Marketing Assignment: Ribs & Burgers in the Chinese Market

This report analyzes the marketing assignment focused on Ribs & Burgers' competitive strategy within the Chinese fast food market. The assignment evaluates the company's competitive advantage against key players like KFC, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut. It emphasizes the need for a differentiation strategy, highlighting unique selling propositions and incorporating Chinese flavors to appeal to local consumers. The analysis includes a Differential Importance Matrix assessing attributes like price, quality, brand familiarity, and authentic flavors. The report identifies the younger generation as the primary target audience and suggests strategies such as localized products, improved service quality, and bilingual management. Furthermore, it explores the importance of pricing, packaging, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to attain competitive advantage. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for continuous monitoring and evaluation to identify gaps and improve strategic planning.

Running head: MARKETING ASSIGNMENT
Marketing assignment
Name of student
Name of university

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5.2 Competitive advantage and positioning evaluation
In China, the key competitors for Ribs & Burgers are KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut.
These world renowned brands have already penetrated the Chinese fast food industry, and thus
the concerned company would need to gain competitive advantage in order to improve market
performance and profitability. In order to establish itself as a forerunner in the market, the
company would have to adopt a suitable and well devised marketing and advertising strategy.
The Chinese fast food industry is saturated at present with a number of top brands being the
premium choices (Shen and Xiao 2014). In such an industry, the company would have to come
up with unique features and attributes which separate the brand from its competitors. For
instance, the brand would have to introduce certain new products or a unique selling proposition
(USP) which sets the brand head and shoulders above its competitors. The company will have to
be positioned as an authentic ribs and burger fast food joint, which provides unique and
exceptional flavors to its customers. A large number of local and international companies
provide the same food items to the Chinese customers. In order to gain competitive advantage,
the Ribs & Burger company would have to introduce certain new flavors. For example, apart
from simply producing western fast food dishes, the company could also incorporate certain
Chinese flavors to appeal to the local citizens.
In order to attain competitive advantage, a differentiation strategy will have to be
followed. A differentiation strategy is one that provides a clear competitive edge with respect to
other companies. In this kind of strategy, the company is expected to focus on a few specific
attributes of the product as sold by the company (Ray Gehani 2013). In this case, the company
will focus on these attributes – price, quality and brand familiarity and authentic flavors. A

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Differential Importance Matrix on a scale of one to ten (with one being the least and ten being
the maximum) has been prepared as shown:
ATTRIBUTES KFC MCDONALD’S RIBS &
BURGERS
PIZZA HUT
PRICE 5 6 7 4
QUALITY 7 5 5 5
BRAND
FAMILIARITY
8 9 4 7
AUTHENTIC
FLAVORS
7 5 7 3
Thus, one of the most important attributes which distinguish Ribs & Burgers from its
competitors is the price. The company offers all its dishes at affordable prices, which makes it
appealing to the target audience. The main target audience for the brand would be the younger
generation. This generation in China prefers to eat outside and would rather indulge in junk food
and fast food outlets than eat home cooked food (Xu 2014). As such, affordable fast food options
would be appealing for these categories. Moreover, Ribs & Burgers, which is an established
brand in Australia, would have to localize its products in order to lure in the local populations.
For instance, burgers and ribs are the chief products of the company. The company could include
some new authentic flavors which cater to the local populations (Xie and Marchant 2015). Also,
the company would have to improve its quality of service and customer care in order to compete
with the big names in the industry. For instance, KFC and McDonald’s both offer home delivery
services. To compete with this, Ribs & Burgers should provide home delivery and online

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Low price
Great taste
High price
Not so great taste
Ribs&Burgers
KFC
Pizza Hut McDonald’s
booking services (Rui et al. 2016). Similarly, bilingual management should be included at the
outlets. The staff members and the employees should be fluent in both English and Chinese, so
as to create an inclusive environment at the outlets.
(Figure: Positioning evaluation)
5.3.2 Evaluation of competitive strategy
In order to attain competitive advantage in the market, it is estimated that a differentiation
strategy would be beneficial for the company. A differentiation strategy is one where a company
that is competing with other brands selling similar products and services would market the
products in a distinct way. For instance, Ribs & Burgers would be competing with KFC,
McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, that is companies in the same industry. As a result, the company in
question would have to come up with a distinct strategy which ensures that the products and

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services provided by the company are different and add value for the customer. For instance, the
company could include some variations in the menu, which would represent true Chinese flavors
(Zhang et al. 2014). The price is another major factor which would help the company attain
competitive advantage. For instance, the pricing strategy of Pizza Hut is relatively high, as
compared to KFC and McDonald’s. If Ribs & Burgers manages to provide better quality food
products and services at lower costs than its rivals, it would improve the sales rates of the
company. For instance, packaging is another factor that has been found to have an impact on
competitive advantage. Most fast food companies have the same kind of packaging, which fails
to appeal to the target audience. Ribs & Burgers could use an innovative strategy as far as
packaging is concerned. In other words, the differentiation marketing strategy would ensure that
the products and services provided by the company are unique and distinct with respect to its
customers. The first step in evaluation of competitive advantage is identification of key
performance indicators, or KPIs, which are the critical success factors for the company.
Similarly, the company would need to identify gaps in the strategic planning based on constant
monitoring and evaluation, which would highlight room for improvement (Teeratansirikool et al.
2013).

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References
Ray Gehani, R., 2013. Innovative strategic leader transforming from a low-cost strategy to
product differentiation strategy. Journal of technology management & innovation, 8(2), pp.144-
155.
Rui, Y., Huang, H., Lu, M., Wang, B. and Wang, J., 2016. A Comparative Analysis of the
Distributions of KFC and McDonald’s Outlets in China. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-
Information, 5(3), p.27.
Shen, Q. and Xiao, P., 2014. McDonald's and KFC in China: Competitors or
Companions?. Marketing Science, 33(2), pp.287-307.
Teeratansirikool, L., Siengthai, S., Badir, Y. and Charoenngam, C., 2013. Competitive strategies
and firm performance: the mediating role of performance measurement. International Journal of
Productivity and Performance Management, 62(2), pp.168-184.
Xie, C. and Marchant, M.A., 2015. Supplying China’s growing appetite for
poultry. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 18(A).
Xu, Y., 2014. Understanding CSR from the perspective of Chinese diners: the case of
McDonald’s. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26(6), pp.1002-
1020.
Zhang, M., Wu, W., Yao, L., Bai, Y. and Xiong, G., 2014. Transnational practices in urban
China: Spatiality and localization of western fast food chains. Habitat International, 43, pp.22-
31.