Case Extract: Marketing McDonald’s in India The modest beginnings of McDonald’s at Illinois in USA, turned out to be among the main brand names in the international scene. It has been synonymous to what is widely-accepted the fast-food concept. The company operates over thirty one thousand stores all over the world to date. It was one of the first to perfect the concept of fast service in the food industry in its early days of operations in 1955. Given that the products of the company are mainly western in character; its operations have also expanded to the Asian region. McDonald’s entered India in the year 1996 when the fast food retail market in India was at a nascent stage. Encountered with several challenges in the beginning, the fast food giant emerged to be the market leader by 2011. Though McDonald’s commands the leadership position in the Indian fast food market, there exists stiff competition from the local traditional fast food retailers as well as other multinational firms which entered the fast growing Indian fast food market. Around the world, McDonald’s traditionally operates with local partners or local management. In India too, McDonald’s purchases from local suppliers. McDonald’s constructs its restaurants using local architects, contractors, labour and – where possible — local materials. McDonald’s hires local personnel for all positions within the restaurants and contributes a portion of its success to communities in the form of municipal taxes and reinvestment. Six years prior to the opening of the first McDonald’s restaurant in India, McDonald’s and its international supplier partners worked together with local Indian Companies to develop products that meet McDonald’s rigorous quality standards. Part of this development involves the transfer of state-of-the-art food processing technology, which has enabled Indian businesses to grow by improving their ability to compete in today’s international markets. McDonald’s worldwide is well known for the high degree of respect it has to the local culture. However, it was not easy for McDonald’s to overcome the cultural barriers that exist in India. These cultural barriers imposed drastic changes in the marketing strategies of the company. Thus, by being flexible and adaptable in its international marketing approach, McDonald’s proved itself as a winner, even in the toughest international market conditions. (Extracted from: https://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG270.htm) With reference to the case extract and further personal research, you are required to attempt the following questions: Question 2 Demonstrate how McDonald’s identified and approached its prospective customers in India using the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) Model.