Mcdonald’s Green Marketing Strategy

How McDonald’s Change Their Customer Perspective and Increase Their Sales with Green Marketing The green issue has became a global issue since year 1990s, peak in year 2000s. In business, it can drive people perspective to choose which brand was good or bad. McDonald’s probably is one of the company that realize this issue is very important for their business in this century. McDonald’s is the biggest fast food chain in the world with more than 32,000 outlets in 117 countries. The company has employed more than 1. 7 million people. Last year, they’ve made 1. 2 bn out from 6. 1 bn.
For years, many critics came up against McDonald’s about how bad they treat world environment and questioning how far they care about people healths, especially on obesity. The most famous “attack” to this fast food company probably was a documentary film that tells a people who eat Mcdonald’s meals for a month would hasten his death. McDonald’s also considered to have responbility of 28% waste package (littering) in UK. Public suggested the company to more persuade their customers not to do littering. And also, public critics McDonald’s happy meal which caused early obesity to child.
Those critics had succeed to change people perspective, in year 2000, their income declined with some outlets shut as their new record. Started in 2000s, McDonald’s is fighting back, massively and quietly counter the critics with green marketing. It is not only to increase the company sales, but more important to change the way customers think about McDonald’s, their perspective. But how they do it? McDonald’s is not sustainable company from the beginning, they has core DNA to create delicious food, fatty foods, and sugary foods.

They must be careful to take an action, the green strategy not only have to change customers willing to buy, but also it could reduce cost and generate more valuable profit. McDonald’s is aiming to blow up their green with five criteria, there are nutrition and well-being, sustainable supply chain, environmental responbility, employee experience, and community. They started to create a new logo –switching their traditional red background with the deep green one- to promote a eco-friendlier image.
McDonald’s has done a lot of things in order to prove their environmental responbility to their customers, especially by reduce the energy they used. In Germany, at less 100 McDonald’s restaurant would use the green logo by the end of year 2009. And also, some restaurant in Great Britain and France would too. They started to use eco-friendly package – 80 percent of their package was made of renewable resources-. They change white napkins with plain brown, which saves 1. 3 million dollars annualy, while reducing energy, woods and water use.
In France, some restaurants has made an innovation to use eco-friendly sofware that can reduce electricity usage by 11%. In Sweden, they use CO2 detector in their restaurants to adjust ventilation, which is reduce the usage of electricity by 15% anually. Various anti-littering campaign is spread to many countries, such as Portugal, UK, France, Switzerland, Australia, and others countries. From their menu, they change a bit in the name of their customer health, they reduce French fries size, adding fruits to its food, bring more healthier salad, less sugar drinks and foods, even low fat foods.
Moreover, in Germany, there are some restaurants that provide no burgers and sells salad at just 7 euros, they can choose 5 traditional salads and mix it. Another weapons is sells coffee –sustainbly grown coffee and organic milk- with brand McCafe, while they offering low-calorie foods in the other sides. This strategy was made a significant growth, in Germany there are currently 1386 reaturants with 737 integrated McCafe inside, encouraged by a worlwide revenues of 23. 5 billions dollars.
They also made a contribution to the local communities, all supply of each restaurants is provided by the local farmers in that city, except their global sponsor drinks, Coca-Cola. They also prove that they care about woman livings, 28. 1% of worldwide top management (VP and Ups) are women, while 50% Company Owned Restaurant Managers are women too. The last but not least, more than 30 countries recognises McDonald’s as great place to work. All of green things above was successfully delivered to customers by various medias, it proved by the increasing growth 13% sales in year 2011 from year 2008.
And also, the legendary Big Mac sales rose 10 percent last year, helping keep the company stock price to nearly $100 a share. In the other hand, the advertising budget has been estimated to exceed $2 billion. It shows that McDonald’s has successfully came back to winning by counter critics with the right strategic green marketing. They do the strategy without change the “fastfood” image, but they do with showing their will and contribution to the environment. Finally, it can change human perspective and willing to buy with the increasing sales as the success parameter.
Sources Birkner, Christine. 2012. McDonald’s Scores Itself on Sustainability: Will Consumers Be ‘Lovin’ It’?. http://www. marketingpower. com/ResourceLibrary/Documents/newsletters/mne/2012/1/mne_mcdonalds_sustainability. pdf. September 3rd 2012. O Brien, Keith. 2012. How McDonald’s Came Back Bigger Than Ever. http://www. nytimes. com/2012/05/06/magazine/how-mcdonalds-came-back-bigger-than-ever. html? _r=1pagewanted=all&&pagewanted=all. September 3rd 2012 Environmental Leader. 2012.
McDonald’s Counters Criticism With Green Marketing Effort. http://www. environmentalleader. com/2009/05/19/mcdonalds-serves-up-green-practices/. September 3rd 2012. Salisbury, Peter. 2011. Behind the Brand: McDonald’s. http://www. theecologist. org/green_green_living/behind_the_label/941743/behind_the_brand_mcdonalds. html. September 3rd 2012 Laura, Nerdy. 2011. McDonald’s going green – I’m lovin’ it. …?. http://businessnerds. wordpress. com/2011/05/29/mcdonald%E2%80%99s-going-green-%E2%80%93-i%E2%80%99m-lovin%E2%80%99-it/. September 3rd 2012.