Of all companies that have managed to withstand the many challenges time brings to their way, on stands out: McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD). On Friday morning, the company reported another blockbuster quarter, beating both on the bottom and top lines, sending its stock soaring. How the company does it?
By adaptation and innovation, coming up with innovative products and services to address the needs of a diverse consumer market—as shaped by demographic, economic and local factors:
McDonald’s rode the baby-boomer trend in the 1960s, the swelling ranks of teenagers and the rising female labor force participation, supplying a fast and inexpensive menu. In the 1970s and the 1980s, McDonald’s rode the globalization trend by transferring the American Way of Life to many countries around the world. At the same time, McDonald’s adapted to the social context of each county by franchising to locals.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, McDonald’s made successful efforts to restore its corporate image by launching the “Fast an Convenient” campaign that involved the radical adjustment of the company’s product portfolio to emerging food industry trends—the re-furbish of McDonald’s restaurants to achieve a banded, updated, and more natural dining environment. The “fast” and “convenient” elements of the McDonald’s concept were augmented by the “healthy” and “more natural” element, by adding salads, fruits, and carrot sticks to the menu.
In nowadays, McDonald’s continue to broaden its product portfolio by offering high quality coffee and healthy drinks (either through its traditional restaurants or the Cafés), competing head to head with Starbucks and local cafeterias—benefiting by local trends like austerity in Europe.