CREATING WORLDWIDE MARKET DOMINATION
             McDonald's has dominated the fast food industry for nearly three decades. With global sales of over $40 billion, its closest competitor, Burger King, would need over $27 billion in sales to take over the number one position in the industry. (Dailey, 2000, p. 8) The company has achieved prosperity through the application of highly successful marketing procedures first in the United States, and then globally. These procedures include (1) educating their consumers, and (2) brand consistency.
             When McDonald's first opened, they served people quickly and efficiently. That's one of the things that appealed to Ray Kroc when he opened his own franchise. (McDonald's History, 2001.) People learned to expect fast service and consistent food at each McDonald's as they opened across the country.
             When McDonald's spread globally, they had to reeducate their consumers. Many customers were not familiar with the American menu of burgers, fries and shakes, or the concept of quick service. (Editors, 1999, p. 1) Their first television ads in the United Kingdom showed the food, the restaurants, and stressed that McDonald's was "new and different." (Editors, 1999, p. 3)
             McDonald's continued this marketing strategy as they opened other worldwide restaurants, and tailored their marketing to the local population. For example, in I996 in India, fast food was already a well-known concept. McDonald's tailored its menu to non-beef items like the Fish Sandwich, the McChicken Sandwich, and the Vege Burger with cheese. Consumers were already aware of the fast food concept, so McDonald's concentrated on building traffic. Their strategy was simple. "Get them in. Trade them up. Get them back." (Shatrujeet, August 2000)
             Educating the consumer in India began with educating the fathers, who usually make the decision where to eat when the family eats out. Marketing studies showed that fathers thought of McDonald's as a...