Introduction
It is never an easy task to establish a company as a globally recognized brand without proper positioning and segmentation of the market. Market segmentation is to divide the broad market into a smaller group according to different criterions and the target market is the group of customers a company wants to serve. “Market segmentation does matter as it helps to craft messages for a definite audience” (Diamandies & Kotler, 2015). For this paper, I have selected McDonalds for discussion. As a company McDonalds has a great reputation as Pfeffer (2006) suggested, “even if the world ends, McDonald’s would still be open”. This paper provides an adequate discussion regarding the market segmentation and positioning strategy followed by McDonalds. McDonalds has segmented its market according to demographic, psychographic, geographic, and behavioral characteristics. They also have segmentation among students, kids, and family. Their positioning strategy has given them an extra edge to become one of the largest chains around the world.
Company Overview
McDonald's Corporation has been the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. It serves approximately 68 million customers in 119 countries in 35,000 outlets around the world. Richard and Maurice McDonald founded McDonald’s in 1940. In 1960, the advertising campaign named "Look for the Golden Arches" gave the company a great sales boost. In 1954, Ray Kroc joined and suggested to franchise the restaurants throughout the countries. McDonalds used its corporate logo from November 18, 1968 to 2006. McDonalds has a predominant market for selling hamburgers, variety of chicken sandwiches, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, and desserts. It also sells vegetarian items, wraps, salads and some localized items according to demand and locations. An appealing item from McDonalds is the McRib,