Influence of McDonald's Company on the State of the US Economy Essay

Influence of McDonald's Company on the State of the US Economy - Essay Example The primary challenge currently facing McDonald’s is the worsening state of the US economy, as concerns mount about a possible recession. In late January, the company reported a $1.2 billion fourth-quarter profit but warned of weakness in the US market. Same-restaurant sales were essentially flat in Dec. 2007, sparking fears that the one-month result might portend a trend. It was the growth in international sales that allowed for the company’s overall gains. The American market is the company’s largest and most crucial, with over 14,000 locations (â€Å"McDonald’s Posts Profit†). A Feb. 8 company press release reinforced the concerns about the domestic market, with US comparable sales only up 1.9 percent, while for Europe and the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa bloc, sales were up 8.2 and 7.8 percent, respectively (â€Å"Strong Global Results†). If the current US slowdown leaks into the global marketplace, companies like McDonald’s may no longer by able to count on foreign sales to bolster the bottom line. The economic woes in America are tightening many pocketbooks and forcing even habitual fast-food customers to cut back. After decades of economic expansion and ever-growing consumer expenditures, signs are legion that the days of easy credit are over and that belt-tightening measures are becoming more the norm than the exception across the American landscape. The unfolding housing bubble collapse has had a major impact, as have continued nationwide job contractions. Even value-oriented businesses like McDonald’s are likely to be hit by potential customers staying home rather than coming out to their restaurants (Goodman 1). In addition, food prices have been rising steadily as have oil and gasoline costs, putting a severe squeeze on the average American consumer. In February, consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 1992, according to a closely watched national survey. All of this is causing consumers to cut back on non-essential items (Grynbaum 1). Food is not a non-essential item, but the challenge to McDonald’s management is to revive stagnant domestic sales by convincing more potential consumers that they are better served by visiting their local restaurant as opposed to making meals at home. Once a significant enough number of people become convinced of this, it would help to break same-restaurant sales in the US out of its current flat-growth pattern.

Johnson and Johnson Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Johnson and Johnson - Term Paper Example Product positioning is a vital marketing tool for any organization to make the products superior compared to other competitors’ products. It comprises developing a unique, reliable and standard customer insight about a company’s offerings and brand image. Organizations can position their products on the basis of utilization, cost, or quality. The advertisements play significant part for positioning the products and the offerings of organizations. Through advertisement, organizations position their products by the way of promoting the differentiators to the customers. To become successful, organizations need effective promotion, advertising and sales initiatives and without them there will be less opportunity for future development of business. The purpose of the paper is to describe the advertising and its impact on positioning of Johnson & Johnson Company. The objective will be accomplished by two phases, firstly describing the product positioning and illustrating how organizations can use it to position their products, secondly, how Johnson & Johnson had used advertisement for positioning one of its popular brands named Tylenol. The reason for choosing this topic is to know the relationship between positioning and advertising and to understand the importance of positioning in business. Company Background Johnson & Johnson is one of the most admired organizations, which trades pharmaceutical and healthcare products. Its business operations are expanded to around 60 nations with more than 250 business units. The company invests significant amount on marketing and advertising of their products to the customers. In the year 2010, Johnson & Johnson expended almost 19,424 USD for marketing and managerial purposes. The company provides significant importance on advertisements. The major advertisement media used by Johnson & Johnson are television, radio, print and internet. In the year 2010, the total advertisement spending on Johnson & Johnson was alm ost 2.4 billion USD which indicates that advertisements are used by the company for positioning the brand. Through advertisements, Johnson & Johnson seeks to maintain close relation with the customers and provide useful information about their products. Today, billions of people globally use the products of Johnson & Johnson which is possible due to efficient positioning strategy of the company (Johnson & Johnson Services, â€Å"Annual Report 2010†). Product Positioning Product positioning is an essential element of customers’ purchasing process. It provides the opportunity to encourage the customers’ insights regarding company’s products. Rich, brief and meaningful product positioning assists organizations to communicate message regarding products to customers so that they can accept and be familiar with the product offerings among other substitute products. For successful positioning, organizations need to undertake three steps. First, organizations sho uld recognize the characteristics of target market, i.e. how target market makes their purchasing decisions. After that, organizations need to recognize the type of competition, i.e. how the rival companies are positioning their products and what strategies are they using for successful positioning. Then, organizations must find out the major strengths of their products and assess the purchasing criteria. If the purchasing criteria satisfy the requirements of target customers effectively, organizations can position their products and ultimately can yield better returns. If there is no vacant product position to be filled in the market, then the organization needs to find out the competitor to compete, with a certain product position that can ensure success (On The Mark, â€Å"