McD's leads TV ads in fast food outlet category with 35% share in H1 2010

McD's leads TV ads in fast food outlet category with 35% share in H1 2010

MUMBAI:With the Indian economy picking up once again and the market bustling with youth buyers, the fast food outlet category is once again increasing its thrust on television advertising. And standing tall in the list is McDonald‘s Corporation.

While the category by itself has grown to occupy a 29 per cent television advertising volume share in the overall services sector, within the category McDonald‘s "I am loving it" proposition has built up well on TV to grab a 35 per cent share during the first half of 2010.
 
 The brand has grown in TV ad volumes by 337.5 per cent over the same period a year ago, when it had absorbed a mere 8 per cent of the overall pie.

Says McDonald‘s India senior director - marketing Rameet Arora, "McDonald‘s leads the pack with both more penetration and more footfalls than any other player. The McDonald‘s franchise is built on the foundation of strong consumer connect and marketing. The brand has many dimensions that make it compelling wherein great tasting food and great value everyday are the two critical dimensions. Therefore, the advertising of this brand saw such a volume jump in the last six months."
 
 
Within the product line, the products from the brand that were most advertised from January-June 2010 were Mcdonald‘s Extra Value Meal (13 per cent), Mcdonald‘s Happy Meal (10 per cent), Mcdonald‘s Happy Price Menu (7 per cent) and Mcdonald‘s Chatpata Mcaloo Tikki (6 per cent).

In 2004, the brand launched the Happy Price Menu with a value message for a younger audience and saw a surge of younger consumers and people from socio-economic class B walk into our stores.

Says a media observer, "The Indian consumer was price sensitive and even though the organisation managed to establish a sense of familiarity, Indian consumers continued to perceive McDonald‘s as an expensive eating out option."

Thus, in 2008, the campaign using the father-son duos from the Indian film industry was launched to reiterate the theme of "Yesteryear‘s Prices". It features Bollywood stars from past decades together with their sons and a message that prices have not risen in line with the passage of time.
 
 
Meanwhile, Yum Restaurants India, running the flagship brands Pizza Hut and KFC, follows McD‘s in TV ad volumes with 34 per cent share. The products advertised most from the company lineup are KFC (13 per cent), Pizza Hut (7 per cent), Pizza Hut Magic Times (5 per cent) and KFC Krushers (5 per cent), according to Tam AdEx data.

The fast food outlet category on TV had seen a downfall in 2009 when slowdown was tightening its grip. The category, which had a 45 per cent share in 2008, fell to a 12 per cent share during the year and steadily rose to again 29 per cent in the first half of 2010.

Says Madison Media Infinity COO & head - Madison Media Research Centre
Mallikarjun Das, "With more players and chains, the ad volume on TV of this category has steadily increased. And with the economy improving, people‘s spending on weekends also went up and so did their spending on eating outside."

Moving forward, the category will only grow further. "The market for this category is still evolving and the category will also grow. The total ad spend by the organised players in the fast food outlet category is pegged at Rs 2 billion and should be growing at 15-20 per cent this year. Television ads occupy the maximum share," says a senior executive who did not want his name to be revealed.

McDonald‘s is ready to step up its media campaigns in the second half as it aims at increasing its market share in the category.