Marketing Review: Social Media and Brand Management of Three Companies

This report provides a comprehensive review of the marketing strategies employed by three prominent fast-food companies: McDonald's, Starbucks, and Subway. It delves into their social media strategies, analyzing how each company leverages platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to engage with customers, manage brand reputation, and address customer feedback. The report also examines the application of Sinek's Golden Circle Model by these companies, evaluating their 'why,' 'how,' and 'what' to understand their approaches to customer loyalty and brand differentiation. Furthermore, the analysis includes an assessment of each company's brand management practices, focusing on customer-based brand equity, transparency initiatives, and overall return on investment (ROI). The review highlights specific examples, such as McDonald's response to customer demand for the Szechuan sauce and Starbucks' efforts to foster transparency, to illustrate the effectiveness of these strategies. Overall, the report offers insights into how these companies adapt to evolving market trends, manage customer relationships, and achieve business success through strategic marketing.

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Introduction
In the 21st century, the operating strategies of businesses across the world has changed
drastically. The companies now are heavily dependent upon social media campaigns to engage
with their customers. Sharing data online and creating transparency levels with their customers
increases customer loyalty and increases the return in investment for the particular company.
This paper focuses on reviewing the marketing strategies of three extremely popular businesses:
McDonald’s, Starbucks and Subway. The use of social media, use of Sinek’s Golden Circle
Model and the brand management of these companies are reviewed that contribute to increasing
the return on investment (ROI) of the company.
McDonald’s
Social media strategy
McDonald’s is the only non-technology company whose popularity is high among the
social media users. Research has found that McDonald’s is the most talked about brand after
Apple, Facebook and Twitter. Due to the abundance of such support in the form of social media,
the fast-food company is able to track data and get insights that helps them build their business.
The way in which McDonald’s uses the social media leaning experience is an example of how
important it is to read the content on social media instead of simply analysing the data.
McDonald’s has been active in listening to its customers on social media (Ceil, 2017). An
example of this was the reintroduction of the popular Szechuan sauce. This sauce was introduced
in 1998 during a promotion of the Disney film “Mulan” as a limited edition. Recently, there was
a reference to the sauce made in the adult animated T.V. show “Rick and Morty” and the
customers asked the company to reintroduce the sauce on social media. The company responded

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to the requests of their customers however, they reintroduced it for only one day and at select
restaurants. The fans were not happy and they lamented on social media, even considering a
class action lawsuit. McDonald’s acknowledged the problem, listened to its customers,
apologised on twitter and promised to produce more at all the restaurants. The company tweeted
“You spoke. We’ve listened. Lots more #SzechuanSauce and locations. Details soon. And that’s
the wayyy the news goes!” (McDonald's, 2020). Another benefit that the company gained due to
social media listening was the decision of the company to introduce breakfast items at all hours.
McDonald’s has been proactive in including social media to not only increase its marketing but
to reach out to customers in order to listen to their problems as a result, the fast-food company
has been able to resolve issues regarding customer services, clarify any questions about the
brand, and provide customers with what they demand from them. The company pays attention to
every social media content and cumulates the data for analytics on trends.
Sinek’s Golden Circle Model
This model explains how businesses are able to inspire people and differentiate
themselves from other businesses. The model describes the three golden questions that need to
be answered by the businesses to thrive in the market. These questions are “what the businesses
do?”, “how they do it?” and “why they do it?”. While most of the organisations know the “what”
and “how” in their processes, they are unclear about why they do what they do. According to
Sinek, when a business is clear about why they are inspired to work, it sets them apart and
customers are attracted to their philosophy of working. The company should move from inside
out, which means that they should be clear with the “why” aspect of their business and then
move on to sell the products; this helps gain customer loyalty (Sinek, 2009). McDonald’s started
with a clear vision of providing fast food to the customers however, in the wake of new healthy

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trends, they started being heath conscious. Many felt that it was not necessary however;
understanding the needs of the customers and catering to adapt to different cultures makes them
a successful company.
Marketing management
McDonald’s has a customer based brand equity where in their motto is food quality,
service, food safety and value for money. They have a strong hold on the younger generation of
customers and are invested in meeting the demands of the health-conscious customers. The
“McDonald’s smile” is extremely popular among the customers and through it creativity and
transparency it has gained the loyalty of the customers that has increased its return on investment
(ROI).
The company has faced a lot of difficulties with misinformation and myths about their
food and ingredients. To stop such miscommunication, the company started a campaign called
“Our food. Your questions” in Canada. This campaign was a way to offer the customers the
right to ask and gain clarity about any problems or ask any questions they had. This was a
beneficial way to dismiss any rumours and educate the customers about their products. The
campaign garnered 42,000 questions after its launch in 2014 that also included 3.8 million
visitors reviewing the questions on the food quality FAQ website (Susanty & Kenny, 2015). In
an example of McDonald’s transparency strategies, the company showed a video footage from
the Canadian beef processing plant, which showed that the beef patties were in fact made from
real cows. Such initiatives keeps the customers informed about the happenings therefore
embracing transparency would earn the loyalty of the customers. This in turn will boost its sales
and keep the business thriving (Akgün & Yalım, 2015). Due to its active participation in
constantly improving its business through customer feedback, using the data of the social media,

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it has increased transparency and that has led to increase the return in investment of the
company.
Starbucks
Social media strategy
Starbucks the biggest coffee company has used the advantages of social media to boost
its sales in the recent years. There is a huge risk involved in communicating with the customers
on social media. However, as the customers have migrated to social media in order to
communicate with the business, the company has to keep up with the demands of the customers
and maintain its brand reputation. Starbucks is one such company that engages well with its
customers on social media. The company had recorded a net revenue of $16.4 billion in the fiscal
year of 2014 that was an increase by 11% from the previous year (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014).
The company is being able to provide more than tasty food and coffee to its customers and that is
a personal relationship with social media. Starbucks responds quickly to their customer’s queries
on both their Facebook and Twitter accounts. They have a special twitter account called
“@mystarbucksidea” that allows the customers to put forward their ideas and make the products
of Starbucks better in every way (Starbucks, 2020). Starbucks also uses YouTube to
communicate with the consumers and reply to the consumers questions. It is important that the
company is aware of the importance of transparency with the customers as unsolved queries can
affect the brand’s reputation in a negative manner (Ashley & Tuten, 2015). Starbucks has always
been open about the ethical as well as sustainable source of extracting coffee however; recently it
has revealed all the workings of the brand in a detailed way. The creative team of Starbucks is
taking great initiative of updating the brand system that ranges from the in-store signage to the
Instagram campaigns. A company, which has more than US $24 billion in its revenue and has

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31000 locations across the globe that changes its promotion and menu frequently according the
region, managing such campaigns is a commendable feat (Starbucks, 2020). It is extremely
important that the companies favour greater transparencies in their workings because customers
today are empowered by the choice and information and that increases their expectations from
their favourite brands. By revealing, the processes and being honest about their products the
businesses are able to sustain their customer loyalty.
Sinek’s Golden Circle Model
When talking about the application of the golden circle model, it can be clearly stated that
during the time of its foundation the company had a clear sense of “why” in its strategy. The
founding strategy was “third space”, between work and home where the company would become
that place for the Americans to hang out and relax for a bit. However, with the progress that it
made, it has forgotten the “why” aspect of its company and started to think that it is their product
that is making them successful and because of that they have lost their way (Sinek, 2009).
“Why” is the source of innovation for the companies and that is provides them a clarity about
their direction to achieve the end-result. If that clarity is lost, then, there is an increased focus on
the product tactics and strategy. The inability to see beyond the products causes the results to
falter. Starbucks was founded on the grounds of the experience and environment of the stores
that provided comfortable spaces to the customers where they could spend as much leisure time
as they wanted. The coffee was incidental. If the company had a clear vision, then they would
have known that they should provide free WiFi to attract more and more customers however,
they focused more on innovating with their drinks that made things difficult for them.
McDonald’s a fast food company that focuses on customers to get and leave as quickly as
possible capitalized on this and introduced WiFi in their outlets (Taneja & Toombs, 2014).

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Starbucks feeling the pressure was then forced to introduce the same in its outlets. Overall, it can
be said that Starbucks has forgotten about its idea of conception, the third space. It has become
so obsessed with the coffee products that it has brushed idea its very idea of “Why” in the first
place (Straker & Nusem, 2019). People can get coffee anywhere but the sense of happiness and
the comfortable environment is not available everywhere. Starbucks has to focus more on
enhancing the experience of the customers than bringing innovations in its coffee products. It
also seems that Starbucks has become obsessed with what the rivals are doing and in that
manner; it has lost its way. Therefore, it has to have a clear sense of why and move inside out in
the circle in order to increase its business. It has to relieve what is stated in their mission
statement, “To inspire and nurture the human spirit- one person, one cup and one neighbourhood
at a time.”
Marketing management
Starbucks brand is a highly popular among the siren symbol is the one symbol that
everyone recognizes. It has invested greatly in its stores, food, drinks and merchandises as well.
The company is keeping pace with time and is dedicated to take advantage of the new emerging
customer platforms (Zhu & Chen, 2015). They have used the “crowd-sourcing” methodology in
the field of innovation. They are engaging better with the customers on social media platforms.
Subway
Social media strategy
Subway is the largest fast food brand that has more restaurants around the world than any
other fast-food brand. The company is famous for its good quality and nutritious food. The
company is also proactive in using social media to address the marketing strategies and reach
customers around the globe, promote new products and engage with the existing customers

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(Subway, 2020). with the emerging technological trends, social media has become new favourite
marketing channel for all the fast-food brands because of its efficiency and reach. Subway uses
social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and others to address the problems and customer
complaints, communicate with the customers and improve their customer services. The number
of followers of Subway on the Facebook account is over 24 million that suggests a strong brand
image and reputation. However, when compared to other fast-food chains like McDonald’s and
KFC, it is still low. Subway has not been seen to use its social media campaigning aggressively
like its rivals do for promotions and engagement with the customers. The social media activity
on Facebook too generates few posts on its account per week. The company uses its Facebook
account for not only promotions but also improving customer service and it has been doing so
impressively. The responders are regularly at the service of the customer, addressing their
complaints and appreciating their compliments that shows that they have an active social media
monitoring team (Felix, Rauschnabel & Hinsch, 2017). As mentioned before, such activity
increases higher customer engagement and enhances customer loyalty. Twitter is another
platform where the company has extensively used its business marketing strategies to reach out
to customers. The tweets that they send are mainly promotional however, they do send out
surveys from time to time in order to receive feedback from the customers and also to engage
with them. One drawback that probably hampers success like other fast-food chains and its rivals
is its lack of initiative to be transparent enough. Research has showed that this fast-food chain is
by far the healthiest of all other fast-food chains however, there is no evidence given by the
company as to how they really go ahead with their work.

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Sinek’s Golden Circle Model
The golden circle model is a difficult model for most of the companies to follow. Unlike
the company Apple, who have a strong sense of “Why” in their approach, most companies fail at
having clear goal (Sinek, 2009). Subway too had a vision of providing good options of fast-food
to its customers and be creative enough, transparent enough to achieve their goals. Subway has
struggled to maintain its dominant position. The total sales of $16.2 billion were down to $390
million in the year 2019. The brand was forced to close more than 2000 stores in the U.S
(Mastrangelo, Calderon-Monge & Huerta-Zavala, 2016). However, it seems that Subway has
improved its strategies to meet the demands in the future.
Marketing management
Subway, a popular brand among customers, has lost its way and is on course to win back
its customers through new marketing strategies. The company has invested in new stores that
promise new and updated to its customers. It has broaden its appeal with the younger customers
and promise to be more aggressive with their campaign. Subway has used social media content
in an efficient way to make progress in digital marketing (Frans & Jesper, 2015). It gives
multiple offers like free sub and large soda along with it when it rains in Los Angeles that helps
in promotion of brand. The company has also sponsored many hockey tournaments and other
sporting events. Using such promotional methods has helped the brand evolve into a top-class
brand. Brand loyalty of Subway is strong among the customers that helped the company see it
being placed among the top 500 Franchises.
Conclusion
All the three businesses have been reviewed on the basis of the marketing strategies that
they use to create transparency among the customers. Though McDonalds and Starbucks have

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taken active initiative in improving transparency about their workings Subway has not been able
to do so. The Golden Circle Model of Sinek is the optimum way for the companies to move
forward where it is important that businesses are clear about their vision and mission. This would
help the companies to gain customer loyalty and make the customers attracted to their products.

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