McDonald’s To Launch In-Store Channel
by Greg Braxton and Joe Flint
McDonald‘s is introducing something new, and no it isn’t a new deluxe burger. The global fast-food chain is using a strategy to create a way to speak directly to customers in an environment that is not cluttered with other media and what better way to get customers to hear you out than to launch a McDonald’s television channel. McTv will include entertainment features, local news and reality tv shows and will be tested in L.A, Las Vegas and San Diego (IT Experimentation) expecting to reach 18 million to 20 million people a month. If the project is successful, it may expand nationwide. The dining areas in McDonald’s restaurants will be equipped with two televisions that can be seen from 70% of eating areas, with audio coming from the screen or ceiling speakers. Customers that do not want to see or hear the channel will be able to sit in a “quiet zone.” McDonald’s hopes that customers will now have a reason to spend more time with family and friends in their restaurant than just treating it as a place to “grab a quick bite.”
Wherever you go, McDonald’s will follow and as if eating in their restaurant isn’t enough, they must trap you into the ultimate MickeyDee’s experience, “While they’re in line getting their hamburger there is no escape,” said Allen Adamson, from Landor Associates, a firm that specializes in brand building. I think McDonald’s is pushing their brand a little too much with McTv, but in the world of business, it just might work.
