times, including PepsiCo, that made KFC a part of its division. The company's largest single market is China, which has been also entered when KFC became the property of the PepsiCo.
The company's success on the global market largely depends on its inner strengths and nailed mechanisms. Trust and enthusiasm are the cores of the successful performance of the business in so many different places around the globe. Starting with the founder who transferred his ownership to the investors, today the parental brand entrusts the KFC's quality in the hands of the franchisee. Secondly, the company has well-established communication lines between the units, which guarantees synchronism and compliance to the inalienable standards. KFC must and, indeed, is the same taste, look and quality in every single location.
Marketing Mix
Product. The following marketing mix element consists of a variety of foods and beverages. They are offered in the individual meals, group or kids’ meals, and include sandwiches, classics, sides, fill ups, desserts, drinks and sauces. Chicken products include the original recipe chicken bucket, extra crispy, Kentucky grilled chicken, popcorn nuggets, extra crispy tenders, etc. Bucket meals, big box meals and combos are available in combinations of chicken and other sides that come in different sizes. Children can enjoy a side of their choice such as mac and cheese, beans, whole corn, mashed potatoes and grave along with crispy chicken, apple sauce and a drink. To diversify the menu, KFC offers every customer one of the above-mentioned sides or one of the two classics which are a famous bowl and a pot pie. Cakes and cookies for desserts, soft drinks, lemonade and iced tea supplement the menu. Despite the chicken original recipe popularity, the company managed to successfully expand the product component which lead to culinary innovations and higher income.
Price. As for the prices, they tend to be a little higher than prices at other fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, SubWay, Burger King, etc. The reason why the meals are pricier is because KFC “has moved into offering healthier alternatives such as grilled chicken”, etc. Despite the higher prices, they are still reasonable and not overly high. By offering healthy product, Kentucky Fried Chicken was able to engage various market segments. The target audience is not limited by age, gender, or geographical factors. It does depend on the economic factor since income determines classes of the buyers. By improving the pricing policy and offering the best quality for the price, KFC accents on the importance of the price building strategy and on the increasing of the audience.
Promotion. KFC's promotion strategy includes advertising, promotion, PR and direct selling. The restaurant uses a variety of advertising methods. Besides traditional advertisement such as TV and radio along with magazines, newspapers and outdoor commercial, a lot of attention is paid to the modern advertisement methods such as social media which allows to deliver the information faster, reach larger audience, and receive an immediate feedback. To promote their products, KFC regularly has special offers on the menu. They draw more customers and ensure higher revenue. There is also an order up delivery menu which allows to submit a group order or to order for later. The order form is very convenient and is very popular among customers. KFC public relations activities, in particular, the Journey of Hope, increase the awareness of the brand and promote the business. Kentucky Fried Chicken uses direct selling for the special occasion like social, community events, etc.
Place. KFC restaurants are located in source communities and crowded places like shopping centers, airports (for example, Yuma International), railway stations, petrol, stadiums, tourist attractions (for example, San Francisco Golden Gate Park), parking lots, etc. As it has been already mentioned before, Kentucky Fried Chicken has locations all over the country and abroad. In the other countries, restaurants are often located in their capital cities. The closest location is always easy to find using the correspondent option on the website. Besides the restaurants, the main places for distribution of the product include postmates and own website and mobile applications. The most income is generated in the actual physical locations, however, another distribution channels allow KFC positively influence the implementation of the market penetration strategy.
Marketing strategy.
KFC's marketing strategy include a number of approaches which ensured productive performance on the global market. In order to reach the greatest number of the clients, KFC clearly follows its short and long term strategies as well as the tactics which form the marketing mix of the company. Company has an experience on the foreign market. Professional use of marketing mix combinations ensures that entering a new, distant trade platform is thoughtful and gradual. The awareness of the brand largely contributes to the balanced and effective marketing mix. The company's success demonstrates strong relation between their business and the audience.
KFC proudly presents its old, original recipe to the client, however, it easily adjusts their basic product to modern market needs. It smoothly changes the menu leaving the only two elements, quality and taste, the same. KFC takes a responsibility to meet specific needs of different marketing segments. Kentucky Fried Chicken pay very close attention to the competitors on the market. Nowadays, there are a lot of new and trendy fast food places such as Penn Station East Cost Subs, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Culver's, McAliter's Deli, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Quiznos, Smashburger, Godfather's Pizza, Rubio's, Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out Burger (Herron, 2016). As a matter of fact they have eliminated Kentucky Fried Chicken from Top 25 list of fast food restaurants 2016 according to The Fiscal Times. Despite the fast growing popularity of new fast food places, KFC's strategy allows the company to approach the modern market and keep pace with its dynamics.
Being a fast food place, KFC still remains on the list of restaurants that sell products causing obesity. The attempt to adjust their food to healthier and safer still makes KFC partially responsible for heath conditions of many young people and adults who face heart and other diseases due to the lack of vitamins and minerals which cannot be found in fried fast food. KFC has also been accused of working with ethically irresponsible suppliers: “the chickens are bred using antibiotics and medicines, to be heavy immensely collapse under their own body weight” (Cronin, 2014). Kentucky Fried Chicken marketing strategy includes improving the supplying channels in order to meet both production and social responsibility needs.
Recommendations
In order to improve the marketing strategy and the overall performance, KFC must consider updating the website, the mobile application, and make sure they are convenient and user-friendly. I would also recommend communicating with the clients in social media more actively. The restaurant should also accent on the benefits of their product, such as healthy alternatives, etc. Kentucky Fried Chicken should also consider introducing a take-out party plate – a perfect match for pool, birthday, children or any other type of celebration. In order to improve and to keep high profit, KFC must focus on quality, constantly present and promote new items, train the employees, establish strong communication lines both within the company and with the customers.
Conclusion
Kentucky Fried Chicken is one of the finest and most popular fast food restaurants around the world. It develops and successfully implements its marketing strategy for more than half of the century. Effective marketing tactics allowed to expand the business, earn profit and maintain leading positions in the most distant foreign markets. KFC uses the most innovative marketing tools, methods of research and strategy implementation, has clear mission and vision of its own growth and development. .
References
Cronin, M. (2014, October 7). Why have chickens quadrupled in size since the 1950s? The Dodo. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
Herron, J. (2016, April 14). The 25 best fast food restaurants in 2016. The Fiscal Times. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
Kentucky Fried Chicken. (n.d.) Kentucky Fried Chicken official website. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
