Abstract

McDonald’s entered India in the year 1996 when the fast food retail market in India was at a nascent stage. Encountered with several challenges in the beginning in terms of adapting to the tastes, preferences and culture of the local customers, changing the perception of Indian consumers towards American food habits, obstruction from political parties, issues with distribution, designing a proper supply chain to training the employees on McDonald’s standards, the fast food giant emerged to be the market leader by 2011. Though McDonald’s commands the leadership position in the Indian fast food market their exists stiff competition from the local traditional fast food retailers as well as other multinational firms which entered the fast growing Indian fast food market. In the face of intensified competition, can McDonald’s retain its dominant position? This case is meant for MBA/MS students as a part of the Service Marketing/ International Marketing/ Strategic Marketing Management curriculum.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Various issues and challenges associated with marketing a service, especially a Quick Service Restaurant (Definition of service, characteristics of service, service marketing mix, etc)
• Understand various issues and challenges in International marketing (Adaptation Vs. Standardization, etc.).
• Study the marketing strategies adopted by McDonald’s in India
• Identify the various challenges faced by QSRs operating in the fast food retail market in India
• Explore ways in which McDonald’s can overcome these challenges and maintain its leadership position in the Indian market.

Keywords

Characteristics of service , Service marketing mix, International marketing, Standardization Vs. Adaptation, Localization, Competition, Market leader strategies, Supply chain, quick-service restaurants, Indian fast food market, Demographic and Economic Indicators of India, Lifestyle Indicators of India, Classification of Indian Consumers, Income Distribution of Indian Consumers, Consumption Pattern of Indian Consumers