Thursday 3 May 2012

Marketing Mix for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)


Question 1: Describe the current marketing mix for the KFC

     KFC or is founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain fast food restaurant based in Louisville, Kentucky in the United States of America. KFC is a brand on operating segments, termed a concept ‘Yum’! Brand since 1971 when that company was founded as Kentucky Fried Chicken by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952 though the idea of KFC fried chicken goes back in1930. Colonel Sanders have become a well known personality throughout thousand of KFC restaurants or outlets worldwide. Quality, service and cleanliness (QSC) represents the most critical success factors to the KFC’S global success. Food, fun and festivity is the success and what is KFC all about. Leading the market since the inception, KFC provides the ultimate chicken meal for the chicken lovers all over the world. KFC has more than 11,000 restaurants or outlets more than 80 countries and territories around the world as a part of a  new corporate re-banding program.

     What is marketing mix? What is the marketing mix for KFC? Marketing mix is generally accepted as the use and specification oh the 4p’s describing the position of a product in the market place. The 4P’s are Product which is the goods and service, Price, the value and product, Promotion where it aware the people about the product and Place where the distribution of the product occurs. The marketing mix of KFC contains all the 4P’s. It contains everything KFC do it to influence the people and demand for their products.

     The first and then most important thing that a company need to have is the ‘P’, Product. A product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or a need. KFC’S product planning is classified as consumer product as it has no intermediate. It offer special goods and the stock turnover of KFC is very high. Of course the price and the quality of the product is always compared. KFC’s product includes goods such as chicken, burgers etc and services such as cleanliness, quick service and parties. Let talk about their current product strategy, KFC was launched as an innovative product. KFC has got one line but later they introduced product in the same line to protect their market share. New product ideas are generated from customer services via comments card and gallops survey which is thru mystery shoppers. KFC have a quality assurance department that decides the new product innovation. Q.A department prepared screening of new ideas and products feasibility report. This department does the technical evaluation, whether it is practical to produce the new product or not. KFC’s products are tested externally by offering trials to customers by giving them free samples. KFC adds new product in its present assortment based on their competitors, product’s adequate demand, the satisfaction of the key financial criteria and its compatibility with environment standard. KFC’S product line includes all chicken based products, burgers such as Colonel burger, Zinger burger and Alaskan fish burger, Combo’s such as chicken meal and family meal, desserts and beverages such as ice-cream and tarts and of course some side orders such as rice, soup, etc.

    Product mix strategy of KFC is in relation to its competitors. KFC has a head-on competitor with McDonalds. Wherever McDonald places their product; KFC goes there as well. Locally in Malaysia KFC face a close competition with brands like Burger King, Marry Brown, The chicken rice shop, Secret Recipe and many more. The product mix strategy of KFC also in relation to attribution and place & prices, where the brand of KFC is strong that it is the attribute to itself and its product are based on high prices and high quality.

     KFC has several ways to expand their product. The first one is the Line Expansion. Line expansion is introducing new meal. The second is Alteration of existing product where the Quality Assurance department do it. The department decides which product should be sold and when seasonal product such as rice and soup should be offer and sell. The third ways to expand their product is via Functional Modification, for this modification KFC has moved to masses rather than the original recipe like ‘Hot and Spicy’ recipe. Market entry was not a big problem for KFC as it is a well known international brand. In that stage they did promoted through their original or own brand name. KFC also has their packaging system. They make their own disposal packaging.  KFC also does family packaging and they use paper material for packaging to avoid health hazards and environmental pollution. KFC also does brand labeling. Some of its product also have informational labels such as ‘halal’ and chicky meals.

     The second ‘P’ from 4P’s is the Price. Price is the any amount of money that customers have to pay while purchasing the products. More broadly, price is the sum of all the values that consumers exchange for benefits of having or using the products or services. In introduction stage KFC entered the market using market-skimming strategy. Their product were high price and targeted only to the upper class community. But now, they trickle down and focusing on all the community level to penetrate the market. KFC also follows one price strategy. Price is for its product is determined according to the rates of the raw material and policies of the government. The political and legal forces often affects the policies of KFC and eventually results in change of price that is due to imposing of taxes. Comparison can be done. We can compare the price of KFC product with McDonalds, Marry Brown, Pizza Hut, Domino and many other fast food restaurants. If the competitors provides the same product at a lower price then the organization usually lower the price of its product too. In the case, KFC’s fried chicken is the main selling points and controls a monopoly over the fast food markets. It prices the burger, French fries, soft drinks and many other KFC’s product.

     KFC has a unique pricing strategy that falls solely on their product lines. Their ‘Value meals’ fall into the category of Product Line Pricing, where there is a range of product or services. The pricing reflects the benefits or part of the range. When KFC first began to break into the markets, they ran a large market campaign in order to gain some market share in the industry. KFC prices their product keeping different point of view. They adopt the cost pricing strategy and pricing out the product includes the government tax and excise duty and then comes the final stage of determines the price of their product. The products of KFC are a bit higher priced according to the market segment and it is also comparable to the standard of their product. They also include the variable and fixed cost in their cost base method. So as conclusion, I can say that, KFC charges high prices, offer different coupons, KFC targeted all level of community, no clear policy for discounts and KFC sells their experiences on high rates and high revenue due to best strategies.

     The third ‘P’ is the Place. Place refers to how the product gets to the consumer. For example point-of-sale placement or retailing. This third has also called as placement, referring to the channel by which a product or service is sold either online or retail, which geographic region or industry, to which segment either young, adults, families, business people, etc. It is also referring to how the environment in which the product is sold an can affect the sales. KFC has only one channel distribution. Its only distribute its product directly to the consumer and no need of middleman. It does distribution of consumers good directly to the consumer. KFC also does distribution of services to the consumer like parking, sitting, home delivery, etc. What is the target area strategy for KFC? The target area strategy of KFC is free home delivery, where they provide free home delivery to offices and homes. They also target to those who experience hectic life style. Due to some people hectic lifestyle, the fast food concepts as KFC saves times of preparing food and give them a full meal quickly. KFC place their outlets in strategic areas such as college, schools, offices urban places or any other market are mostly populated by youngsters and some adults. They place it strategically so that KFC can pleasure their consumers with their products. KFC enjoys large number footfalls every day. In addition KFC also have many outlets in one district. KFC works on the flow of good operation techniques. Good operating manager leads to good team selection, good services, good targets and good revenue through training, incentive based targets, recognition for good work, performance based bonus and motivated promotion. KFC has corporate vertical marketing system because it is centrally owned by its subsidiary Yum Brand. KFC is affected the geographic distributions. They have few outlets in some region and their competitor is McDonalds. The unit value of the item is comparatively lower than McDonalds. KFC has a well-equipped sitting area for the consumers and ‘chicky’ area in some outlets.

     The last ‘P’ is Promotion. Promotion is the method to inform and educate the chosen target audience about the organization and its product. KFC promotion strategy is the logo itself. The logo features Colonel Harland Sanders that is one of the best logo in the world has created its name as a standard in the market. The logo of the smiling Colonel is probably one of the most recognized faces in the world and instantly brings the image of fried chicken to one’s mind. Today the Colonel’s spirit and heritage are reflected in KFC’s brand identity. There are several way KFC promote its product. KFC finds most of the meanings and survival through promotions. Promotion is the main tool to bring all chicken lovers attention toward KFC.

     Advertising is the most fundamental way KFC promote its products. KFC, by its advertisements derives the desire in their customer to come and enjoy their meal. KFC spend 2% out of its profits on advertisement and use print media and most recently doing internet advertisements marketing to promote their products. The advertising media involve newspaper, pamphlets, billboards, television, radio and internet. KFC also do institutional advertising to stimulate demand. When KFC offers new product then it does product advertising. KFC’s to advertising act as magnet to drive the customer to KFC.

     Sponsorship is another way to strengthen on organization image. KFC’s sponsor’s many NGO’s and other social welfare organization. They also offer different deals according to the season and occasions. KFC is currently the sponsor of the Australian Cricket Team. KFC have joint sale promotion with different companies like HP, Philips, Value Meals. Pepsi Cola, ARY Gold digital and World Call Internet Services. KFC uses premiums, exhibits, coupons and entertainment as a tool to further enhance it sales. KFC also does it promotions in parties. I come to conclusion that KFC has a good product as far as chicken items are concerned. But they have to increase other varieties to attract the customers. And they must targets the children, as McDonald’s targeting by making a play land because children are the mains source and important ones to push their parents to go to their favorite restaurants. And one more aspect for KFC is that it must also reduce their prices to compete their competitors like McDonald, Crisps Pins and Pizza Hut. The largest threat KFC is faced with is the restaurant industry as a whole. The consumer continues to have many choices when it comes to fast food restaurants.











Question 2: Change in lifestyle has influences consumer’s eating habits. In your opinion, does the company need to suit the changes and how they can be fit tin this situation.

     Does change in lifestyle influence the consumers eating habit? As for me yes it is. The change in a person lifestyle changes a person eating habits and there are various factors for these changes. All human eat to survive. They also eat to express appreciation, for a sense of belonging, as a part of family customs and for self –realization. People eat according to learned behaviors regarding the etiquette, meal food combinations and portion size. A meal or food is is usually defined as a assumption of two or more food in one structured setting at a time. A common eating habit is three meals which is breakfast, lunch and dinner per day with snacks between the meals. The component of food varies across the cultures. For example Indian that practice Hinduism cannot consume beef meat meanwhile the Muslims cannot consume pork meat.

     The factors that really influence one’s eating habits is one’s personal preferences. Every individual has unique likes and dislikes concerning foods. These preferences develop overtime, and are influenced by personal experiences such as encouragement to eat, exposure to eat, family customs and ritual, advertising and personal views. For instant in French fries are served in Malaysia’s KFC outlet if the customers buys it as a add-on snacks, but in Singapore’s KFC outlets French fries is one of the snacks that served for any purchase of at KFC.


     Some consumer of KFC focuses on something that is nutritionally healthy and low fat. So Malaysian KFC outlets realized the trend of living healthier would affects the sales of their fried chicken, so in response to consumer’s demands they have launched ‘Chicken Salad’. It has fewer calories, fewer fat grams and less sodium. The investment that KFC help them to be more competitive in producing new menus.

     So the companies need to suit the changes that occur and they can use several ways to fit this change. The can use the last ‘P’ or Promotion to fit this change. KFC can use several type of mass media such as newspaper, television, radio, internet, pamphlets and many more mass media to promote and educate the chosen customers. They also can use the word ‘Trend’ as a path to promote and educate the chosen customer.

      KFC can create a new propaganda such as “Healthy Food For All” and educate them about the new trend as stated by the Malaysian Ministry of Health. The company must make sure to compensate the customers to consume the new product and generate new product in thru Customer Service where comments card are given to customer to evaluate and Gallops Surveys which is via mystery shoppers. KFC also can say use the newly trend where organic food is gaining popularity around the world. They can use this reason to respond to their customer if their customer questioned them. They also need to still continue produce their previous product to gain more attention from all types of customers.

Question 3: Challenges faced by the company such as war in other countries affect their activities. In your opinion, how company can gain back their customer’s trust and loyalty?

     How a company gains back their customer’s loyalty and trust when war? As for me, although war is going on, it is not going to occur all part of the country. It only occurs in certain place where they can destroy the each other port. So for me the business will still move on but will face some problems to gain customer eventually profit. A company can gain back their customer loyalty and trust via Building again the existing Company’s Brand. Branding is actually more than just a business buzz word. The Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them to identify the goods and services of one seller or a group of seller and to intermediate them from those other sellers. Therefore, branding is not about getting your target market to choose the company over the competition but it is about getting your prospect to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. The main objective of branding is to deliver the message clearly, confirms the company’s credibility, connects the company’s target prospect emotionally, and motivates the buyer and concentrate users’ loyalty. To succeed in branding, the company must understand the needs and wants of the customers and prospects. The company must do this by integrating the brand strategies throughout the company at every point of public contact. A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It’s important to spend time investing in researching, defining and building the company’s brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It is a foundational piece in the company’s marketing communications.

     The second strategy is to know the Company’s Customers or Target Prospects. This is because customers or target prospects are not a dime a dozen come with variety of characteristic, desires needs and expectations. It is important or vital to a company to know everything about their target prospects. The company must know from the basic information, name address, tittle and the area of responsibility the customers wants and needs. It is also important to understand and to enhance communication, articulate the company’s preposition and to develop the foundation for trust.

     The third strategy is to Develop a Customer Strategy. Companies must spend a lot of time and money developing the strategic plan for their business, their technology solutions, and operational strategies and rarely develop the customers strategy. Developing a good plan to enhance clients individual experience will result in uncovering areas for improvement and areas where the company excel that may easily translate to another client.

     The fourth strategy is by Educate the Staffs. Educate company’s front lines with your customer knowledge. The characteristic of company’s customers, what they are buying, the promises that were made and train company’s staff on how to not only deliver customer service but how to go over and beyond the basics. They should know how to react in all situations and be empowered to respond to the customers' requests. They should know it is okay to tell the customer that they don't know the answers, but will find out and get right back to them. Customer service is a culture and a theme that must permeate your entire organization
So as conclusion these are the ways to gain back the trust and the loyalty of the customers.

10 Steps to a Healthier Lifestyle

Eating should be a lifelong process of nourishing yourself. Strict dieting, fad diets such as the Atkins diet, drastic diets, rigid food monitoring, or addiction to sugar, caffeine and other stimulants can all weaken your metabolism and halt the rejuvenating and rebuilding process of your body, mind and spirit.

On these pages, you will learn how to get started on eating real, whole foods to gain health. This is not a weight loss diet per se, although many people do notice fewer cravings and weight loss. Your metabolism and level of health may call for a different type of diet, so please use this as a general guideline. This should not replace care and advice by a holistic practitioner.
Why change your diet?
When you eliminate processed foods, sugar, and other stimulants, you will start to become aware of what your body truly needs to thrive. Most people will need to reduce the amount of refined starchy foods they eat -- this means cutting down on potatoes, rice, pasta, chips, muffins, bagels and bread. Other changes are ncreasing your intake of quality oils and eating more vegetables, especially non-starchy ones. 


Recommended dietary changes for optimal health
  1. Eliminate or minimize your intake of processed, packaged, and/or junk foods. These foods usually contain unhealthy chemical additives, excess salt, trans-fatty oils, and refined sugar. Instead, have a whole foods diet that is rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, pure water, and organically raised meat.
  2. Minimize your intake of red meat, refined starches such as white flour, fried foods, salt, and sugar. Some people notice less mucus and congestion, improved digestion, and better overall health when minimizing cow's milk products (possibly substituting with goat's milk).
  3. Seek professional assistance in finding the right diet tailored to your health. A holistic practitioner such as a naturopathic doctor can uncover hidden food sensitivities or can tailor your diet to suit your metabolism using a metabolic typing diet. In addition, there are foods in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine that can help to balance your constitution.
Why you should make gradual changes
Although it is tempting to want to overhaul your diet overnight, you will be overwhelmed if you do. Gradual changes are more effective and lasting. 

How to monitor your progress
What are signs that the changes you've made are right for you? You will notice improvement in one or more of these areas:
  • Increased energy
  • Weight regulation - lose excess weight or gain needed weight
  • Skin and hair are clear and soft
  • Bowel movements become more regular
  • Sleep quality improves
  • Improved digestion - less bloating, gas, and heartburn

If the changes you've made are too drastic or are not right for you, you will notice one or more of these symptoms:

  • Tiredness or fatigue
  • Feel like you're obsessed with food, which takes time away from nurturing yourself and your relationships with others
  • Feel guilty or upset when you eat an 'unhealthy' food
  • You have to record what you eat everyday in order to stay on track
  • Dark circles under your eyes
  • Dry skin and hair
  • Weight gain, especially around the middle and/or arms and legs are getting thinner
  • Weight loss of more than 2 lbs per week
  • Are not eating a variety of foods

Step 1: Locate natural health foods in your area
Look in your community, the yellow pages, and on the internet. Local vegetarian organizations are great resources. You can often find out about local farmer's markets, produce stands, food co-ops, health food stores, cooking classes, and grocers in your area.

If you don't have access to natural health food stores or if organic produce is not in your budget, look for Japanese, Greek, Chinese, and Indian grocery stores for fresh fruits and vegetables, cooking oils, buckwheat noodles, brown rice, beans and other goodies. Non-organic produce should be washed and scrubbed thoroughly and outer leaves of leafy vegetables should be discarded. To clean vegetables, you can use baking soda and/or vinegar and soak and scrub vegetables for 5 to 10 minutes.

Step 2: Get some cooking reference books
One of my favorite reference books is Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone by Deborah Madison. It provides information on storing, selecting, and cooking different vegetables, and tons of recipes for making soups, casseroles, vegetables dishes, desserts, soy dishes, pizzas and almost any other vegetable staple.

When evaluating cookbooks, look at the ease of preparation. Some cookbooks have great recipes but with an ingredient list and preparation method too difficult to do on a busy schedule.

Step 3: Try some healthy restaurants in your city
You will be able to see how good healthy cooking can taste. Visit local vegetarian restaurants for ideas on vegetable dishes, shakes, and salads with vegetable protein, Indian restaurants for ideas on bean dishes, and restaurants that serve free-range or organic meat.


Step 4: Take a cooking class
Your local health food store is a great resource for this. Inquire about classes, and take a look on bulletin boards and in free health newletters and magazines for healthy cooking classes in your city. Invite a friend to join you. It's a great way to get inspired!

PREMIER LEAGUE

The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. It was known as the Premiership from 1993 to 2007. It is currently sponsored by Barclays Bank and therefore officially known as theBarclays Premier League.
The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from The Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. This was worth£2 billion in 2008–09. The Premier League is the most-watched football league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to an audience of 643 million viewers. In the 2010/11 season the average Premier League match attendance was 35,363, the second highest of any professional football league behind the German Bundesliga, and stadium occupancy was 92.2% full. The Premier League ranked first in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years, ahead of the SpanishLa Liga and German Bundesliga.
Since 1888, a total of 23 clubs have been crowned champions of the English football system. Of the 45 clubs to have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, four have won the title: Manchester United (12 titles), Arsenal (3), Chelsea (3) and Blackburn Rovers (1). The current champions are Manchester United, who won the title in the 2010–11 season.

ORIGINS

        Despite significant European success during the 1970s and early 1980s, the late '80s had marked a low point for English football. Stadia were crumbling, supporters endured poor facilities, hooliganismwas rife, and English clubs were banned from European competition for five years following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985. The Football League First Division, which had been the top level of English football since 1888, was well behind leagues such as Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga in attendances and revenues, and several top English players had moved abroad. However, by the turn of the 1990s the downward trend was starting to reverse; England had been successful in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, reaching the semi-finals. UEFA, European football's governing body, lifted the five-year ban on English clubs playing in European competitions in 1990 (resulting in Manchester United lifting the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1991) and the Taylor Report on stadium safety standards, which proposed expensive upgrades to create all-seater stadia in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, was published in January of that year.
        Television money had also become much more important; the Football League received £6.3 million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but when that deal was renewed in 1988, the price rose to £44 million over four years. The 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league; ten clubs threatened to leave and form a "super league", but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadia improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the country's top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the growing influx of money being pumped into the sport.

FOUNDATION

       At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal for the establishment of a new league was tabled that would bring more money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the game's top-flight clubs, established the basic principles for setting up the FA Premier League. The newly formed top division would have commercial independence from the Football Association and the Football League, giving the FA Premier League licence to negotiate its own broadcast and sponsorship agreements. The argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe.
       In 1992 the First Division clubs resigned from the Football League en masse and on 27 May 1992 the FA Premier League was formed as a limited companyworking out of an office at the Football Association's then headquarters in Lancaster Gate. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions; the Premier League would operate with a single division and the Football League with three. There was no change in competition format; the same number of teams competed in the top flight, and promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the new First Division remained the same as the old First and Second Divisions with three teams relegated from the league and three promoted.
        The league held its first season in 1992–93 and was originally composed of 22 clubs. The first ever Premier League goal was scored by Brian Deane of Sheffield United in a 2–1 win against Manchester United. The 22 inaugural members of the new Premier League were ArsenalAston VillaBlackburn RoversChelsea,Coventry CityCrystal PalaceEvertonIpswich TownLeeds UnitedLiverpoolManchester CityManchester UnitedMiddlesbroughNorwich CityNottingham ForestOldham AthleticQueens Park RangersSheffield UnitedSheffield WednesdaySouthamptonTottenham Hotspur, and WimbledonLuton Town,Notts County and West Ham United were the three teams relegated from the old first division at the end of the 1991–92 season, and did not take part in the inaugural Premier League season.

   
Premier League champions
SeasonChampions
1992–93Manchester United
1993–94Manchester United
1994–95Blackburn Rovers
1995–96Manchester United
1996–97Manchester United
1997–98Arsenal
1998–99Manchester United
1999–2000Manchester United
2000–01Manchester United
2001–02Arsenal
2002–03Manchester United
2003–04Arsenal
2004–05Chelsea
2005–06Chelsea
2006–07Manchester United
2007–08Manchester United
2008–09Manchester United
2009–10Chelsea
2010–11Manchester United


WORLDWIDE

Promoted as "The Greatest Show On Earth", being broadcast to over 600+ million people in over 200 countries worldwide, often on networks owned and/or controlled by NewsCorp, which owns BSkyB and thus the primary UK and Ireland TV rights. In the United States, coverage is shared between Fox SoccerFox Soccer Plus and ESPN; NewsCorp sometimes buys pitch-side advertising boards with the Fox Soccer Channel logo replacing that of Sky. In Canada, Sportsnet owns the Premier League rights for three years from the 2010–11 season. In Australia, Fox Sports shows the games with a Viewers Choice option for up to five live games and up to nine games live on any given game-week.
The Premier League is particularly popular in Asia, where it is the most widely distributed sports programme. In India, the matches are broadcast live on ESPN and Star Sports. In the People's Republic of China, data from 2003 suggested that matches were attracting television audiences between 100 million and 360 million, more than any other foreign sport. However, when the Chinese rights to Premier League matches were sold to a subscription channel in 2007, the number of viewers proved to be in the tens of thousands. Due to its popularity in Asia, the league has held four pre-season tournaments there, the only Premier League affiliated tournaments ever to have been held outside England. The Premier League Asia Trophy has been played in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and China and involves three Premier League clubs playing against a local team from the host nation, often the national side.
Figures from UK tourism body VisitBritain suggest that 750,000 visitors to Britain attended a Premier League match in 2010, spending a total £595 million and an average of £766. Visitors from Norwayare most likely to come to watch Premier League football, with one in 13 Norwegian tourists travelling specifically to attend matches. Second on the list is the United Arab Emirates. For those visiting family and friends, the most likely to watch a football match are from JapanChina and Australia.

CLUBS

                                                                  MANCHESTER UNITED 



LIVERPOOL



MANCHESTER CITY



ARSENAL




                                                                             CHELSEA