A Case Study of Marketing Challenges Faced by McDonalds in 2018

This assignment presents a detailed case study analyzing the marketing challenges faced by McDonald's in 2018, particularly focusing on the United States market. The study highlights two primary issues: customer dissatisfaction with the quality of food, especially the breakfast sandwich, and a lack of menu innovation. The assignment notes a 2.2% decline in transactions in 2018, which led to slowed sales growth and increased menu prices. The analysis emphasizes the impact of these issues on customer perception and sales. It also acknowledges growing competition from rival fast-food chains. The case study concludes with an overview of the steps McDonald's took to address these issues, including innovations in store interiors and menu changes. The assignment serves as an insightful examination of the challenges faced by a global fast-food giant and provides a foundation for understanding the importance of maintaining quality and innovation in the competitive fast-food market.

Running head: MARKETING CHALLENGES – CASE STUDY OF MCDONALDS
Marketing Challenges – Case Study of McDonalds
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MARKETING CHALLENGES – CASE STUDY OF MCDONALDS
Assessment 1
1. Introduction
A marketing challenge is defined as a challenge or issue that a business is seen to
experience in the domain of its marketing activities. As such, a marketing challenge refers to the
inability of a business to sell its products and services well enough, largely as a consequence of
quality and other production related issues (Ameer et al. 2019). Marketing challenges are
detrimental for the growth and development of a business and need to be quickly addressed in
order to be overcome (Asseraf et al. 2019). Marketing challenges can be quite varied and
extensive in nature. A challenge in the area of marketing can arise when customers fail to buy the
products of a company as regularly as they normally do because they find it to be of inferior
quality or because they are not happen about the way by which the product is packaged or sold or
the price for which it is made available for is too steep. Marketing challenges serve as a setback
for any business and an enterprise that is faced with a marketing challenge needs to take
immediate steps to identify and locate the nature of this challenge following which it can take the
steps or the measures that are necessary to combat the challenge and sell the products and
services of the business successfully enough in the market again (Chandra 2019). This
assignment engages in a detailed analysis of the marketing challenges that were faced by
McDonalds in the year of 2018, primarily over the quality of its food and also because its menu
was not considered to be diverse or varied enough by its global client base. This assignment

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analyzes the challenge and concludes with a number of effective recommendations that could be
incorporated by McDonalds and by related businesses in the fast food industry to keep such an
issue from arising again in the future. It needs to be remembered in this context that McDonalds
is a global name in fast food business and has a reputation to maintain if it wants to continue
being as successful a business as it is presently considered to be.
2. Marketing Challenges Faced by McDonalds in 2018 – 2019 – An
Analysis
McDonalds is one of the most renowned fast food chains in the whole world and it is seen to
cater to quiet a vast customer base (Colicev et al. 2019). The target audience for McDonald’s
burgers and fries are seen to hail from a wide range of economic and social backgrounds. From
the inception, this is a business that has kept its food priced quite economically so as to be able to
reach out to wide sections of a country’s audience in a quick and easy manner (Coates et al.
2020). As such the food that is made available by McDonalds for its target audience is appealing
in nature because of the quickness of the delivery process, the convenience that it creates for
people who have to work from home or from office for long hours and who could do with
indulging in a snack or two, and for people who do not wish to cook at home after a hard day’s
work and would instead like to opt for meals on the go. This is a business that has been in
existence for the last fifty to sixty years and it is headquartered in the country of America.
Currently McDonalds as a business is seen to run operations in all countries of the world, in both
the Global North and the Global South and has acquired name and fame for the delicious taste of
its fast food and the low or cost effective prices of the same (Colicev et al. 2019).

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It is important to remember however, that while McDonalds as a business has been
around for quite some time and although it has already managed to establish its reputation in the
global market space, the company has come under the scanner in recent times, especially in the
years of 2018 and 2019 for a number of reasons. These are the two years when the business was
seen to be faced with a number of marketing challenges because customers have been
complaining about a reduction in the quality of food sold by the enterprise and also about the fact
that the menu offered by McDonalds at each and every one of its outlets is something that lacks
variety (Deepak and Jeyakumar 2019). In other words, the food offered by McDonalds had
become staid and boring and customers were not able to derive satisfaction from the quality of
the food sold by the company either. The specific issues that are being referred to in this case
study are of course issues that surfaced at the McDonalds outlets that are spread across the cities
and towns of the United States of America (Ghazali et al. 2019). Transactions at the McDonalds
food outlets in the USA fell by a rate of 2.2 percent in the year of 2018. Sales growth in all the
stores slowed down as a consequence and this in turn led to a rise in menu prices while also
creating a clamor for new delivery capabilities. The main issues that were seen to surface at this
point of time was the fact that the menu offered by McDonalds for its customers was not
innovative enough and the quality of the sandwiches and burgers sold by this fast food joint were
also not as good as what it used to be before (Gupta and Sing 2019). The quality of the breakfast
sandwich in particular, a popular item on the McDonalds menu in the USA, had become
especially soft and was not creating the desirable taste that it had previously been well known
for. As a consequence, people who consumed breakfast food from McDonalds in large numbers
decided to refrain from the purchase of this sandwich and a variety of other foods, the quality of
which was no longer up to the mark and this in turn led to a decline in sales and business growth,

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leading the business administrators to discuss and analyze what had possibly gone wrong (Gupta
and Singh 2019).
In retrospect, the dissatisfaction that was experienced by customers with respect to the
poor quality of the food and the lack of innovation in the Menu at McDonalds is not something
that is surprising to say the least. McDonalds by the year of 2018 and 2019 was an enterprise that
had a presence in each and every country of the globe and it was seen to be doing good business
in all of these countries (Harris et al. 2019). The fact that it was headquartered in the USA and
that its operations originated in the USA implied that the business had to take special care to
ensure that it catered to its clients in the USA in the best possible way. However, the decline in
sales of McDonalds food by a figure of 2.2 percent in the year of 2018 followed by a dip in sales
in the year of 2019, implied that McDonalds in the USA was not doing as well as it ought to
have been doing and that there was plenty for the business to consider and improvise upon in
order to win back the trust and the confidence of its target audience once again (Kraak et al.
2019). The breakfast sandwich was introduced by the business in its US outlets to cater to
customers who are working professionals and who prefer grabbing their breakfast outside instead
of making something at home. The idea of the breakfast sandwich was definitely a good one, and
for some time this was hugely popular as it allowed people to fill their stomachs and get ready
for a long day in the office. The slow and steady decline in the quality of this sandwich is not
something that was well received by the target audience of this business in the USA at all. Soon,
the sandwich came to be considered as too soft and mushy and started to taste more like pastry
than like a sandwich (Montgomery et al. 2019). Those who would buy this sandwich and who
would endorse it on a regular basis, refrained from doing so any more, which in turn proved to be
quite bad for the food image of the company. Up until then, McDonalds in the USA at least had

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been known to be a business enterprise that provided its customers with top quality fast food at
the most cost effective of rates and that too at any given hour of the day. The decline in the
quality of the food offered by the business is not something that was well received by the
customers at all. The fact that customers would no longer be in a position to procure the
breakfast sandwich on grounds that its quality was not as good as it used to be before, implied
that they were losing out on at least one option when it came to the various breakfast burgers and
sandwiches offered at the McDonalds outlets. It led to dissatisfaction to prevail among the target
audience and this in turn was reflected in the decline in sales in 2018 by a rate of 2.2 percent
(Mora and Sirvent 2019).
The performance of McDonalds at this juncture, that is, towards the end of 2018 and the
beginning of 2019 was also seen to suffer because the menu that it offered was not considered to
be innovative enough. All that customers had access to upon their daily visit to the food outlets
was the same old menu that they had been used to for the past five to ten years. This led to a lot
of boredom being generated among target audience concerning the food that McDonalds was
putting up for sale (Potvin et al. 2019). Customers, including families with lots of children would
no longer experience the zeal and the enthusiasm that they would once undergo when they paid a
visit to a McDonalds food outlet. They would instead prefer to visit rival companies like Burger
King and KFC instead, who appeared to offer them with a greater variety with respect to fast
food at this point of time. This meant that McDonalds in the USA was not only losing out on
business because of the fact that the quality of its food was seen to suffer and because it was not
offering its target audience a menu that was innovative enough, but also because there was
growing competition, competition that threatened to destroy the existing target base of the

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business if it did not act quickly enough in order to resolve the problems or challenges that it was
faced with (Steinhoff et al. 2019).
Being a global enterprise and running operations in almost every part of the world,
McDonalds as a business was quick to rise to the challenge. A lot of innovations were introduced
in the interior spaces of the McDonalds restaurants in the USA. These were now fitted with what
may be termed as giant touch screens that allowed customers to visit the store, to order their
meals or create their meals in a faster and quicker manner and to check out at a pace that was
faster than what they had been accustomed to before, when visiting a McDonald’s restaurant
(Steinhoff et al. 2019). The paint schemes that were adopted to re-create the interiors of the
McDonalds stores in the USA were also warmer in terms of colors and hues, thus providing
customers with the comfortable space that they needed in order to sit and relish the food that was
served to them at the McDonalds food outlets. New breakfast sandwiches were unveiled by the
company again in the year of 2019, that contained more meat, and a lot of bacon in particular
compared to what the sandwiches that had previously been sold over here had done. Customers
could relish more meaty sandwiches upon their visit to the McDonalds outlets, and they had a
more comfortable ambience now to consume their food in. At least some if not all of the issues
that had been posed by the lack of an innovative menu and also the lack of good quality
sandwiches and other fast food at the McDonalds store, had been controlled through the
measures undertaken by the McDonalds authorities as discussed and analyzed above (West
2019).

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3. Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be stated that the marketing challenge that was faced by McDonalds
in the USA in the years of 2018 and early 2019 were quickly resolved or combated with the
business administrators at the company wasting no time at all to sit down and analyze what had
gone wrong. A firm resolve was adopted by the management of the company to get to the root of
the marketing challenges that the company was faced with, particularly to understand the specific
reasons why customers were dissatisfied with the products and the services that McDonalds as an
enterprise had to offer them. The key issues that were faced by McDonalds at this point of time
were issues that pertained to poor quality of sandwiches and other foods at the McDonalds stores
along with the fact that the business was not doing enough to provide its customers with the
variety that they needed with regard to the food they consumed at the McDonalds outlets.
Customers were being forced to stick to a tried and tested menu and consequently they were not
too happy with what McDonalds had to offer them. They had instead, at this point of time, begun
to turn their attention to other competing or rival organizations such as Burger King and KFC,
and it was realized on the part of the McDonalds authorities that they would have to move very
quickly in order to avoid losing out to their competition.
The steps that were taken by McDonalds as a company to resolve the business challenges
that it was faced with, were of course those that appeared to work in its favor, and to reduce the
crisis that the company was experiencing. The introduction of new breakfast sandwiches on the
menu at McDonald’s outlets in the USA is something that was well received by the members of
its target audience especially because of the fact that these sandwiches now had more meat in
them than they previously had. Bacon based sandwiches and burgers at the McDonald’s food
stores were increased in number keeping customer satisfaction in mind, as a consequence of

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which the company was able to deal with some if not all of the quality related problems that had
been complained about by customers of late. To enhance the experience of customers when
dining at any one of the McDonald’s restaurants in the USA, the company took the enormous
step of revamping the interiors of many of its restaurants so that customers now had a warmer
and more comfortable place to sit and consume their food in. The use of new and warm colors to
decorate the interiors of the stores and to create a warmer and more comfortable environment
meant that customers now took greater pleasure when visiting one of the McDonalds restaurants
or food outlets in the USA than they had done so in the past.
4. Recommendations
There are a number of recommendations that can be proposed for a business like
McDonalds, which it could have incorporated in order to face the business challenges or issues
that it had been faced with in 2018 and 2019 over and above the measures that they were already
seen to take in order to handle the problem. They are as follows –
 The company should have hired a panel of experts to immediately test the quality of all
the fast foods that were on offer that the various outlets in McDonalds. While the
company was seen to take special care with the breakfast sandwiches that it was
delivering to the customers and which had been complained about by the customers, a
greater effort could have been made by the enterprise to hire a panel of experts to check
the quality of all the food that was being offered by McDonalds, to determine whether or
not the food standards were up to the market. The results of this quality test could then
have been published on the website of the company to provide customers with the

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assurance that they needed to know that they food they bought and consumed at
McDonalds was always going to be of a high standard (West 2019).
 The case study analysis has revealed that a number of significant steps were taken by
McDonalds to improve the in-dining experience of the customers. While the efforts that
were made by the enterprise were laudable in this respect, more could have been done to
enhance the in-dining experience of the customers. The store could have introduced deals
and discounts for the first visitors or customers at the McDonalds outlets in the USA,
allowing them to save a sufficient amount of money on their early purchases at this food
outlet. The provision of deals and discounts would have gone a long way in increasing
the satisfaction and happiness of the target audience of McDonalds. They would have
endorsed the food and the services on offer at the McDonalds outlets regardless of the
rumors surrounding the quality of the food and the lack of an innovative menu. While it
is true that the food on the menu at McDonalds is quite affordably priced, catering to
customers of every budget, the announcement of deals and discounts for early bird
purchases at the store would have led to a greater customer footfall at these stores at a
time that was otherwise considered to be critical for the business (Mora and Sirvent
2019).
 The enterprise and its administrators could have taken to the social media channels at the
time to explain why the quality of the breakfast sandwich had gone down and why it was
not as good as it used to be before. By offering a detailed explanation regarding the same
on social media, which in turn is widely used by people all over the world, and people of
all age groups at that, the company could have averted some of the losses that it incurred
with respect to the breakfast sandwich towards the end of 2018 (Harris et al. 2019).

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 While the problem of the lack of an innovative menu is something that was addressed by
the company by introducing a new breakfast sandwich in the place of the existing one
that contained more meat, and particularly more bacon in it, the problem of variety could
have been dealt with in a number of other ways. The company could have introduced at
least two to three more items on its menu that are innovative in nature and which would
have been well received by its target audience upon being launched. In addition to
introducing a meatier sandwich, the company could also have introduced two or three
alternatives for its vegetarian customers, thus keeping both segments of its target
audience happy in this context. Customer satisfaction is something that any and every
business around the world needs to look into, in order to ensure long term business
development and growth. A crucial way, by which customer satisfaction could have been
greatly enhanced owing to the lack of an innovative menu, would have been to introduce
some more options with respect to vegetarian and non-vegetarian sandwiches and burgers
than what it did (West 2019).
 Apart from using social media to explain why it is that the quality issues had taken place,
the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram could also have been
used by the company to reach out to members of its target audience on a one to one basis
and find out what their needs and requirements are. It needs to be remembered that one of
the reasons why the use of social media is so popular in today’s day and age is the fact
that it allows for the quick and easy dissemination of information. This could have been
taken advantage of by the McDonald’s business authorities to engage with customers on
a one to one basis and determine why the breakfast sandwich had not been working in

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their favor, while offering a detailed explanation at the same given time about the poor
quality of the same (Steinhoff et al. 2019).
 McDonald’s is a business that has for the longest length of time been criticized for its use
of saturated fat for the creation of its burgers and fries. An initiative could have been
taken by the business at this critical juncture in the history of its operations in the United
States of America to explain to customers the type of ingredients that it had been using in
the manufacture of its food. By keeping customers informed about this, the business
would have gone a long way in convincing customers that what they were consuming at
the McDonald’s restaurants was not only delicious in terms of taste but that it was not
proving to be harmful for their health either. An explanation regarding the techniques and
methods used to manufacture food would have provided customers with the quality
assurance they needed to continue purchasing the burgers and fries at the restaurants of
McDonalds at the pace that is normally expected for such an enterprise (Steinhoff et al.
2019).