When asked where do you think the fast-food business is going the, President of McDonald's USA, Don Thompson answered, "Frankly, it is going wherever the customer wants to take it." Usually when someone answers with a "Frankly", the rest is about not giving a damn but anyone paying attention to the fast food giant lately can see that they continue to maintain their core menu but have expanded their offerings to accommodate the needs of a larger and health conscious customer base. The expanded menu was created by listening to their customers, watching what they are eating, their trends and offering them choices. Sounds like the right formula to me and appears to be working. Mr. Thompson also points out that the individual franchisees are paying attention to regional trends and extending offerings such as southern-style chicken sandwiches as well as "real" sweet tea.
Most of the attention lately has been around McDonald's foray into the upgrading their coffee products and rolling out more premium coffees and Espresso based drinks. I have even heard rumblings that they were trying to cut into the Starbucks area of domination. They may do just that but McDonald's customers drink premium coffee too so why not have it on the menu. I will also mention that McDonalds had the drive thru window long before Starbucks and now most new Starbucks I see opening up features a drive thru window so maybe it is not always about the ambience but maybe Starbucks saw the market for fast coffee opting for speed instead of atmosphere.
Later in the interview I read where McDonalds tested other drink options alongside the ever present Coca-Cola with Pepsi, I must say that was a statement to expand the taste of their customers.
Overall, it is always nice to hear a CEO leading the customer service charge and working hard to accommodate his customer base.
Now when I have a craving for some McDonalds's fries and to quiet my kids I can order an iced vanilla coffee and some fries making everyone happy.... "i'm lovin' it"
I ran across a very interesting blog exchange from 1to1 Media’s weblog: Risk in Targeting Minority Customers which was a response to an article in the November/December edition called, Will the Real Customer Please Stand Up? and subsequent article Trend spotting: A Niche Market With Broad Spending Power. It was the latter article that stirred up the proverbial hornet’s nest and it is not my place to comment on that particular exchange but it did stir up other topics I have been involved in. What I took from the original article, Will the Real Customer Please Stand Up? was the concept of not using demographics alone to determine your target market. Segmentation practices are not that same as it was a few years ago due to the multiple sources and best practices of tracking customer behavior and data.
I will chime in on the question of are there risks in targeting minority customers?, I feel that it is too broad of a generalization to give a definitive answer mainly because minority segments has taken on new definitions and directions depending on how one defines a minority. I will say that it is not a risk when monetary value and potential exist.
What I do know about the minority segment and making the decision to target that market is based off of a couple articles that my business partner Brent Leary and I penned a few years ago addressing the lack of attention from CRM vendors to the minority business community. The two articles, “The State of CRM in the Minority Business Community” and “The New CRM: Community Relationship Management” revealed the business case for actively knowing and targeting this growing market segment. We discussed in our articles how CRM vendors could create brand loyalty by tapping a market that has been overlooked. By understanding the minority community, the channels, publications and alliances that minority businesses frequented CRM vendors could gain entrance along with trust, loyalty which in return would reap an ever growing monetary windfall. What we found in our research in the minority community that they were unaware of the solutions available to them and we also found the unawareness of this potential and market in the CRM vendors we working with. Our actions were geared around bridging that gap which has closed some but still too far apart. I remember reading that minority spending potential could exceed 2 trillion (with a T) dollars throughout 2007 and beyond; in that figure is a growing population of minority businesses that are not being effectively targeted and monetarily leveraged.
I feel a lot of that has to do with how a company approaches diversity as an organization in addition to the practicing diversity strictly through the Human Resource compliance. In addition to just doing the right thing diversity in the workplace has to resonate throughout all departments especially the marketing department in order to leverage the benefits of everyone NOT thinking alike. What I mean by that is if you have a diverse organization that you are willing to leverage in understanding a minority segment that will assist marketing in knowing when, how and where to target their marketing message. Here is an example I reference frequently when discussing insensitivity and ignorance in a marketing message that probably turned a number of qualified buyers away. For those of you not familiar with the Office Max "Rubberband Man" Commercial a few years ago here is a clip:
I personally found that commercial offensive and I am sure I was not alone; I even bet many may have laughed initially but the stuck in the mail room mentality has never been funny to me. I know that was probably not their intent but perception can create reality. That commercial caused me to not to spend my dollars with Office Max. So, let’s say that Office Max has a diverse organization but if they had sampled the commercial to a diverse group of employees I know there would be someone who would share my feelings and speak out. The question then would be would they listen?
Pepsi had the right idea around 60 years ago when it recognized the potential of targeting the minority community as written about in the book, “The Real Pepsi Challenge”, I have always preferred Pepsi and yes I say that living in Atlanta because I have been drinking it as long as I can remember I am betting on their marketing message reaching my parents. It even taste better to me now after reading about the minority attention and targeting Pepsi undertook many years ago which I bet was a big risk at the time but I bet they will gladly say it was worth it, in a lot of ways.
I purchased a set of Bose in-ear headphones a while back mainly because of my positive experiences with the Bose radio and the Tri-Port Headphones. I really like music and Bose creates a favorable environment to the listening experience. I was satisfied with my purchase even though the size replaceable ear tips did not stay on. As I was stepping on the Treadmill last week to start my cardio workout and listen to the new Seal CD System (which is a great ) I realized that I was missing the right side ear tip and I searched all around the treadmill as well as retracing my steps from the locker room but could not find it. I was not happy and rightfully could have left the gym because my workout was running around searching for it. ANYWAY, when I got home I went on line and put in a key word search for Bose in-ear accessories to see if I could order some new ear tips. My search pointed me to a link: Complimentary Silicone Tips and Stability Enhancement Kit for Bose ... I literally fell out of my chair and this is what I found when I clicked the link:
“Thanks to everyone who gave us feedback on Bose® in-ear headphones. We're glad there is a high level of overall satisfaction—especially for the audio performance and comfort when compared to conventional ear buds. The comments also revealed two opportunities to better meet the needs of some customers. Here's what you told us, and what we've done: The silicone ear tips become detached under certain conditionsWe've designed new ear tips that should stay more firmly in place on the headphones. The in-ear stability of the headphones during certain activities, such as exercise, could be improved We've developed a stability enhancement accessory including a clothing clip and lanyard. Both reduce the cord's "pull" during increased activity. As a Bose in-ear headphone owner, you can order a complete set of our new ear tips and new stability enhancement accessory free of charge. Your satisfaction is our top priority and we appreciate your support of Bose products. We hope your Bose in-ear headphones continue to provide many years of enjoyable listening.”
Wow, was all I could say, not only were they willing to replace the ear tips but they also updated me on a lanyard stability accessory to keep my headphones positioned correctly…..get this…for NO CHARGE….zilch…nada…nuttin! Being the optimistic skeptic (yeah I know….) I thought I would not qualify because I did not register my headphones or could not remember if I did when I purchased them but I filled out the form online anyway and lo and behold I received my packages a week later and my over exuberance cause me to order an additional set of ear tips in error so I received 2 sets of ear tips and the stability lanyard. I am speechless but should I or we should expect less? I remember a quote I saw from Delta Air Lines that stated something to the effect of “We want to exceed our customer’s expectations” and I remember at the time just thinking that was a big statement (especially for an airlines) and I only expect a company to meet my expectations but Bose truly exceeded it and have formed a nice union of Customer Relationship Management and Customer Experience Management to turn me into a soapbox advocate.
Bose makes superb products for the enhancement of listening experiences, they also know how to listen and do the right thing.
