KFC marketing story - part 5

Hi everyone!

I’m back again with the next part of the story. This time, I will reveal a secret of environmental analysis of KFC. As usual, let’s start with our little Q&A game.

19. Go to the website of the head office of the organization selling your product.  Look at recent statements to the press, press clippings and check out the latest available annual report. Which environmental factors have a major impact on the marketing policies of the company? Motivate you answers.

Personally, the marketing policies of KFC are affected remarkably by social forces and technology.

According to the book “Marketing: Concepts and Strategies”, social forces are people or groups of consumers and the related issues that press marketers to supply high quality products and services through socially reasonable choices and activities. (Dibb, Simkin, M.Pride, & Ferrell, 2012, p. 85) To be more precise, those social factors are consumer preferences and recent market tendencies. In the case of KFC, this aspect affects the firm in a very significant way. Consumers are expressing concern about the food safety as well as “Green” problems such as waste disposal. As the rising consideration of people about these issues, KFC also meets many problems. The firm has once stuck in scandals about fat content and dirty chicken and cost a noticeable spending to arrange. Another example is in the United States, authorities of many cities have passed law forbidding using plastic packaging in restaurants. This fact did make problems and forced KFC and many fast food restaurants to change the packaging materials. However, society not only creates troubles, is also helps KFC to improve its standard to adapt the new demand of consumers. Buyers need high quality meals with average prices, so KFC changed and present different dishes and sets for different types of people. Comparing to the first menu of Kentucky decades ago, current menus consist of many unique dishes suitable to separate international market. KFC, for the convenience of customers, also provides the shipping system. Customers no longer have to visit directly the restaurant to buy foods, they can order favorite dishes via the website and wait for delivery. All above, KFC need to provide several short-term strategies to adapt the society in each current-situation.

The next force I want to mention is technology. Technology has opened many conveniences and opportunities for KFC. It helps the firm in transportation, approach customers through the Internet, expanding the total market internationally and even forecast the new market trend. Conversely, technology also goes with risks. This tool is not easy to control, and KFC need to pay attention when making a technological marketing strategy. In the digital era, not only KFC but others rivals also use digital marketing or mobile marketing; this leads to the competition to attract customers. A unique marketing strategy is necessary but costly and also takes time to perform. Besides, technological condition is different between areas, so marketers of KFC cannot use just one marketing plan for every continent.

20. Visit the website of the Central Bureau of Statistic. Search two statistical publications in which relevant data about the external environment for you product can be found. You might want to use the interactive searchable database Statline: http://statline.cbs.nl/statweb/?LA=en. Explain which data are relevant and why.

The information from CBS Statline is based on statistics of the Netherlands. From this website, I have chosen two tables that relevant to the consumption of KFC chicken.

The first table is about Consumer Prices Index.

 (CBS Statline, 2016)

CPI has a direct impact on the selling policy of KFC. The fluctuation of this index can bring about negative result as the significant rise of price often accompanies with the declination in profit. Moreover, deflation definitely leads to the decrease in buying demand of consumers. In this situation, producers, including KFC, are forced to lower the price to maintain the business. However, the profit of KFC is still affected because of the different shrinkage of starting factors. According to the figure from the Statistic Netherlands, the CPI has experienced an upward trend, especially in the latest two months. The increase is not high enough to result in inflation but instead raise the selling activities of KFC restaurant system. The rising expenditure on fast food and take way food has created an opportunity for KFC to expand consumption.
KFC, conversely, also can use CPI index as a tool to correct the salary of employees to suit the living price. The firm too can adjust retain activities and incomes hourly and weekly in order to gain the biggest benefit.
The second statistical publication illustrates the number of chicken and pig being raised in the Netherland from 2010 to 2015.

(CBS Statline, 2016)

As shown in the graph, the number of housed animals, particularly pigs and chickens, both experience an ascending trend. A remarkable point is that the number of the two groups decreased slightly in the first three years but increased back in the left of the period. The total number of chickens is much higher than that of pigs. Figures have proved that KFC Netherland has sufficient supply of meat ingredient to run the business. Moreover, I personally think that adequate supply can be followed by the decrease in prices of raw material.

21. Are there any social, cultural or religious differences in the Netherlands that would affect the consumption of your product? Explain why.

In my view, food habit has some certain impacts in the consumption of KFC. Although KFC Netherland still keeps the several traditional dishes, I think that they have added a number of changes in the menus. As far as I know, Netherland’s cuisine is special for its cheese. While other European countries prefer soft cheese, Dutch people use tough or semi-tough cheese; some kinds of cheese even included special plants. People here also eat much food with cheese processing. This might affect the ingredient of KFC meals, to be more precise, KFC can increase cheese content in dishes to adapt the taste of customers.

For this final question, any comments and extra information are welcomed. As you know, I’m not a typical Dutch or having been living in the Netherland for a long time to really understand the social or culture here. As a result, I will be really pleased to learn something from you all.

See you next time.

Bibliography

CBS Statline. (2016, May 27). Agriculture; crops, livestock and land use by general farm type, region. Retrieved October 9, 2016, from http://statline.cbs.nl/: http://statline.cbs.nl/Statweb/publication/?DM=SLEN&PA=80783eng&D1=120,124&D2=0&D3=0,13,106&D4=10-15&LA=EN&HDR=G2,G3&STB=T,G1&VW=T

CBS Statline. (2016, October 6). Consumer prices; price index 2015=100. Retrieved October 9, 2016, from http://statline.cbs.nl/: http://statline.cbs.nl/Statweb/publication/?DM=SLEN&PA=83131eng&D1=0-1,4-5&D2=317&D3=233,246,259-268&LA=EN&HDR=T&STB=G1,G2&VW=T

Dibb, S., Simkin, L., M.Pride, W., & Ferrell, O. (2012). Marketing: Concepts and Strategies (6th ed.). China: Cengage Learning EMEA.