When the first couple of McDonald’s restaurants opened in Delhi and Mumbai in the late 90s, the serpentine lines of customers stretched for many blocks. This beacon of American culture and its golden arches had finally arrived in India. But McDonald's knew that to succeed in the country it would have to Indianise its offerings. So we got the likes of the Maharaja Mac, McAloo Tikki, and other spiced-up offerings. Now, however, the fast-food maker is going gourmet, keeping in mind changing consumer tastes and preferences. McDonald's 25 years celebrations coinciding with the festive period have turned into an opportunity to launch a range of premium Gourmet Burgers.
In an interaction with Storyboard, Arvind RP, director - marketing and communications at McDonald’s India, says, "One of the key things that inspired the Gourmet Burger collection was that in the past one and a half years, meal times have become even more important than ever before, which meant that brands demanded more filling offerings from brands like ours."
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McDonald's also released its new campaign, '25 Acts of Happy' which brings alive celebrations for consumers. The campaign has a series of 25 initiatives, activities, and innovations around the year, starting with the First Act of 'Pay with happy memories', where McDonald's customers can pay with their happy memories for meals. Memories can be in the form of pictures, videos, and memorabilia.
According to Arvind, "It's a very important milestone for us where we want to celebrate those memories that consumers have created with us and we intend to bring alive those memories through 25 acts of happiness."
He adds that it is important to have an extended year-long celebration given that consumers are just coming out of lockdowns and two waves of COVID-19 and with this, they hope to spread joy and cheer around as the world unlocks.
Speaking about the festive season sentiments, Arvind says, "The buzz is back. Renewed consumer confidence is back, with the increased rate of vaccination and increased mobility in malls and high streets, it's great news for the market." While convenience channels like at-home delivery continue to grow for McDonald's, and the growth is now higher than pre-pandemic levels, dining is recovering strongly on the back of easing of restrictions and the festive season.
As the customer footfall improves with the unlocking of markets and easing of restrictions, the communication and marketing strategies have evolved over the last year to focus more on health and hygiene to reassure consumers.
Building a case for fast food consumption in times of growing need for a healthy lifestyle is certainly not easy. But Arvind says, "McDonald's has been on a good food journey for the last 3 years." Some of the highlights of this journey are a significant reduction of 20 percent sodium levels across food categories, reduction of fat in their mayonnaise, the introduction of whole wheat buns, and immunity-boosting beverages, according to the company.
Besides investing in product offerings, communication, and marketing around health and hygiene, McDonald's will continue to invest in new stores. Speaking about store expansion plans for 2022, Arvind says the company will open 25-30 new outlets in 2022, "but our convenience channels like delivery and drive-thru will be more important than ever before."
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