Day 257 - 06 Jun 96 - Page 61


     
     1
     2   Q.   What, for the better?
     3        A.  For the better.
     4
     5   Q.   So, if there is a criticism here in 1992, or something
     6        which might be taken to be a criticism, that would probably
     7        have been the same in 1990, would it, just speaking in
     8        general terms?
     9        A.  In general terms probably no, and we experienced a
    10        fairly significant flattening off of our sales growth
    11        between 1989 and 1992 as a result of the recession.  But,
    12        as we discovered from this research, as a result of less
    13        than satisfaction on behalf of our customers there were
    14        some aspects of our restaurant operation -----
    15
    16   Q.   I am sorry, I may not have made myself clear.  In so far as
    17        there was something here discovered in 1992, whether or not
    18        it came as news to you, for instance, the possible
    19        two-edged effect of McDonald's staff appearing frantic or
    20        food thought to be high in calories and not rated well as
    21        being healthy and so on, in so far as those might be
    22        thought to be adverse findings in 1992 would you have
    23        thought that the same things would have been found in 1990
    24        if the survey had been done then?
    25        A.  With these specific issues, yes.  I would imagine that
    26        in these various areas very little would have changed.  But
    27        this was not part of the research we acted upon.  These are
    28        kind of background findings.  It is not the main purpose of
    29        the research in this particular area.  It comes on to that
    30        later in the document.
    31
    32   MR. MORRIS:  Just on page 7, the "brand personality", that was
    33        what you were talking about which was the main body of this
    34        research, was it?
    35        A.  That is correct, yes.
    36
    37   Q.   About how to put over an image of what the Company was
    38        standing for in general, what it symbolised; yes?
    39        A.  The research summarises the customers' current in 1992
    40        understanding of what that personality was, yes.
    41
    42   Q.   Right.  It says, "McDonald's is generally described as
    43        having a happy, friendly personality".  This is,
    44        presumably, the purpose of the ronald mcdonald character to
    45        give an image to the company?
    46        A.  Not really.  ronald mcdonald does not relate to this.
    47        Brand image is much wider than that.  The concept of
    48        product as brand is that branding works in its wider sense
    49        by creating a personality for the business.  So, to do
    50        brand research you ask your customer to talk about the 
    51        brand in the terminology of different things. 
    52 
    53        So, for instance, a typical way of doing it is to say, "If
    54        you could personify McDonald's as one person" and they
    55        walked into the room, "Mr. Customer, what kind of person
    56        would Mr. McDonald' be?", and they would go through and say
    57        the kind of attributes they would have; or they would also
    58        say, "If you were present in a McDonald's, how do you
    59        feel?  How does McDonald's make you feel?  How does Burger
    60        King make you feel?"  The purpose of the research is kind

Prev Next Index