I love McDonald’s, and when I say I love it, I mean I loooooove McDonald’s. My favorite weekend meal is a sausage and egg mcmuffin with cheese, 2 hash browns, and an orange juice. Yummmmm! After Jenna and I snag this meal around 8am at the Sunnyside Road McDonald’s, we usually get a Redbox movie, eat our food in bed, and then pass out from the grease!
During a recent drive by McDonald’s, I noticed that they are selling all sizes and variety of their drinks for $1. My business leadership brain immediately began to examine the ‘why’ behind their marketing tactics.
After drilling past a few of the more obvious ‘whys’, I came to the conclusion that McDonald’s is competing with and is marketing to basic human needs. Follow me for a moment…
A business goes through 5 distinct stages within its growth:
- Startup and initial success
- Unique selling proposition development
- Internal systems development
- System duplication and proliferation through generations of employees or franchising
- Market-wide leadership
McDonald’s has reached the market-wide leadership stage, and at this stage the competition is no longer Burger King, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell; the competition is a restaurants ability to repeatedly solve basic human needs. McDonald’s is competing for every bit of consumption that a human being takes part in.
At 6am, someone could go to McDonalds for coffee, and at 9am they may stop back for breakfast. At 11 or 12 someone could go to McDonald’s for lunch, and then stop by around 3pm for that $1 drink. 6pm means it’s time for the Big Mac meal for dinner, followed by a late evening snack or dessert at 9p. McDonald’s competes with consumption. Where else could you find a convenient, fast, and inexpensive meal that fits every part of your day?
I assert that McDonald’s $1 sodas aren’t pitched so that you won’t go to Burger King, but they’re pitched so you won’t go to the convenience store, grocery store, or vending machine for your mid-day drink. McDonald’s is competing for every consumption dollar that you spend. While they do that, they may not only sell you a product with 100% margin, but when you see the fries on the way through the drive thru to get your drink, you may go ahead and pick up that 300% margin item as well.
According to Anthony Robbins, there are 6 human needs:
- Certainty
- Variety
- Significance
- Love
- Growth/Consumption
- Contribution
The point of this story is that McDonalds is selling its market based on the human need for growth or consumption.
How can we as advanced small business owners tailor our marketing and sales messages to suit basic human needs? Does your product promote certainty? Are your clients prone to get the benefit of uncertainty or variety after buying from you? Will your clients be fulfilled with a sense of love and significance, or do they get to grow and contribute through your product offering. Take some time to think about these things, and tailor your message to one of the 6 human needs.
Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for Reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. Email Jamar at jamar@goreachmore.com for the latest on Reachmore’s newest seminar, Launch.