For years people have raised concerns regarding the fast food industry and how unhealthy  and possibly dangerous it is for its consumers. No matter how swiftly these fast food chains try to dodge the onslaught brought upon them, they never succeed in satisfying anyone’s questions regarding how healthy or unhealthy their food is.

McDonald’s Canada has recently tried to clear the air and answer direct questions from its consumers by launching yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca where anyone can ask a direct question to McDonald’s. McDonald’s replies in turn and aims to fully satisfy the consumer by answering to the best of their abilities.

This campaign is designed to market McDonald’s more transparently and at using social media efficiently-people who got answers to their questions can share it with their friends through facebook or Twitter. One huge ‘confession’ to a frequently question was in the form of a video which can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSd0keSj2W8&feature=plcp. The question was, ‘Why the burgers photographed in McDonald’s ads look so much more appetizing than they do in real life’.

This platform which McDonald’s is using is laudable and an effective way to deal with actual problems AND ‘myths’ which arise when any brand gets recognition or is frequently used by consumers. The food industry is particularly sensitive and so this may be a good move on McDonald’s part to clarify and debunk the myths surrounding it’s products.

However, there isn’t absolute certainty that this will work and so there’s an element of risk involved. McDonald’s tried something similar in the US but it backfired, much to the dismay of McDonald’s so it’s not a fail-proof marketing plan but it’s a good effort nonetheless.

References: 

1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090862/McDstories-McDonalds-Twitter-promotion-backfires-users-share-fast-food-horror-stories.html

2. http://yourquestions.mcdonalds.ca/questions/218

3.http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/mcdonalds-marketing-tries-a-transparent-approach/article4357943/?service=mobile

Muhammad Yunus – Founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize winner

The Nobel Peace Prize 2006 was awarded jointly to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below”. Grameen Bank is a micro-finance organization which allows small loans to be made available without any collateral to set up small businesses. The bank’s main focus was to allow women to start up small businesses to eradicate poverty and it has been a huge success. The unusual bit about Grameen is that some of the women who are borrowers of the bank are also on the Board of Directors of the bank and in effect, part owners.

Recently, there has been a huge struggle between the Bank and the Government. Last year, the government removed Grameen’s founder Muhammad Yunus from the Managing Director’s position claiming he was too old at 70 years of age and that the official age of retirement was 60 years.

Recently, the cabinet of the PM Sheikh Hasina amended a 29 year old rule which would effectively give the government authority to bypass Grameen’s board of directors and handpick Yunus’ successor. This brazen step not only threaten’s Grameen’s independence but also the ownership rights of millions of poor women who control 97% shares of Grameen.

Many believe that Hasina, whose government is considered immensely corrupt, is on a personal vendetta against Yunus who forayed into politics for a brief period, criticizing Hasina’s government, and now Hasina is attempting to humiliate him.

Whatever the case, it is important to note that in today’s day and age, businesses are hugely impacted by the political scenario in the country or market they operate in and only a fool would not take into account the political side of any market or country.

References:

1. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/an-attack-on-grameen-bank-and-the-cause-of-women/

2. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/

3. http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_world_best_bank/?bEDcmdb&v=18483

The five existing providers in Pakistan.

A decade ago, cellular service in Pakistan was provided by a couple of companies which operated as Oligopolies and catered only to the elite. However, in recent years, the telecom market has exploded with tremendous growth and has surpassed everyone’s expectations. More than 131 million people use cell phone services in Pakistan which has led Pakistan to rank at number 5 in Asia in terms of mobile phone users.

At one point (2011) , there were 6 providers in the telecom market in Pakistan. What’s important to understand regarding the level of competition is that consumers in Pakistan are not bound by long term contracts to cellular phone companies. All they require is a copy of the national ID card to set up a connection, or switch to another provider. There’s little or no brand loyalty when you as a consumer have so little restrictions and your decisions are more or less based on price. Therefore, there’s cutthroat competition and little room to relax.

The emergence of new players in the market after a horrifying earthquake in 2005 led to a flurry of intense aggressive marketing against each other, price wars which made 2 cents per minute calls to any network possible without subscribing to any special package or deal and an overload of information which has led to a clutter of noise in the media.

The price wars continued for quite a while until they could not lower them anymore and then began the endless charade of unethical marketing campaigns ridiculing each other. As of this moment, consumers can barely distinguish one provider from the other due to the overload of information and no clear PoD between any of the providers.

References:

1. http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=426

2.http://tribune.com.pk/story/218713/pakistan-5th-in-asian-mobile-phone-users/

3.http://www.pta.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=265&Itemid=135

4.http://www.indexmundi.com/pakistan/cell-phone-companies-in-pakistan.html